Written question asked by Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat) on Monday, 8 December 2003, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 11 December 2003. It was answered by Baroness Morris of Yardley (Labour) on Thursday, 11 December 2003 on behalf of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Dept for Culture Media and Sport

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to her Answer of 4 December 2003, 415 c165W, on digital television, what estimate has been made of the number of households expected to purchase the new viewing card announced last month which replaces the Solus viewing card.

Answer: Mr. Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to her answer of 4 December 2003, Official Report, column 165W, on digital television, what estimate has been made of the number of households expected to purchase the new viewing card announced last month which replaces the Solus viewing card. [143497] Estelle Morris: The latest ITC estimates for Q2 2003 are that 738,900 homes receive Free to Air (FTA) digital satellite services and could therefore wish to buy a viewing card. These figures comprise an estimate of the number of Sky viewers who have only ever been FTA viewers plus an estimate of the number of ex-Sky subscribers who continue to use their set-top boxes for viewing FTA channels.

Secondary information