IDTV

Implications of Ofcom revision

What does Ofcom's 'loss' of 700,000-odd Freeview-only homes signify for forecasts about DTT penetration, I wonder?

1.2 million boxes were sold in the last quarter, so sales aren't flagging; it's just that most are going to second and third TV sets. That means penetration of the Freeview platform - in the sense of the platform used for the main TV set - is slowing down.

Since Sky Digital growth is also decreasing, cable remains moribund, and IPTV has yet to take off, that suggests a hole could open up in digital TV coverage in the run-up to analogue switchover, since Freeview was supposed to be the platform that delivered the 95% digital TV penetration threshold.

Any gap could conceivably be filled by a re-invigorated NTL/Telewest cable offering under its new Virgin branding, or even IPTV, if BT ever gets its act together.

But I bet the Excel spreadsheets are humming at DCMS and the DTI in a frenetic effort to figure out what this latest mid-course correction might mean for the government's 2012 analogue switchoff plans.

Reuters misses the story

Whoever filed this Reuters snap (Digital TV sales top 1 mln per quarter -Ofcom | Technology | Internet | Reuters.co.uk) failed to read down to the bottom of Ofcom's release.

The real story is that Ofcom knocked 700,000 households off its figure for Freeview-only homes in the first quarter of the year, because it decided it had grossly under-estimated the number of already-digital homes buying Freeview boxes for second TV sets. Quite a mid-course correction, and the third major 'adjustment' Ofcom has had to make in its estimates since the platform launched.

For the real story, read what I posted on my website! Or, if you have the time, go to the source...