UK's Freesat adds 145,000 homes in the last 12 months

Wednesday, July 24th, 2013
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Freesat to outpace Sky in 21st consecutive quarter of growth

  • Freesat adds 145,000 homes in the last 12 months as more people wise up to free TV
  • Subscription free service continues to grow; 15% of Freesat’s total customer base joined in the last 12 months
  • New products including Demand 5 and a Remote App to come

Freesat, the UK’s free-to-air digital satellite television provider, today reported its 21st quarter of consecutive growth, adding 145,000 homes to the service in the last twelve months.

The continued growth of the subscription free service – jointly owned by BBC and ITV- is expected to outpace Pay-TV rivals, Sky and Virgin Media, in the same period.

Now in its sixth year of operation, Freesat provides free entertainment to 4 million viewers a week across 1.8 million homes in the UK.

As well as enjoying quality programming for free, people are increasingly using Freesat’s products to enhance the TV and radio they love. Last month, a record breaking number of Freesat viewers tuned in to watch 12 million hours of Glastonbury coverage in HD.

Emma Scott, Freesat’s Managing Director commented: “Our continued strong results show thousands of people making the smart choice of Freesat as the alternative to expensive TV contracts. As take up across the UK has increased, so has our offer. We now provide more than 150 HD and standard definition TV, radio and interactive channels, offering live pause, record, a market leading catch up service through our Backwards TV Guide, plus BBC iPlayer, ITV Player and 4oD.

“We continue to add new channels and on demand services and invest in cutting edge technology. We will soon deliver more features to our next generation service, including the addition of Demand 5, a remote app for smart phones, and in the future, additional movie and music channels.”

Freesat has now sold 3.3 million set top boxes and TVs, far exceeding original sales projections, taking gross retail sales value to over £1.2 billion since launch in May 2008.