Digital TV reaches 89.2% penetration

The penetration of digital TV in the UK has reached 89.2% by the close of Q1 2009, buoyed by the growth of high definition and online services, Ofcom has found.
According to the regulator’s latest market consultation report, digital TV take-up has increased by 2.1 percentage points year-on-year, meaning that 22.8m UK homes received digital TV on their main room set at the end of March.

Ofcom also indicated that over the past 12 months, high definition TV has “gained traction” with consumers as more propositions and channels reach the market.
Some 17.6 million HD-ready sets have now been sold in the UK and 9% of all homes (2.3 million) had equipment cable of receiving linear or on-demand HD content at the end of Q1 2009.
In its recently announced financial results statement for the year to June 30, Sky revealed that the number of customers taking its high definition service has more than doubled to 1.313m.