Why is the digital switchover happening?
Switching to digital enables viewers to experience much more through their televisions, now and in the future. Digital TV signals use less broadcast space than analogue, allowing more capacity for other services – including more TV channels, new features and high definition (HD) television. Once analogue is switched off, the strength of the digital signal will be boosted, improving levels of availability and broadcast quality throughout the UK.
At the moment, some households still cannot access channel five and around one in four homes cannot get digital TV via their aerial. The digital switchover aims to make it fairer for everyone, as only by switching off the old analogue signal will it be possible to increase the digital signal to cover parts of the country that cannot receive it at the moment and to deliver additional services such as HD TV. Going digital means a lot of great benefits for everyone: • Better picture and sound quality • Extra TV channels at no extra cost, plus other channels available on subscription • The provision of terrestrial HD TV channels • Digital radio channels • Access to a range of interactive services (via the red button on your remote) • On-screen TV listings including a guide to the coming week’s TV programmes All in all, going digital is good news for everyone, and if you haven’t already got digital it’s not difficult to switch either.
