Freeview, backed by the BBC and BSkyB, added 300,000 viewers from its launch in October to the end of 2002, bringing the number of homes receiving its service to 1.3m. Sky Digital added 227,000 subscribers to its satellite service, which now reaches 6.3m homes.
The total number of digital homes has been estimated for the ITC's multichannel quarterly report because actual figures for digital cable penetration were not supplied in time for inclusion by cable companies Telewest and NTL. The ITC said an update would be issued when their fourth-quarter results had been released.
Including analogue TV, the number of multichannel homes in the UK is 11.5m or 47% of homes.
However, digital take-up still has some way to go if it is to meet the government's target of 2010 to switch off the analogue signal. The government said it would not switch off the signal until 95% of UK homes have taken up digital services.
Earlier this month, M&C Saatchi and J Walter Thompson were appointed to the industry- and government-backed brief to raise awareness of the switchover from analogue to digital TV.
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