British firm TVonics are well known for their distinctive looking Freeview PVRs and are now set to release a new PVR with DVB-T2 tuners for FreeviewHD. 

The manufacturer has done it again by producing a truly striking design for their TVonics DTR-HD500 freeview+HD recorder. The unit includes a large 500GB hard drive for recording both standard definition and high definition TV programmes. As this is a twin tuner PVR the DTR-HD500 will record up to two programmes at the same time.

The on screen electronic programme guide (EPG) allows simple one touch set up of recordings, and familiar Freeview+ features like series recording. Also supported are additional Freeview+ standards like trailer booking, recommendation booking and alternate instance recording – in case there is a recording clash.

Like other TVonics PVRs, the USB port will allow customers to view pictures from a USB stick or external hard drive via the PVR. The remote control has a dedicated button to access the USB device which is handy, and again like other TVonics PVRs the remote allows control of the TV too.

As well as the obligatory HDMI out socket, the TVonics PVR features an additional two HDMI inputs at the back of the unit. This enables other HDMI AV equipment like games consoles, DVD/Blu-ray players etc to plug into the TVonics DTR-HD500, while only one HDMI output is connected to the TV. This will be useful if your TV is starting to run out of HDMI sockets, and to make it easy each input can be selected via dedicated HDMI 1 and HDMI 2 buttons on the remote.

The manufacturer expects the TVonics DTR-HD500 Freeview+HD PVR will be available in July for around £299.

Toshiba are shortly to introduce their first Freeview PVR in the UK, which will be capable of receiving and recording HD broadcasts. The Toshiba HDR5010 is a Freeview+HD PVR with a 500GB hard drive, twin HD tuners and USB multimedia capabilities.

The PVR includes and 8 day electronic programme guide (EPG) to make it easy to find and record your favourite TV programmes at the press of a button. Being a Freeview+HD certified recorder, the Toshiba 5010 will include the ability to set up the recording of entire seasons of your favourite shows. Another benefit of the Freeview+HD system employed on the Toshiba PVR is a feature called ‘Accurate Record”; where the machine will automatically track when a programme actually starts and ends in case it is running late. This is to make sure there isn’t a chunk of the programme missing when you eventually sit down to watch it.

The Toshiba HDR5010 is housed in a sleek, glossy black case with a big standby button to the left of the front facia, and a USB port on the right. The USB port allows an easy installation method for the latest feature and software improvements as they become available from Toshiba. The port also allows you to view pictures, play MP3s or watch DivX video from an attached USB stick or USB hard drive. The Toshiba PVR also provides a USB port at the rear should you prefer to keep an externally attached storage device tucked away at the back.

Other connectors to the rear of the HDR5010 include an Ethernet port – through which Toshiba say users can take advantage of interactive features – a SCART socket, one HDMI-out and two HDMI-in connectors. These two HDMI inputs enable the Toshiba PVR to behave as an HDMI switch, useful for connecting Blu-Ray, DVD, games consoles etc. if your TV runs out of HDMI sockets.

The HDR5010 is the first model in a range of Freeview+HD PVRs, of which Toshiba say more will follow later this year. In this version the Toshiba PVR contains a 500GB hard drive, which is big enough 120 hours of HD recordings, and will be available from August at a retail price of around £349.99.

Humax have announced plans for a software update to improve the performance of their standard definition Freeview PVR range. It will also introduce a new feature to cache the EPG so that it takes only a few seconds to display. The new round of updates is specifically to address performance issues affecting the PVR-9200, PVR-9300 and PVR-9150, which has come to light as the digital switchover is underway. For those that are affected, users have reported how their machine appears to become unresponsive to remote control commands. Especially for the first 10 minutes after switch on, but also at other times.

The Humax PVR is a multi-award winning hard disk based Freeview recorder that has turned out to be the popular choice amongst consumers in the UK. Sales records were broken a long time ago and with the lowest return rates, the Humax is a proven hit with retailers alike. But for those reasons we also believe the number of users affected by the recent problems could be in the hundreds, if not thousands. This must be why Humax has taken steps to explain why problem has occurred and outline the steps that are being taken to resolve the issue. Here is the official statement in full:

We are writing to provide more detailed information on the recent issues that have been affecting our PVR-9150T, PVR-9300T and, in particular, the PVR-9200T Freeview+ digital TV recorders.

Humax is very aware that, for several months, some customers have been experiencing a slowdown in operation and usability issues with our PVR models. Resolving these issues has been a priority for our technical team who have been working diligently on a fix, but unfortunately, due to the complex nature of the issues, it has taken much longer than we had hoped to develop new software to sort out the PVR issues.

The increasing complexity of the UK’s broadcast infrastructure and requirement to process a substantially higher volume of information has put the PVRs under pressure and significant performance issues became particularly apparent through the digital switchover. We recognise this has regrettably caused frustration and problems for some of our PVR-9300T and PVR-9150T users, and in particular those with the older PVR-9200T models.

However, I am pleased to be able to inform you that our technical team has developed a software solution that will dramatically improve the user experience and address issues such as freezing and locking up.

We have also ensured the new software mitigates the risk of future problems and have taken this opportunity to introduce a new feature as part of the upgrade to significantly reduce the time it takes to display the on-screen electronic programme guide (EPG) information, from many minutes to seconds.

Humax will be scheduling an automatic over-the-air software download for the fix in a matter of weeks, and we hope to confirm the exact dates shortly. We will ensure these are communicated to you through email, and across our Twitter and Facebook pages.

Finally, I would like to reassure you that, while our research and development team continues to work on a number of new products and services, Humax remains committed to maintaining its existing product line for long standing customers and partners.

We value your support and feedback, so if you have any questions about the PVR issues and areas raised in this letter, please contact our team directly on 0844 669 8800 and uksupport@humax-digital.co.uk.

Yours sincerely

Graham North
Commercial Director
Humax Electronics Co. Ltd

Between 2005 and 2006 Humax added a substantial number of new features as a result of research collected from customers and in 2007 the company retro fitted all of the new Freeview+ features into its existing design, to the delight of its loyal customer base. This included Accurate Record (allowing the unit to track when a programme actually starts and stops when recording), Series Record and Alternate Instance recording features.

The problem since DSO is about the amount of ‘over the air’ service information the machine now has to process, on top of everything else, which has tipped it over the performance threshold. Basically the only way to process it safely is slower and it has now got too slow.

We apologise for the techno speak but in brief the volume of SI is now massive (the “split” two sections of NIT, a busy SDT and a massive EIT). Series Links, event recommendations and the list goes on; is much bigger than the machine was originally designed for; a design that started in 2003 before a UK wide broadcast 7 day EPG service was up and running. Even if the PVR doesn’t use the data it still filters it which is not going to help.

There is unlikely to be enough flash memory available to store the volume of information in the EPG so it has become an unsuitable place for such data. Humax’s engineers have implemented a new technique that gives these PVRs more time to spend processing essential data and concentrating on giving the user a good experience. Part of that will be the storage of EPG and a related volume of data in broadcast to the hard drive itself; as it does not change as regularly it will not cause problems. The machine can then simply update what is there while it is running.

For those who need a temporary fix until Humax start to broadcast the new software (over the air) you can install a beta version onto the machine that will resolve the slowdown issue. The element of the fix where the EPG data is cached is not yet a feature of this beta however. For more information about the interim beta software contact Humax support.

It is a busy time for Humax; they are creating and launching an all new Humax Freeview+HD PVR for 2010. Legacy support will mean the new development and release activities will likely be delayed a little, but we think the PVR manufacturer is doing exactly the right thing.

Panasonic has re-entered the twin tuner Freeview PVR market with a new model containing a 250GB hard drive and twin high definition tuners. The unit is capable of recording up to two programmes at the same time in standard definition or high definition if your area is already broadcasting FreeviewHD channels.

The quality of the recordings are as per the original broadcast because the twin tuner PVR directly records the actual transport stream. As this is a Freeview+HD PVR, the setting up of recordings is easy by simply selecting your programme from the using the 8 day electronic programme guide (EPG). If the programme is part of a series, the unit will ask if you would like to record just the one programme or all the programmes in the series for you, as they are broadcast.

Panasonics DMR-XW380 PVR has an impressive feature list. It will allow recording from external sources via the SCART or composite connectors at the back of the unit, making it easy to record from SKY, Virgin media or other machines. The Panasonic DMR-XW380 recorder also has an Ethernet port for connecting to your home network or broadband connection. This will allow users to watch TV recordings, AVCHD video and JPEG photo files or your PC or laptop and any other DLNA certified client, like Blu-ray players, set top boxes or portable devices in your network. The Panasonic DMR-XW380 also allows you to search and watch online video ad picture through YouTube and Picasa, as long as you have a broadband connection. Panasonic have told PVRJUNCTION they will be supplying wireless ‘dongles’ in case some customers prefer it to a wired Ethernet cable connection,  as an optional extra.

The DMR-XW380 contains a recordable DVD drive so as well as being able to watch DVDs on the same machine, you can transfer recordings from the hard drive and archive onto DVD. There is an SD card slot, compatible up to SD-XC, and a USB 2.0 port. DivX, camcorder home movies and photos can be transferred via SD memory card or USB to the hard drive or DVD. This is great as it removes a time-consuming process performed by the PC for transferring and storing HD Camcorder footage. As well as HD images and videos, the Panasonic DMR-XW380 has space for your music collection too. The DMR-XW380 is pre-installed with “Gracenote” database will allocate album and some title to all your tracks and even update itself as time goes on.

Existing Panasonic owners will feel at home with the DMR-XW380 user interface, though we do notice little details here and there have been spruced up since Blu-Ray machines from 2009. The recordings library can now list all recorded programmes or the programmes list can be browsed via genre ‘tabs’. We’ll add a better example of the user interface from YouTube in due course.

The Panasonic Freeview+HD PVR will be available in June and will initially go on sale for around £500-£600, depending on where you shop and the length of warranty included in the price.

Once PVRJunction broke with the news of a new Freesat+ PVR on the block last July, from French manufacturer Sagem, it went a bit quiet on that front. However, while everyones talking about the all new Humax software update over the last few days, What Satellite and Digital TV have today announced the news on their website of the first Sagem recorder release taking place next week. We’ve since spoken to Sagem who confirmed there will be a 250GB model release first and then a 500GB model will go on sale soon after.

This is good news for Freesat recorder customers, who at this time of the year are looking for a choice of PVRs to compare and buy. Before the feast of seasonal TV on the platform gets underway. Stay tuned as we’ll be getting our hands on the PVR and will give you all the details, together with our usual photos, screenshots and video of the unit in action.

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We managed to get hold of the latest Freesat+ recorder from the Harvard Group Plc. This a Goodmans branded machine with model number GFSDTR320HD  (watch out for Grundig variants) which we’ve taken home to see how the whole family gets on.

Our first impressions are pleasant from an ease of use point of view. It is a straightforward and easy to operate HD Freesat+ recorder. Alas our first unit suffered from one or two problems; and whilst we are sure this is down to bad luck, we are currently awaiting a properly working replacement. In the mean time here are our first photos and screen shots:

 Click to select image

On Wednesday 30 September improvements are being made to the Freeview service to pave the way for the digital TV switchover. You will need to re-tune your Freeview TV or box (including BT Vision and Top Up TV) from lunchtime onwards to ensure you continue to receive your available channels, including Channel Five and a number of other Freeview channels. Satellite, cable and analogue viewers will not be affected.

The re-tune will allow Channel Five to become as widely available on Freeview as the other terrestrial channels at digital television switchover. Technical preparations for future improvements to the Freeview service (such as Freeview HD) are being made. Freeview are set to confirm further details about the new Freeview HD service soon.

tvretune.co.uk have created a video (seee below) to illustrate how a retune is carried out on most freeview recorders and set top boxes. The pricess is very easy, however if you would prefer more specific help, there are also retune guides for popular makes of Freeview PVRs and other freeview equipment held centrally at www.tvretune.co.uk/productmanuals/. You can also contact the manufacturer for guidance on your specific model.

TV personality Keith Chegwin will host the Freeview VCR Swap Shop this Saturday, 5 September at Comet in Manchester Fort Shopping Park on Cheetham Hill Road. He’ll be swapping 50 old VCRs for 50 brand new Freeview+ digital TV recorders.

You may already be sorted with a digital TV or Freeview box, but do you still own a VCR? After the digital switchover, VCRs internal tuners will not pick up TV channels to record, although it will record the channel you are watching if it is connected to a digital TV. As this defeats the object of a VCR, you might want to swap it for a Freeview+ box instead. This will allow you to watch and record digital TV after the switchover.

In two months’ time Manchester and other parts of the country will be switching over. It’s been a long time coming (and at points it seemed like it was never coming) but the date of Wednesday 4 November for the BBC2 analogue switch-off in the Granada region is fast approaching. The remaining channels will follow suit on Wednesday 2 December.

Starting at 10am, customers can bring their old VCRs into the store and be entered into the Freeview Swap Shop prize draw. Cheggers will then select 50 winners at 2pm, who will each receive a stylish Humax Freeview+ digital TV recorder worth over £125.

The Humax PVR-9150T Freeview+ box can record over 100 hours of TV onto its 160Gb hard drive. It also allows viewers to pause and rewind live TV, and record their favourite telly series. General information about Freeview and the digital switchover will also be available on the day.

The Humax Foxsat-HDR, the first Freesat+ PVR, was released late last year to high acclaim both from the AV press and customers alike. That’s not to say the digital TV recorder is totally free from a few bugs or in need of one or two usability tweaks here and there. However we do recognise its stability when compared to pretty much every other PVR launch we can remember.

We spoke to Humax yesterday to find out the purpose of the next software update for the FOXSAT-HDR and when it might be distributed other the air (OTA) across the whole customer base.

We are told the new software will include any of those bug fixes that are ready to release, though Humax note there will be some improvements that are being worked on which will not make it to customers until another software release altogether. Its no secret that Humax have been making extensive changes to the system in order to provide IPTV facilities. This will enable to FOXSAT-HDR to provide BBC iPlayer, thought to go live on Freesat this autumn. In terms of new features, this is the one Humax are committed to delivering.

Following feedback received at their service desk from customers, engineers still do work on improvements and changes and we discussed one or two particular items -however Humax advise it is often the case some or none of them make it into new software releases for one reason or another. Therefore, there are no particular public plans to add further new features in the forthcoming software release, but if there will be these will be communicated publically nearer the respective release date.

Humax have advised PVRJunction that the current plan is to distribute the current .03 software version over the air later this month to enable all machines to get up to date before the next all new software release. The new software is planned for September/October, however a firm date will be released nearer absolute completion of the work which may come sooner or later than planned.

PVRJunction hope to release details about the software update very soon so do stay tuned!

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Speaking to PVRJunction, Director of Communications at Harvard International PLC, John Edwards took the opportunity to discuss their plans for Freesat+ and FreeviewHD PVRs.

Last month PVRJunction broke the news of a new Goodmans branded 320GB Freesat+ PVR, the GFSDTR320HD and the 500GB Goodmans GFSDTR500HD. Argos followed soon after with live product listings, but as the new Freesat+ PVRs haven’t even been launched as yet we’re interested to know how development was progressing. John says

Yes this was a little premature, but what it did do is announce our intention to have a PVR. We do have a PVR; it’s in final testing with industry bodies at this time. So we are close to manufacture and close to release in the UK.

With the Humax exclusivity deal on the sale of Freesat+ PVRs effectively over since around the end of last year, one might have expected more PVR manufacturers unleashing a stockpile of Freesat+ recorders in the new year. But it’s been strangely quiet on PVR scene until recently. We asked Harvard if there is much longer to wait for affordable competition in the Freesat PVR market. John says

We will release ASAP. These particular hardware items are nothing if not complex. Then the testing is extremely laborious. This is done not only by ourselves but also by the DTG (Digital Television Group). When that testing is going to be finally complete I really couldn’t say but if I were to give PVRJunction some sort of steer on it, I would expect the product to be in the market by next month.

The industry is currently hard at work on the Freeview platform too; busy working towards the provision of high definition channels on DTT (digital terrestrial television). The working title is T2 (DVB-T2), and together with most other key hardware suppliers Harvard are watching developments extremely closely on T2. According to John Edwards there will be no significant announcement yet because this has got to come through Freeview, as its going to become FreeviewHD. The industry is looking to have some sort of start to HD broadcasting by the end of the year, with broadcasts happening both in the Granada region, and also in the metropolitan London region. The scope of those broadcasts hasn’t yet been defined and most of the industry is awaiting a fuller announcement by Freeview themselves. Hardware-wise John says

As far as hardware goes I think it’s probably unlikely in that timescale. Whilst you may have one or two token pieces of hardware by the end of the year, in terms of anything like a significant volume I think you’ve really got to have a look at Q1/ Q2 next year.

It seems too early to talk about the hardware and obtain some sort of scope but talking to manufacturers over the last few weeks its clear many of them are yet to get their hands on the silicon needed for DVB-T2, and probably will not do until the latter part of the year. Launch products will likely be thin on the ground – perhaps set top boxes rather than PVRs. We asked John if Harvard will be releasing a FreeviewHD PVR for early next year

Yes. I wouldn’t claim that we’re going to be right in the lead. I would claim that we are going to be close followers. I expect there is going to be hardware around by Easter; there should be broadcast coverage in HD up to 48% of the current DTT coverage before the world cup which is June next year.

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The sixth annual Communications Market Report has just been released by Ofcom, and reveals just how much the  appetite among consumers is growing for recording broadcast programmes for playback later. Nearly 9 million PVRs have been sold since 2000, helped in large part by the move to digital broadcasting. Here we set out key metrics on the take-up and use of PVR products and identify trends in consumer attitudes towards PVR use.

Key findings:

• More than a quarter of consumers (27%) claimed to use a PVR at the end of March 2009, equivalent to 7 million homes, according to Ofcom research. This rose to nearly a third of consumers (31%) in multichannel television homes.
• These figures are a little lower than those for operator and sales data, which suggest that nearly 9 million PVRs had been sold in the UK at the end of March 2009. The five million Sky+ boxes (launched in September 2001) made up the majority of the UK PVR universe at the end of Q1 2009, followed by Freeview+ and Freesat+ and Top Up TV devices, which together accounted for around 2.6 million devices.
• 15% of viewing across the five main PSB channels in 2008 was of programmes recorded using a PVR, according to data from BARB, the television industry’s audience measurement organisation. In Sky+ homes this rose to 19%.
• Adults aged 16-34 are the group most likely to watch programmes recorded on a PVR; 19% of viewing among this age group was on a recorded basis in 2008 according to BARB, compared to 11% for viewers aged 55 and over.
• High-definition programmes are among those most viewed after their initial broadcast in Sky+ homes, according to viewing data from the SkyView panel. A third of viewing of Drama serials and series in Sky+ homes is recorded.
• 42% of consumers said that they watched a greater variety of programmes since owning a PVR, although a third (33%) disagreed with this. Eighty per cent of consumers believe that they watch more programmes that they enjoy because they have a PVR.
• PVRs are becoming increasingly advanced, offering viewers search functionality and ‘push’ video-on-demand, where programmes are downloaded to the hard disk drive, for example. Hard drives are also increasing in size; some PVRs offer up to 250 hours of recording, up markedly from the 40 hours available on early generations of devices.
• The average retail price of PVRs for the Freeview market had fallen to £106 at the end of March 2009, down from £172 in March 2005, according to GfK sales data. Similarly, the costs of DVRs from the main pay-TV operators have fallen.
• Consumers are using a range of services to ‘catch up’ on television programmes including online catch-up TV and TV-based video-on-demand.

The report shows around a fifth (19 per cent) of viewing in Sky+ homes is timeshifted, more than for subscribers to Virgin Media’s V+ service who timeshifted 12 per cent of viewing; and some 9 per cent of viewing in Freeview PVR homes was time-shifted programmes. Ofcoms research also suggests that PVR owners enjoy a better TV experience, where 8 out of 10 TV viewers with a PVR say that they watched more programmes that they enjoy, and over 40 per cent said that they watched a greater variety of programmes since getting a PVR.

Source: Ofcom August 2009

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A growing number of digital media devices for home entertainment are receiving DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) certification. According to a new study from ABI Research, nearly 200 million such products shipped in 2008; that number will rise to more than 300 million in 2012, and the growth curve accelerates even faster in the years that follow. Digital home practice director Jason Blackwell says:

Consumers increasingly desire ways to connect their various home entertainment devices and distribute digital media content around their homes. Without standardization, that is a nightmare. Fortunately, specifications developed by the DLNA, which are based on the UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) standard, enable easy, seamless connections in a wide and growing range of consumer electronics devices.

As of today, more than 5,500 devices, including products bearing many famous brand names, have received the DLNA seal of approval. Digital TV is a huge part of this growth, with more than 170 TV related products certified in the first six months of 2009 alone.

Blackwell expects the inclusion of DLNA support in the upcoming Windows 7 operating system to give DLNA a further push into the living room and beyond.

You could, for example, use a computer running Windows 7 to push a sequence of stored photos out to a digital picture frame,” he says. “Much of this new Windows functionality will be implemented through the new version of Windows Media Player, which will have a ‘Play to’ command, allowing the user to choose among several DLNA-networked playback devices to display a particular video or other media file.

 Windows 7 is scheduled to make its public debut in October.

The next phase of this developing market will see increased participation by broadband service providers, with set-top box, PVR/ DVR models and gateways becoming an important part of the home network. Whilst we are on the subject of the networked home, PVR and set top box manufacturer Humax, will be demonstrating it’s developments in networking/sharing between multiple boxes at this years IBC in Amsterdam.

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 Harvard PLC are set to launch the Goodmans GFSDTR320HD and GFSDTR500HD Freesat+ Digital TV Recorders. The machines will feature high definition twin tuners, which will enable the recording of up to two programmes at the same time, and a 320GB hard drive for the GFSDTR320HD PVR and a 500GB hard drive in the GFSDTR500HD PVR. The PVR chassis is very similar to the Zoran based Freeview+ version (see below), which we at PVR junction are very familiar with, therefore it wouldn’t suprise us to learn the the new Goodmans Freesat+ machine is based on the same platform.

Unfortunately there isn’t a confirmed release date or official press release as this information was obtained by PVR Junction unofficially with Harvard PLC. However we have been told release is expected during August 2009 with prices around the £300 mark for the GFSDTR320HD and £350 for the GFSDTR500HD. This should interest those in the market for a freesat+ PVR and our advice would be to wait another few weeks for these PVRs before deciding.

Sagem have confirmed the launch of a new PVR for the Freesat service, due for release around October 2009. The Sagem Freesat+ digital TV recorder will be released in two versions: the DTR94250S has a 250GB hard drive and the DTR94500S will ship with a 500GB hard drive.

The new Sagem Freesat+ PVRs will feature a USB port for transferring media and  an ethernet port to support forthcoming iplayer on demand services arriving on Freesat this autumn. With its twin tuners it is possible to record two different channels at the same time.

Prices will start at £250 for the 250GB version and £300 for the 500GB version.

Sagem have also released a Freesat HD set top box with model number DSI86HD, which should be available in shops during the week. In the photo received yesterday from Sagem, the DSI86HD Freesat box design is in keeping with current Sagem STBs and features a USB port on the front. Prices will be around £130.

Freesat+ owners can now record and watch The Bill in all its high definition glory from ITVHD.

Starting from tomorrow 1st July, The Bill will kick off a brand new 6 part storyline on in its usual slot of Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8PM.

Freesat+ PVR owners will now be given the option to choose the high definition version of  The Bill when selecting the programme to record in the EPG.

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Latest research from Ofcom reveals that more viewers are taking greater control over the way they watch television as the total number of digital video recorders sold reaches almost nine million (8.9 million).

Its Digital Progress Report for the first quarter of 2009 showed that the number of digital recording devices which allow viewers the ability to pause, store and rewind live programmes had increased by nearly one million on the quarter. This includes:

• Some five million Sky customers with a Sky+ service;
• More than 2.6 million Freeview digital video recorders, such as Freeview +;
• Around 600,000 Virgin Media subscribers with a V+ service; and
• A further 600,000 homes with BT Vision and Top Up TV.

Viewers are also choosing more sophisticated ways of enjoying television, with nearly two million (1.9 million) households in the UK with access to high definition (HD) channels.

The report also shows that the total number of digital households reached 89.2 per cent with digital switchover now underway in the West Country, Border and Isle of Man.

DIGITAL TERRESTRIAL TELEVISION (DTT)

• The total number of households with a DTT device on any set reached 18.0 million, up from 17.7 million during the quarter

• Since Freeview launched in 2002, the total sales of DTT devices reached over 43 million units, with over 23 million set-top boxes and nearly 20 million Integrated Digital TVs (IDTV)

DIGITAL SATELLITE SERVICES (Pay TV services)

• BSkyB reported that its customer base grew by 80,000 to over 9.3 million households in the UK and Ireland during the quarter. This is up by 430,000 subscribers year-on-year.

• Some 19 per cent of its customers (1.77 million) have at least one extra set connected to Sky through its Multiroom service, an increase of 46,000 on the quarter

DIGITAL SATELLITE SERVICES (Free services)

• By March 2009 the BBC/ITV Freesat service reported that sales had reached 350,000 up from 230,000 sales in the previous quarter. Of these almost three-quarters of sales were HD ready receivers (263,000)

• According to the latest consumer research there were around 500,000 households with free satellite services down around 100,000 on the previous quarter

CABLE (Virgin Media subscribers)

• The total number of cable TV customers reached its highest ever figure with 3.65 million subscribers, up by almost 137,000 in twelve months
• Over half (53 per cent) of its customers were using its video on demand (VoD) service

The full report can be found here http://www.ofcom.org.uk/research/tv/reports/dtv/dtu_2009_01/