Freeview flies
Sales of Freeview TVs, set top boxes and digital TV recorders have passed 60m, equivalent to the population of Great Britain.
However, Freeview HD is only expected to reach 250,000 homes this month, which considering over half of the UK is in coverage to receive the high def service, is not an amazing take-up.
In the 5 month period after its launch, Freeview estimates at least 230,000 homes are now watching Freeview HD, which is on par with the number of homes signed up to Sky HD over the same period after its launch back in 2006.
However, more people are predicted to embrace the HD service with 15 percent of TVs sold this summer Freeview HD- friendly. The service is also set to get a boost with the arrival of BBC HD which will simulcast a network version of the BBC One schedule for the first time.
Around a third of Freeview homes now have Freeview+ so around 3m homes can record and store programmes on a digital TV recorder without paying a subscription.
However, plain and simple Freeview continues to be the biggest TV service in the UK as over 10m homes choose it for their main TV. Furthermore, of the homes that have switched from analogue to digital, three quarters of them have converted to Freeview.
A recent report by Digital UK said about 5m homes have now gone digital, with the analogue signal switched off in about a quarter of the country and a further 20m homes are destined to make the switch by the deadline of 2012.
