More than 60% of UK homes now watch digital TV

Almost 30% of households now have broadband suggesting that by 2010 more people will watch television on the net via broadband than on an analogue TV.

Digital TV and radio take-up has also seen dramatic increases.

More than 60% of UK households now receive digital TV, while sales of DAB radio sets rose to 1.5m in early 2005.

For the first time there are now more households with broadband than dial-up internet connections.

Falling prices

Provisional figures for June 2005 show there are currently 8.1m broadband connections, as compared to 7.5m dial-up connections across UK households.

This compares with figures for December 2004, which recorded 6.2m broadband connections and 8.6m dial-up connections.

BBC digital radio coverage in Northern Ireland is to be increased

The increase in broadband is attributed to falling prices and increased connection speeds, prompting many users to replace old dial-up connections with broadband.

The surge in digital TV - an increase of more than 250,000 households each month - has been widely driven by Freeview, with almost 4.6m households now receiving digital television via Freeview alone.

And as digital radio continues to grow in popularity, both AM and FM listening has declined.

Eight per cent of commercial radio audiences now listen to digital only stations across DAB, digital TV and the internet, with digital audiences tuning in for 28 hours per week, four hours longer than the average listener.