Research to Underpin Spread of Digital TV

In the UK, the Ofcom Consumer Panel has published its second annual report, reiterating its support for consumer-focused regulation and its commitment to research. Meanwhile, Ofcom reports rapid progress for digital, with Freeview for the first time outnumbering traditional analogue TV on primary sets in British homes.

The Consumer Panel is an independent body established to advise on consumer interests in the communications market, based on extensive consumer research.

Colette Bowe, Chairman of the Panel, says its work this year has been dominated by two themes. 'We have focused on how consumers can really benefit from the changes in the rapidly developing market for communications and have deepened our understanding of how and why some people in our society, in particular older people, find this market a daunting place to be. The second major theme is how regulators, and Ofcom in particular, can understand and fully incorporate the consumer interest in policy making.'

The Panel reiterated its commitment to research to generate evidence about consumer concerns and the state of consumer information in the communications marketplace. In 2004-05 tracker research, age was found to be one of the most significant factors in attitudes to the changing market. Its success in influencing Ofcom to shape more consumer-focused regulation has been passed on to senior representatives from regulators, Government, Parliament, consumer bodies and industry in 2006.

For the coming year, the Panel will make consumer protection one of its nine key priorities; it will also continue to focus on the needs of socially isolated people through switchover and the requirement for Digital UK to raise awareness through practical support programmes. Plans for the next year also include continuation of its annual tracker research, with the addition of research into what attracts, deters and enables older people to use digital TV and the Internet; and the broadening of its efforts to champion and debate consumer-focused regulation.

More information about the Panel is at www.ofcomconsumerpanel.org.uk .


Ofcom yesterday published its Communications Market: Digital Progress Report for the first quarter of 2006 (Jan - March). Among the highlights:

• digital television was viewed by 72.5% (18.2 million) UK television households - up from 69.5% at the end of 2005
• take-up is growing faster than expected. Ofcom's last Digital Progress Report forecast that an extra 1.7 million homes would take up digital television in 2006. By the end of March almost 800,000 extra households had already done so.
• The number of free-to-view digital households (Freeview plus free-to-view satellite) is estimated to have grown by 9.7% from January to March, to over 7.7 million.
• Freeview has for the first time overtaken traditional analogue television on primary sets in the home. Almost 7.1 million households have Freeview on the primary television set compared to around 6.4 million who are yet to take-up digital television. [SOURCE: Ofcom market estimates, GfK sales data, Freeview]
• Digital satellite is the UK's most popular digital television platform viewed by 8.3 million, or 30% of homes of which almost 7.7 million subscribe to BSkyB pay services and 645,000 receive free-to-view satellite services. [SOURCE: Ofcom market estimates, BSkyB Q1 2006 results].
• The number of cable television households increased slightly over the quarter and is currently just over 3.3 million. [SOURCE: NTL Q1 2006 results].

The full report is available at www.ofcom.org.uk/research/tv/reports/dtv/dtu_2006_q1/ - including definitions and qualifications for the above stats.

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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