Just about more than half of Metro Manila’s homes are now watching digital television in a shift from analogue services, according to two recent polls in the Philippines.
A survey from Pulse Asia found 51% of homes now own a digital terrestrial TV (DTT)-enabled television set or a DTT set top box, while Social Weather Stations (SWS) found in March 2018 the number of digitally enabled TV households was 56%.Across the Philippines, the surveys had similar findings with SWS recording 17% of homes receiving DTT services, while Pulse Asia put the figure at 16%.
Broadcaster and media group, ABS-CBN TVPlus has sold a total of 5 million DTT boxes since the digital service launched in 2015.
The ABS-CBN TVPlus service covers Metro Manila, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan, Rizal, Laguna, Pampanga, Tarlac, Benguet, Cavite, Metro Cebu, Cagayan De Oro, Iloilo, Bacolod, and Davao.
ABS-CBN’s rival broadcaster GMA Network is currently rolling out its DTT service, also based on the Japanese ISDB-T standard.
Last year, the Philippines’ National Telecommunications Commission announced that analogue TV transmissions would be switched off in 2023. By then about 95% of households nationwide are expected to have access to digital TV.
