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The United States and Canada are not the only places that are shutting their analog TV systems down and converting to digital; the United Kingdom is too. In fact, the switchover has already happened in one region. The following provides information on the digital switchover in the UK, programs that are in place to help consumers, awareness campaigns, and the success of the first converted region.
When
Unlike in the U.S. and Canada, where the conversion to digital TV will take place on specific dates, in the United Kingdom, the switchover will happen region by region between 2008 and 2012.
Assistance
Digital UK
This organization was created at the request of the government and is leading the process of converting to digital TV in the UK. It provides information on what people need to do to prepare for the switchover and when they need to do it.
Digital UK also works with digital TV platform operators, equipment manufacturers, installers, retailers, rental companies, and consumer groups to coordinate the technical rollout of digital TV in the UK. It is owned by UK's public service broadcasters (BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Five, S4C, and Teletext), and multiplex operators SDN and National Grid Wireless.
Digital Switchover Help Scheme
This program has been created to provide eligible households with help to convert their TV to digital. To be eligible, you, your partner, or dependant child has to be:
- aged 75 or older
- entitled to one of the following allowances: Disability Living Allowance, Attendance Allowance, Constant Attendance Allowance (CAA) under the Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit scheme and CAA, and War Pensioners Mobility Supplement under the pre-2005 War Pensions scheme
- registered as being blind or partially sighted
The program costs households "40 for the basic equipment and assistance, unless you are eligible and receive Pension Credit, Income Support or Jobseeker's Allowance, in which case it is free.
The help includes:
- equipment to convert one TV to digital, and a new aerial, if needed, if you live in a house
- help with installing the new equipment and learning how to use it
The Help Scheme digital box varies from the standard one as it is designed with easy access features such as subtitling and audio description.
Digital Outreach
This organization brings together Age Concern England, Help the Aged, Community Service Volunteers, and Collective Enterprises Limited, and will commission a range of support services from volunteer groups and charities in the first four digital TV switchover regions: Border, West Country, Wales, and Granada. The activities include training volunteers, disseminating information to potentially vulnerable people, public meetings and events, and a network of help centres. This program assists people that are not eligible for the Digital Switchover Help Scheme.
Homes Set for Digital
This program, established by Digital UK, is aimed at raising digital switchover awareness and preparation among housing developers, landlords, property managers, and residents. Pamphlets were sent out to rental properties across the first four regions to convert, and a website providing information for property managers was launched in the summer of 2007.
Digital Tick Logo
This logo is a certification mark that appears on products and services that are designed to work before, during and after the digital switchover. It will also be on badges worn by retail staff who are trained to answer questions about the switchover, and used to identify aerial installers accredited as Registered Digital Installers (RDI).
Equipment
The price of Freeview digital boxes start from "25, while installation of a standard new roof aerial will cost between "60 and "180. Freeview refers to TV through their aerial, and is a free TV service that gives you access to such channels as ITV2, E4, and BBC Three.
Information Campaign
Digital UK launched an "8 million national information campaign to promote the digital TV switchover. Since the first promotions were introduced in the summer of 2006, awareness of the switchover grew by over one-third to over eight-in-ten adults.
The new campaign explains that people will switch at different times based on where they live. Ads encourage people to visit the Digital UK website where a postcode checker provides detailed information about when they will switch and what digital services and channels they will receive.
National and regional TV, radio, newspaper, and on-line ads are being used for the campaign, which features the switchover robot character Digit Al traveling around the country and helping people to prepare.
First switchover complete
Whitehaven, Cumbria became the country's first all-digital TV town on November 14, 2007. Analog BBC One, ITV1, and Channel 4 were replaced by a series of digital channels broadcast in the area for the first time. The process of switching over began on October 17, when analog BBC Two came off air and the first digital channels became available through aerial.
Research suggests that almost all 25,000 homes in and around Whitehaven were ready for the completion of this process. Only around 500 homes still needed to take action after the switchover occurred. There were also some social housing providers and the Help Scheme that still needed to arrange delivery or installation.
According to research:
- almost all homes had converted their main TV to digital by the second stage of the switchover on November 14, and by mid-December, 95% of secondary sets were converted
- most homes converting to digital TV did so shortly before October 17
- 95% said digital TV was as good as or better than analog TV
- 81% of homes said they received sufficient information on the switchover
- 94% of households interviewed after the switch felt either positive or neutral about it
- 67% had spent time exploring the wider choice of channels with digital
(Digital UK)
People in the Whitehaven region complained that they were confused by Digital UK's decision to switchover just one channel, BBC2, a month ahead of all the others. Almost half of those questioned said that they would have preferred all channels to change at the same time. Digital UK is thus " 'considering whether it is appropriate to...adopt 14 day transition periods at other transmission sites, and whether in some regions with high DTT [digital terrestrial television] coverage a single switchover might be possible' " (WARC News, 04/25/2008).
Penetration
According to communications regulator Ofcom, there are now 22.2 million UK homes with at least one digital TV set. The Digital Television Progress Report, covering the October to December 2007 period, finds that multichannel TV is now installed in 87.6% of all households, up from 86.1% in the previous quarter. This growth is led by the Freeview platform, available without subscription through digitally-enabled TV receivers or analog TV sets connected to a digital converter (WARC News, 03/31/2008).
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