Freesat has reached the 1m sales milestone just 18 months after launch, including around 400,000 customers who defected from Sky.

According to figures released today, the free-to-air satellite platform holder added 250,000 customers over the Christmas and New Year period.

Freesat, which is jointly owned by the BBC and ITV, has established a 30% share of the UK set top box market based on value since it launched in May 2008.

The majority of Freesat sales have come from existing satellite homes, with 40% of all customers previously receiving their TV services from Sky.

Ofcom's pay-TV review could provide a further boost to Freesat, as Sky may be forced to offer its premium sport and movie channels to rivals at 20% cheaper rates.

Following the beta launch of BBC iPlayer last year, Freesat will also get ITV Player in the summer and the full ITV1 HD channel on April 2.

"Hitting 1m sales is significant milestone for Freesat and gives us a great foundation for further growth, specifically with the millions of homes that have HD TVs but no HD service," said Freesat managing director Emma Scott.

"Freesat is a great opportunity for the millions of homes with existing satellite dishes who are used to quality TV but no longer want to pay a monthly subscription for it and we continue to see an increasing number of viewers moving across from pay-TV.

"Much of what we're now working on is paving the way for next generation free TV with innovations like BBC iPlayer and ITV Player. We will continue to add value to the service by integrating Canvas if approved by the BBC Trust and we are following Ofcom's pay-TV review with interest."

Interim ITV chief executive John Cresswell said: "We're delighted with Freesat's success - a million sales in less than two years is a terrific achievement. Freesat is an important distribution platform for ITV, providing our audiences with next generation free HD services and the capability for further development. We're confident Freesat will continue to go from strength to strength."

BBC director general Mark Thompson added: "The development of Freesat has extended the choices available to viewers in allowing them to receive all of the BBC's digital channels including BBC HD. I'm pleased to see that they have reached this latest landmark, meaning that more people are enjoying quality BBC content."