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Digital Switchover

Welcome to the Digital Switchover page, the digital switchover refers to the turning off of the old analogue television broadcasts and the full broadcast of digital television in the UK for services like Freeview. At the moment analogue and digital television are being broadcast simultaneously but this means that digital television cannot be broadcast to it's full potential, turning off analogue television broadcasts will open up the extra space that digital television needs to be broadcast fully.

At the moment only around 75% of the UK can receive digital television but when the analogue broadcasts are switched off it will allow digital television to cover around 98% of the UK. It will also allow for extra services and channels to be broadcast digitally because the analogue signals take up so much space so removing them allows for much more digital content as the digital signals are so much smaller. This will also allow for digital HD which is not possible at the moment through Freeview, HD is another revolution in television that has a much better picture quality.

The switchover will begin in 2008 and should take around 4-5 years to complete, it will be done region by region and not all at the same time. The rough time scale is as follows:

You will need to have a television that is capable of displaying digital television by the date above for your region or you will not be able to watch television at all if you use terrestrial television (not Sky or cable). There are three options for getting ready for digital television which are buying a set top box for use with your current television, signing up for another digital television service such as Sky Digital or cable or buying a new television that already has a digital television tuner built in.

Buying a Freeview set top box is the cheapest option as they are cheap and require no subscription, there is a small one off payment for the set top box and then Freeview offers free access to the digital television. A set top box looks much like a DVD player so is easy to accommodate with your other electronics, for more information see our guide to set top boxes.

There is also the option of buying a new television that has a Freeview digital tuner built in and this is a good option if you are planning on buying a new television anyway. There are several advantages to buying a new television with a Freeview digital tuner built in, you will only have one remote control which will simplify your television control and you will also need no set top box so you will save space and money. Buying a new television can also get you the latest technology such as high definition which offers amazing on screen quality and modern, sleek televisions such as the LCD and plasma televisions. For more on televisions that have a Freeview tuner built in see our televisions page.

The third option is subscribing to another digital television service such as Sky Digital or cable, these generally require a monthly subscription but offer a much better quality of channels and entertainment so if you want the best quality television then Sky Digital is the best option due to the sheer amount of quality channels on offer and cable is also very good too. If you would like to learn more about Sky or Cable then see or guides to those digital services.

So there are options available for the big digital television switchover and you need to start considering these now, switching to digital television is easy and we have guides to each method so why not update now and start enjoying the high quality and huge selection of channels available through digital television?