Digital TV revolution gets underway

by Paul Revoir

Last updated at 23:51 15 March 2007


The process of switching off the analogue

television signal is to start in the

autumn – and a small town in Cumbria

will lead the way.

About 25,000 households in Whitehaven

will be the first to make the change in the

early hours of October 17.

BBC2 will be the first channel to go for Whitehaven

viewers, with other analogue channels following

on November 14.

There will be plenty of warning. From May,

captions will appear on analogue channels warning

residents they must swop to digital TV.

Over the next five years, the process will be

repeated across the country, finishing in 2012

with London, Tyne Tees and Ulster being the

final regions to make the change.

The march towards digital TV continues

despite the fact that almost half the country’s

60million sets are not yet linked to a digital

receiver.

The switchover is predominantly funded by

the BBC licence fee, with a total of £800million

being fed into the project.

Digital UK, the organisation set up to oversee

the transition, is to explain how it all works in a

£5million national publicity campaign.

The phase one unveiling came 24 hours after

media regulator Ofcom revealed that only 48.5

per cent of all Britain’s televisions received

multi-channel signals at the end of 2006.

This figure rose to 78.6 per cent when only the

main TV sets in a household were considered.

Around seven million households will be eligible

for free equipment to convert their TV set,

help with installation and follow-up support.

For everyone else, the average household cost

will be £100-£150, Digital UK said.

Broadcasting minister Shaun Woodward said

he was confident there would be no "doomsday

scenario" in which householders left it until the

last minute to buy new equipment.

He predicted

a "massive take-up" over the next few months.

In Whitehaven, awareness of digital switchover

has risen to 95 per cent, compared to a national

figure of 80 per cent.

But only 73 per cent of

homes in the town have access to a digital signal

compared to 79 per cent across the country.

Whitehaven lags behind the rest of the country

largely because its residents do not yet have

access to freeview or cable services, so satellite

is the only option.

Resident John Smith, 43 was critical of the

decision to start the switchover in an area with

high unemployment.

"Whitehaven is not a rich area," he said. "People

are not going to have the money to go out and

buy a new telly.

"Why choose any area? If you are

going to switch it off, switch it off across the

country. Why should we be a guinea pig?"

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