BBC1 overtaken by multichannel TV

For the first time in British television history, more people have tuned in to satellite and cable channels this month than watched BBC1.

The development is testimony to the growth of multichannel television in Britain and shows that the dominance of BBC1 and ITV1 is finally coming to an end. The rise in viewers on the digital channels this month was partly driven by the return to BSkyB of Premiership football and the success of Pop Idol 2 on ITV2.

Official viewing figures for August are expected to show that non-terrestrial television (everything other than BBC1, BBC2, ITV1, Channel 4 and Five) won a record 25.1 per cent of the total audience. The highest previous total for such channels was the 24.4 per cent achieved last April, towards the end of the football season.

BBC1, which is Britain's most-watched channel, attained 24.4 per cent of the audience, with ITV1 attracting 23.1 per cent. The BBC said yesterday that the figures showed the corporation had been right to set up its own digital channels.

BBC3, aimed mainly at young adults, and BBC4, which is essentially an arts channel, are part of the growing choice available to viewers with Freeview, satellite or cable. A BBC spokeswoman said: "BBC1 is very much a mainstream channel targeting a broad audience. Multichannel [television] can target a specific audience at a specific time. There are a lot of things on offer there."

BSkyB, which has just paid more than £1bn for the rights to screen Premiership matches over the next three seasons, has increased subscribers from 6.1 million last year to nearly 7 million. Another 1.5 million homes can access multichannel television through digital boxes.

The BBC spokeswoman said: "What these latest figures show is why it's so important for BBC television to have a digital strategy. It shows you that multichannel and digital viewing is growing and that it's important that the BBC is part of that."

By the end of this year, the combined annual audience for the multichannel stations is expected to outstrip that for ITV1 for the first time.