Digital TV News

Record DTV homes as we approach the first switchover

21 September, 2007

editorial@consumerchoices.co.uk

With the first digital switchover only weeks away, Ofcom has announced that 85% of UK homes have already gone digital.

The latest Communications Report on Digital TV showed that 21.4 million homes now enjoy multi-channel television, having increased by 13% over the past year - the strongest growth to date - as the first regions prepare to switch. A massive 81% of this growth came from increased take-up of digital terrestrial TV, which has grown by 52% year on year.

Ed Richards, Ofcom Chief Executive, said: “More than four in five UK households are now enjoying the benefits of digital television. It’s extremely encouraging that we are continuing to see the market grow strongly with less than a month until Whitehaven becomes the first place to fully switch to digital television.”

Freeview (www.freeview.co.uk) overtook Sky (www.sky.com) as the most popular multi-channel platform in April this year, and while it continues to be the digital TV supplier of choice, customers wanting to switch now have more options than ever before. Since the beginning of the year, both BT Vision (www.btvision.bt.com) and Tiscali TV (www.tiscali.co.uk) have launched their services nationwide and TV-over-broadband continues to grow.

The government plans to turn the last of the old analogue signal off in 2012, by which time the whole of the UK will have had to switch to digital in order to carry on watching TV.

To find out when your area is set to switch, click here, or for more information on the cost of going digital, click here.