9 Million DVRs Sold in the U.K.

LONDON: New research from British media regulator Ofcom reveals that 8.9 million DVRs have been sold in the U.K., reflecting an increase of almost 1 million in the first quarter of this year.

More than half of the DVR base is Sky customers, with some 5 million signed up for the Sky+ service. There are more than 2.6 million Freeview DVRs, while Virgin Media’s V+, BT Vision and Top Up TV lag behind at about 600,000 each. The Digital Progress Report also reveals that 1.9 million homes in the U.K. have access to HD channels. 

Surveying the digital terrestrial television landscape, Ofcom states that the number of homes with a DTT device has reached 18 million, up from 17.7 million. Since Freeview launched in 2002, the number of DTT devices sold has topped 43 million. In comparison, the much more recent BBC/ITV Freesat digital satellite service has clocked up sales of 350,000, up from 230,000 in the previous quarter. There are around 500,000 households with free satellite services, down around 100,000 on the previous quarter.