Freesat adds 145,000 homes in the last year

UK free-to-air satellite TV provider Freesat has added 145,000 homes in the last 12 months and has now logged 21 quarters of consecutive growth, it said.

Freesat, which is jointly owned by the BBC and ITV, said it now provides free entertainment to 4 million viewers a week across 1.8 million homes, and predicted that its continued growth will “outpace pay-TV rivals Sky and Virgin Media.”
Freesat said it has now sold 3.3 million set-top boxes and TVs, beating initial sales projections. Since launching in May 2008 its gross retail sales have exceeded £1.2 billion.

“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,” said Freesat managing director Emma Scott.

Freesat recently added Channel 4’s on-demand service 4oD to its <free time> advanced set-top box and said that it will soon add more content to this, including Channel Five catch-up service, Demand 5, and additional movie and music channels.