UK's Freesat adds 8,000 TV homes in 3Q 2014

Monday, October 20th, 2014
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Freesat logo

Freesat winning new fans with freetime and mobile apps

  • For the first time satellite free-­‐to-­‐air service reaches over four million viewers every week
    — Now available in 1.9 million households and watched by four million viewers every week
    — 32,000 new homes added in first nine months of the year
    — Freetime now accounts for a third of TVs and set‐top boxes sold each month
    — Refreshed Showcase recommendation service helping to drive engagement
    — Mobile app downloads surge after launch on Android

Freesat, the subscription free satellite TV service, has maintained its 2014 momentum by adding 8,000 new TV homes in the three months to the end of September. In all, Freesat has added 32,000 new households in the first nine months of 2014; it is now available in 1.9 million households and watched by more than four million viewers every week.

Freesat’s continuing growth demonstrates the ongoing appeal of TV on a subscription free basis, as viewers continue to switch from expensive contracts. With a Freesat box, viewers have access to over 200 TV and radio channels, more than with any other free to air provider, and at no monthly fee.

Freetime, Freesat’s award-­‐winning connected TV service, continues to demonstrate strong growth and now accounts for 48% of all Freesat set-­‐top-­‐box sales and a third of all new Freesat sales. The Freetime service allows viewers to roll-­‐back the TV guide to watch shows from the past seven days, pause, record and rewind live programmes and offers immediate access to all the major Catch Up players. Panasonic, which launched a range of televisions with Freetime in May, is helping to drive Freetime growth with even higher than expected connection rates.

The Freesat mobile app, launched in January this year, continues to be extremely popular with both Freesat and non-­Freesat viewers. The launch during the quarter of an Android version has pushed total number of downloads to over 350,000.

In support of the key consumer electronic peak sales period, November through December, Freesat is promoting Freetime with a new TV and digital marketing campaign featuring the Freesat app. The TV campaign launches in the ad break of Coronation Street tonight (October 20th) and was created by a team led by Freesat’s own marketing department.

Emma Scott, Freesat’s managing director, commented: “It is fantastic to be able to report another solid quarter of growth that demonstrates the ongoing appeal of free TV over pay. We have enhanced our offering with our hugely successful mobile app, now available on both Android and iOS, and with our popular Showcase recommendation service, which is helping to drive viewer engagement. I am delighted to see the enduring success of Freesat with consumers.”