Digital TV News

Freeview now ‘bigger than Sky’

20 April, 2007

editorial@consumerchoices.co.uk

Freeview has overtaken Sky Digital as the UK’s most-used multi-channel platform, according to the service’s latest figures

According to Freeview, by March 2007 8.2 million households in the UK received the service on their main TV set. Sky Digital had almost 8 million subscribers by the end of 2006, and 3 million subscribed to Virgin Media.

Freeview was launched in 2002, and currently offers digital TV via 40 channels. The service is received through an aerial and set-top box, and is subscription-free. As long as customers have the box and suitable reception, they can receive Freeview channels for as long as they like without charge.

Sky Digital, which is a subscription service, is yet to release figures that are directly comparable with Freeview’s figures, but a Sky spokesman has said that the service attracted significantly more customers at the end of 2006.

Sky might also have benefited from the removal of its basic channel package from the Virgin Media service.

Freeview also recently announced a competitor to Sky’s Sky+ box, Freeview Playback, which receives Freeview channels and allows users to pause live TV and record chosen programmes onto its hard-disk. The service has estimated that these boxes could be in 10 million homes by 2012.

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