The Arsenal v Manchester United match was watched by 3.4 million people

Multi-channel TV, a term which covers more than 200 non-terrestrial stations, overtook the main two channels for one week in April.

Research from the Broadcasters Audience Research Board showed that digital TV attracted 24.1% of the available audience in the week to 20 April.

During the same week the audience for BBC One was 23.9% and ITV1 made up 23.8%.

The shift in viewers to multi-channel is thought to have been largely boosted by the highly-anticipated football clash between Arsenal and Manchester United.

The tense Premiership match between the title rivals attracted 3.4 million viewers to Sky Sports 1.

The 300th episode of The Simpsons on Sky One saw nearly 1.4 million tune in to the celebratory adventures of the cartoon family.

ITV said the figures only represented a single week and were not indicative of general viewing trends.

Both the BBC and ITV launched their own non-terrestrial channels as the market for cable and digital channels increased.