Over 75% of second TV sets in UK households have now been upgraded to receive digital signals. New data released by Ofcom showed that at the end of 2010 the percentage of households with digital TV on one or more sets stood at 92.5%, an increase of 1.1 percentage points.
The regulator is so satisfied with the digital conversion rate that it intends to switch to an annual reporting cycle with the first annual report being published in June 2012.
Sales of DTT-enabled equipment reached 3.9 million units in Q4, down by 18.6% on Q4 2009. Integrated digital television sets (IDTVs) accounted for over 80.4% of sales in the quarter (3.1 million units). Almost all TV sets sold (99.3%) included an integrated digital decoder. Freeview (DTT) set-top boxes accounted for over 756,000 sales in the quarter, down 39.4% on Q4 2009.
In 2010 12.8 million DTT units (IDTVs and set-top boxes) were sold, compared to 14.7 million in the previous year, a decrease of 12.6%.
In total 18.8 million homes use DTT, 10 million homes use DTT alone. 1.6 million homes receive free-to-air satellite signals including Freesat, 9.4 million subscriber to Sky satellite services (BSkyB totals also include the Republic of Ireland) and 3.3 million take cable.
About Julian Clover
