DTT growing in the UK

Figures released yesterday by Ofcom, the UK media regulator, indicate that the incredible growth of the DVB-T based Freeview platform shows no sign of slowing. Since the platform was launched in October 2002, over 27 million DVB-T receivers have been sold. The bulk of these, 17.5 million, are set-top boxes, but the number of IDTVs (TVs with an integrated DVB-T tuner) is growing. In the last quarter of 2007, for example, 2.3 million IDTVs were sold, as against 1.8 million set-top boxes.

In a market where 87% of homes now receive digital television, the terrestrial platform is the most popular with 37% of all homes watching DTT. Digital satellite commands 36% of the market (of which 4% watch free-to-air services), and digital cable has a 14% share.

Digital TV has been a real success in the UK and many other countries (e.g. New Zealand, Indonesia, etc...) are now looking to mirror that success by making a similar range of services available under similar circumstances.

UK retailers boost for DVB-T sales

A report on the BBC website indicates that electrical retailers Currys, Dixons and PC World are to stop selling analogue TV sets and will stock only models with built-in digital receivers from now on. Such products are known as IDTVs, or Integrated Digital TVs. Already, they say, more than 90% of the sets they sell are "digital". This is sure to provide a boost to Freeview with purchasers of a new TV set having immediate access to more than 40 channels, with no further payment due (other than the TV license!).

The Ten Pound DTT Receiver!

According to Broadband TV News, UK supermarket giant Tesco are now selling a DVB-T receiver for the retail price of £10 - at today's exchange rates that's just under EUR 15 or just over US$ 20 - surely now the cheapest DTT receiver in the world?

The receiver in question is made by Techwood.

Freeview STB Advice

I came across an interesting article on the London Times website. It's a review of six different Freeview set-top boxes that are currently on the market in the UK - three PVRs and three receiver-only boxes. Interestingly, it includes a Setanta branded box (actually made by Sagem). Freeview viewers now have the option of seeing live Premier League football at home, since the new sports channel, Setanta, managed to win part of the rights package. The service costs £10 per month, and does requrie a box with a card slot, but it does mean you can avoid signing up for the more expensive satellite or cable packages.

The full article is here:
http://tinyurl.com/yr9cjz

DVB-T for the PS3

Interesting news from New Zealand where a Sony exec has been quoted as saying that they hope to be able to provide a DVB-T tuner for use with Playstation 3 consoles by the time the terrestrial Freeview service launches there. That service is due to launch early in 2008, so this is something that could become available quite soon. The PS3 is already USB enabled, so one can presume that it wouldn't be so difficult to add the necessary software to the box. The question is, how long before we see this in Europe too?

(It's worth noting that DVB-T in New Zealand will be launched using MPEG-4 video coding from the start.)

Cheapest DVB-T STB?

I spend a lot of time searching for and reading about DVB-T receivers and one of the things that I've noticed is how the prices just keep on falling. The biggest DVB-T market at the moment in terms of receivers sold is the UK, where the latest figures show that almost 19 million Freeview receivers of various shapes and sizes have now been sold. Naturally this has had an impact on the prices of receivers there. So I've just used price comparison site Kelkoo to try to find out what the cheapest basic DVB-T receiver is. And the winner is: the Luxor CDST900.

Now I'd love to show you a photo of this box, but try as I might I can't find one. I can find photos of Luxor TVs, so I know the brand exists, but I guess this box has just come to market now. The websites list is as having the following specs:

Plug and Play
Digital Text
2 x Scart sockets
Remote contol

...which is indeed very basic. But hey, at UK£ 23.99 (or about 35 €UR) who's complaining?!!

Do you know of a cheaper DTT set-top box (retail price, anywhere in the world)? Let me know...