§ Mr. FabricantTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many people subscribed to cable or satellite television in each year since 1979. [10831]
§ Mr. FisherI understand from the Independent Television Commission that data were not collected consistently until 1986. Cable data from the commission for years from 1986 are given in the table. The ITC does not collect data directly on the number of satellite subscribers, but survey estimates of the number of satellite homes from 1989 available from the Broadcasters Audience Research Board are also given:
Cable Satellite Year Homes connected Year Homes connected January 1986 127,481 — — January 1987 188,459 — — January 1988 249,642 — — January 1989 272,559 March 1989 67,000 January 1990 302,438 March 1990 681,000 January 1991 422,705 January 1991 1,312,000 January 1992 490,059 February 1992 1,783,000 January 1993 652,366 January 1993 2,297,000 January 1994 783,089 January 1994 2,664,000 January 1995 1,055,362 January 1995 2,970,000 January 1996 1,419,865 January 1996 3,472,000 January 1997 1,965,911 January 1997 3,734,000
§ Mr. FabricantTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many satellite television channels were available in the United Kingdom in(a) 1979 and (b) 1996. [10832]
§ Mr. FisherNo satellite channels were available in the UK in 1979. By the end of 1996, the Independent Television Commission had granted licences for 150 satellite television services. The commission estimates8W that about two thirds of these were operational. Viewers in the UK with the necessary reception equipment could also receive a similar number of services from overseas.