- Sunday, 8 November 2009
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Whatever is funny is subversive, every joke is ultimately a custard pie - George Orwell
Digital Switchover is looming
JUST ONE month before Selkirk becomes the first region in the UK to switch off its analogue TV signal, Ofcom reveals that around 900,000 UK households have free satellite TV.
Around 840,000 homes are receiving services from BSkyB, BBC/ITV and other sources according to results from the Communications Market Digital Progress Report for the second quarter of this year – that’s an increase of around 120,000 from to the first quarter.
Results show further that BBC and ITV freesat sold 60,000 units between September and June bringing the figures up to 900,000.
These statistics mean that almost 90 percent of UK homes now have digital services on their main TV set, while 19.1 million of the 35 million secondary TV sets have been converted – the remaining geared up to do the same.
Sky services are also on the up, with Sky+ adding over 300,000 subscribers bringing the total number up to over 3.7 million – its high definition service has also added over 30,000 subscribers now totaling almost 500,000. Virgin Media’s subscription numbers are also up by around 24,000.
So, it looks like the UK is going to be pretty much set for the switchover which will be completed in 2012, as around 1 million DTT digital video recorders have also been sold in the second quarter of this year.µ
L'Inq
Ofcom
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Well if so many homes have digital TV carnt they speed up the Switch over process?
This article will come as some surprise to the Inquirer's very own Andrew Thomas and the hundreds of other people in the British media who wrote about the first region having its analogue TV transmitters shut down last year:

http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2007/10/17/bbc-switches-analogue-tv
Whitehaven has had its analogue signal switched off since October 2007.
In this (EU) country they also went digital, for the transmitted stuff, but since everybody has cable, and cable also does analog it had zero impact really.
So doesn't the UK have massive cable too?
Personally I wish they went REALLY digital and also went for a progressive scan/HDTV format already if they want to go digital.
Plus the cable companies here although having 'free' digital too require a smartcard to watch it, and I hear it's sneakingly used to poll and create statistics on what channel people are watching, both of which repel me frankly, you should be glad f they don't do that in your area.