by Olivia Elsom

Created on: December 01, 2008   Last Updated: December 02, 2008

In September 2005 the UK government announced that analogue TV was to be phased out. The digital switchover started in 2008 and is scheduled to be completed by 2012. This will be done on a region by region basis, although Whitehaven in Cumbria is the exception. They became the first place in the UK to go digital in October 2007. The timetable for going digital by television region is Border in 2008, Granada, West Country and Wales in 2009, West, Grampian and Scottish in 2010, Central, Anglia and Yorkshire in 2011 and London, Meridian, Tyne Tees and Ulster in 2012.

Basically what switching to digital means for consumers is, if you don't have a TV with a digital receiver or if you don't have a digital set-top box, when the analogue signal is switched off in your region you will be looking at a blank screen. Video and DVD recorders will also need to be able to cope with digital TV. Probably the easiest way round this problem is to buy a Freeview set-top box which are fairly inexpensive nowadays. As long as your aerial is receiving a digital signal, you will be able to receive more than forty digital TV channels without having to pay a monthly subscription. Some new TV sets also come with a built-in Freeview Tuner which can be used after the digital switchover. Of course there are also the subscription options of Sky Digital or Cable TV.

Although for some of us it will require a bit of effort, and unfortunately possibly some expense, switching off the analogue system is generally a good thing. It will boost the digital TV signal, making digital TV accessible to everyone with the right equipment. At the moment, one quarter of British households cannot receive a digital signal via their TV aerial. In fact many households still cannot even receive Channel Five, so at least the switch to digital will give everyone the same potential choices.

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