TELEWEST ACTION GROUP

January 02, 2003

ITV1 overtaken by 'multi-channel' broadcasters at Christmas
By Raymond Snoddy, Media Editor TIMES



PEOPLE tuning in to the cable, satellite and digital terrestrial channels outnumbered those who watched ITV1 during Christmas week for the first time, according to the latest official viewing figures.
Viewers of the so-called “multi-channel” broadcasters totalled 22.4 per cent in the week ending Sunday, December 29, up from 13.7 per cent in the same period last year. The ITV1 share was 22.2 per cent.

The viewing share of the new channels has risen every year since 1993 when it was only 6 per cent, as the population gained increasing access to these services.

ITV said that the development held no more than symbolic significance. Not only was ITV1 competing with more than 200 satellite channels, but one reason multi-channel broadcasting was doing so well was the strength of ITV2, its digital sister station, it said. Boosted by exclusive transmission of Champions League football, ITV2 has been one of the fastest growing of the new channels.

“ITV’s share of the market is more than its commercial rivals combined and we are maintaining that lead,” an ITV spokeman said. “ITV is still the only mass market commercial channel.”

In the overall viewing figures for 2002, BBC One’s share is expected to total 26.2 per cent compared with 24.2 for ITV1. The latest figures from the Broadcasting Audience Research Board show that, in Christmas week, BBC One held on to its traditional audience better than ITV with a 30 per cent share. This represented a 3.8 per cent fall from last year compared with the sharper 8.6 per cent decline at ITV1.

The Christmas season is traditionally strong for the BBC. Meanwhile, ITV puts most of its effort into the key advertising season in the autumn.

The latest figures from the Independent Television Commission (ITC) show that, by the end of September, 45 per cent of homes had access to multi-channel television, with 39.5 per cent of UK homes already digital.

BSkyB, the satellite broadcaster in which The News Corporation, parent company of The Times, has a 35.4 per cent stake, led the market with 6.06 million homes.

In recent months subscribers to cable television stations have dipped slightly, to 3.38 million, as NTL and Telewest, the UK’s cable television operators, struggled against financial woes.

The ITC estimates for the number of digital terrestrial homes, before the launch of the new Freeview service, was just above one million.