 Freeview's service, with 30 free channels, launched in October 2002 |
The number of homes with Freeview - which gives access to digital TV without having to pay a subscription - has almost doubled in the last nine months, according to research. More than 1.5 million Freeview boxes were being used at the start of July, a report from the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) said.
That is up from 763,000 on 1 October 2002 - when a number of channels were available but before the Freeview service started in earnest.
Freeview allows people to watch extra channels, such as BBC Four and Sky News, by making a one-off outlay of about �99 for the box, without a monthly fee.
Many of the Freeview boxes are old ITV Digital boxes that viewers kept when the service went bust.
IPA research director Lynne Robinson said: "The share in viewing for non terrestrial channels is increasing, spurred on no doubt by the significant growth of Freeview."
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