Freesat celebrates one million sales

Brian Butterworth published on UK Free TV 24th March 2010 at 08:59

The free-to-air satellite service, Freesat, has now sold one million set-top boxes and integrated televisions since the service launched in May 2008, including 250,000 over the Christmas and New Year.

Most Freesat boxes are used in homes with existing satellite dishes fitted, and now 30% of all set-top boxes sold in the UK are from Freesat, with 40% using the service to add boxes to a Sky subscription.

Freesat MD Emma Scott says "Hitting 1 million sales is significant milestone for Freesat and gives us a great foundation for further growth, specifically with the millions of UK homes that have HD TVs but no HD service.

Freesat is a great opportunity for the millions of homes with existing satellite dishes who are used to quality TV but no longer want to pay a monthly subscription for it and we continue to see an increasing number of viewers moving across from pay TV."

"Much of what we're now working on is paving the way for next generation free TV with innovations like BBC iPlayer and ITV Player. We will continue to add value to the service by integrating Canvas if approved by the BBC Trust and we are following Ofcom's Pay TV review with interest."

BBC DG Mark Thompson said "The development of Freesat has extended the choices available to viewers in allowing them to receive all of the BBC's digital channels including BBC HD. I'm pleased to see that they have reached this latest landmark, meaning that more people are enjoying quality BBC content."

From ITV plc, interim Chief Executive John Cresswell adds "We're delighted with Freesat's success - a million sales in less than two years is a terrific achievement. Freesat is an important distribution platform for ITV, providing our audiences with next generation free HD services and the capability for further development. We're confident Freesat will continue to go from strength to strength."