Freesat: Continued growth
July 24, 2013
UK free-to-air digital satellite television provider Freesat has reported its 21st quarter of consecutive growth, adding 145,000 homes to the service in the last twelve months.
The continued growth of the subscription-free service – jointly owned by BBC and ITV – is expected to outpace pay-TV rivals, Sky and Virgin Media, in the same period.
Now in its sixth year of operation, Freesat provides free entertainment to four million viewers a week across 1.8 million homes in the UK.
Emma Scott, Freesat’s Managing Director said the continued strong results showed that thousands of people were making the smart choice of Freesat as the alternative to expensive TV contracts. “As take up across the UK has increased, so has our offer. We now provide more than 150 HD and standard definition TV, radio and interactive channels, offering live pause, record, a market-leading catch-up service through our Backwards TV Guide, plus BBC iPlayer, ITV Player and 4oD,” she explained.
“We continue to add new channels and on demand services and invest in cutting edge technology. We will soon deliver more features to our next generation <free time> service, including the addition of Demand 5, a remote app for smart phones, and in the future, additional movie and music channels.”
Freesat has now sold 3.3 million set top boxes and TVs, far exceeding original sales projections, taking gross retail sales value to over £1.2 billion since launch in May 2008.