In each of the two weeks leading up to Christmas, 190,000 terrestrial set-top boxes flew out of the shops, beating 2003's Christmas best of 140,000 in a week. This puts the figure of set-top boxes sold in the three months to Christmas at 1.5m.
Freeview, the digital terrestrial television service owned by the BBC, BSkyB and Crown Castle, estimates that 1.1m of those sales account for Freeview while the remaining 400,000 account for BSkyB's free-to-air satellite service, FreeSat, which launched in October.
Ofcom released figures in September last year showing that 13.9m households had access to digital television, with 3.9m receiving Freeview. According to the media regulator, 7.4m subscribed to Sky and 2.5m received digital cable.
Digital take-up is expected to soar as FreeSat, which offers viewers 140 channels for a one-off payment of £150, and Freeview go head-to-head for customers.
Already the price for Freeview set-top boxes has droppped dramatically and they can now be bought for around £50. The BBC's recent "boxer" on-air digital campaign promoted all routes to the BBC's six extra BBC channels and services.
Ilse Howling, head of digital marketing and communications for the BBC, said: "Free digital television has huge appeal and shows no signs of slowing down."
The growth of Freeview and the launch of Sky's FreeSat service should help ensure that the government target of 2010 for digital switchover is met.
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