The growth rate of catch-up services is slowing down in the UK, according to Ofcom’s latest Communications Market Report.

The number viewing TV on a PC-delivered catch-up service increased by just 3 per cent year-on-year to 29 per cent for the first quarter of 2012 as catch-up services become increasingly available via connected TV.

The Report says 5 per cent of UK households now own a smart TV. However, it noted that this figure is set to rise, as smart TV set sales have doubled in the past year and now represent 20 per cent of all TV sales. Among owners of smart TVs, 65 per cent said they had used the internet connection on their TV. Ofcom also found that smart TVs are used most widely for watching catch-up TV: 51 per cent had used their set to watch catch-up TV, while activities including social networking (25 per cent) and online shopping (13 per cent) were less commonly undertaken on smart TVs.

The Report found that total TV industry revenues increased by 4.9 per cent, or £579 million (€737 million), in nominal terms to £12.3 billion in 2011, driven by continued growth in TV subscription income, coupled with an increase in TV net advertising revenue. Revenue from pay TV subscriptions has remained largely unaffected throughout the economic downturn and increased again in 2011 by £403 million (or 8.3 per cent) to £5.2 billion.

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