Digital TV News

Analogue TV era comes to an end

Friday 14 October, 2011

By Kelvin Goodson

The analogue TV system will be switched off for good on 24 October, 2012, when the digital television switchover is completed

The UK’s analogue TV system will be switched off for good on October 24, 2012, with the digital television switchover being completed on the same date.

The old five-channel system will be turned off 80 years after the first experimental broadcasts were made, Digital UK, the organisation that has led the digital switchover, has announced.

David Scott, chief executive of Digital UK, said: “The analogue era was a defining period for TV but the fully digital age will be even better, with a greater choice of channels for viewers everywhere.

“I’m looking forward to October next year when we will have brought the benefits of digital to every corner of the country.”

The digital switchover, which started in 2008, is on course to be completed within the timetable set out by the government and at least £53million under budget.

Once complete, more than 15 million new viewers will be able to receive Freeview, a collection of digital TV channels that can be watched for free provided the viewer has a set-top box or an integrated TV.

Experimental analogue television broadcasts were first made in 1932, with the technology being officially launched by the BBC four years later.

The last analogue TV signals to be switched off will be in Northern Ireland, after which viewers will no longer be able to watch the five analogue channels - BBC1, BBC2, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 - without a set-top box or a television set with one built-in.