Rise of Freeview sees 20% choose the new channels

Tim Burrowes

October 5, 2010 1:47

The multichannels had one of their biggest nights yet, pulling in a combined share of nearly 20% of the free TV audience.

The high share – amounting to 19.3% – was partly driven by a strong showing for Ten’s sports channel One which simulcast coverage of the Commonwealth Games.

The shift hurt the primary channels, with only Seven getting above a 20% share.

However, it was not the digital channels’ biggest night to date – that came on election night when 22.3% of viewers looking for non-political alternatives were driven to the multichannels.

Subscribe to keep reading

Join Mumbrella Pro to access the Mumbrella archive and read our premium analysis of everything under the media and marketing umbrella.

Tim Burrowes

Tim Burrowes is the publisher of Mumbrella and Unmade. He co-founded Mumbrella in 2008 and sister title Unmade in 2021. He's worked in the UK, Middle East, Asia & Australia and has specialised in writing about the communications world for the last 25 years. He wrote the book Media Unmade, published in 2021, and became the presenter of MediaLand on ABC Radio National in 2025.