Terrestrial TV audiences dwindle as digital-take up soars

The network was beaten by its nearest rival BBC One, which secured 23.8% of the viewing share in the fourth quarter, although this figure was down from 25.4% in the previous quarter.

Non-terrestrial accounted for 27.9% of the audience compared with 26.9% in the third quarter. According to the IPA's figures, this has risen steadily since its new panel was introduced in 2002.

As digital-take up increases, non-terrestrial channels are likely to secure an even higher audience share at the expense of terrestrial, with more specialised channels stealing audiences away from the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Five.

The total percentage of digital homes currently stands at 54%, up from 51% the year before. This figure has been rising steadily since the first recorded figure of 35.5% in 2002.

Lynn Robinson, IPA research director, said: "The major point of interest in the data is continual growth in digital homes, which now constitutes 54% of the television universe. This growth is spearheaded by digital terrestrial."

Elsewhere, Channel 4's audience share dropped to 9% from 10.5%, while Five remained constant on 6.4% over the third and fourth quarter.

BBC Two lost a small percentage, 0.2%, of viewers in the last quarter decreasing to end the year on 9.6%.

Demographically, channel performances retained much the same pattern as they have held for some time now. The strong bias of the non-terrestrial audience towards the younger age groups continued, with non-terrestrial taking a 45.6% share among children.

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