UK DVR base reaches nine million

About 8.9 million UK TV viewers had digital video recorders at the end of March, according to regulator Ofcom’s latest Digital Progress Report.

Ofcom found that five million BSkyB customers had a Sky Plus DVR service, while over 2.6 million digital-terrestrial Freeview Plus DVRs had been sold, along with about 600,000 Virgin Media cable V Plus DVRs. A further 600,000 homes had DVRs provided by pay-TV providers BT Vision and Top Up TV.

Ofcom also found that 1.9 million households in the UK had access to HD channels, while the total number of digital households reached 89.2%. Digital-terrestrial homes reached 18 million at the end of March, up from 17.7 million in December. Sky’s DTH base reached 9.3 million, while Freesat, the free-to-air satellite service backed by the BBC and ITV, reported sales of 350,000 for the quarter, up from 230,000 in the previous quarter. However, the total number of free-to-air satellite homes fell by 100,000 to 500,000. Cable TV customers reached 3.65 million at the end of March.

The latest region to achieve digital switchover was Dumfries & Galloway in south-west Scotland last week, following earlier switchovers in the Scottish Borders and Isle of Man. Switchover in the West Country of England begins this week.