Christmas sales surge puts Freeview in a million new homes

Record Christmas sales have propelled the number of households with Freeview to over five million, taking the BBC's extra channels and services into at least one million more homes, initial sales figures indicate.
The BBC estimates that 1.5m digital terrestrial set top boxes and integrated sets were sold in the three months up to December 25 2004.
In each of the two weeks before Christmas (weeks ending December 18 and 25) a record 190,000 were sold, comfortably beating Christmas 2003's best of 140,000 in one week (BBC estimates based on weekly sales figures).
The vigorous growth of Freeview is helping the BBC to move closer towards its aim of achieving universal access to its digital services.
The rapid uptake of digital television is also making the Government's goal of digital switchover more attainable.
In the two and a half years since the BBC started promoting its digital services, the proportion of viewers who say they won't get digital television in the next year has plummeted from 35% to 21%.
Just under four million households (3.9m) had Freeview at the end of September 2004, according to Ofcom's figures.
Taking into account a proportion of boxes and sets bought for homes that have access to digital TV already - about a quarter - these sales estimates would indicate that about 1.1m homes got digital terrestrial for the first time in the last three months of the year, bringing the total number of Freeview homes to five million.
In total 13.9m households had access to digital television at 30 September - of which 7.4m were through satellite, about 2.5m digital cable and 3.9m were Freeview only homes.
Ilse Howling, Head Digital Marketing and Communications for the BBC, said: "It's fantastic news that so many people are now switching on to digital television and the BBC's six extra channels through Freeview and other platforms.
"Free digital television has a huge appeal and shows no signs of slowing down."
(GB)