Freesat added 150,000 homes in the last 12 months, taking its total to 1.7 million homes. This accounts for 6% of UK households but does make the free-to-air satellite service the fastest growing established TV platform in the country. Freesat has now sold 3.2 million units since launch in May 2008. According to the operator’s own customer research, 51% of homes that joined in 2012/13 came from Pay TV rivals, the majority from Sky.
Freesat’s Managing Director, Emma Scott, believes quality free TV makes sense for more people. “Everyone in the UK is continually reassessing how we spend our money, and with 79% of viewing across all platforms, including pay, going to free channels and 52% going to the top five channels, having a monthly TV subscription just doesn’t make sense for most people.”
