By 2012 all of the UK's television will be broadcast in digital form, with the last remaining analogue transmitters being switched off. It's a momentous occasion, but a lot of people are still in the dark about many aspects of the digital TV switchover; what are the options for receiving it? What equipment do you need? How can I get cheap digital TV? What's the best option for me? We're here to answer those questions. The four main ways to get digital TV are shown below - click in one of the boxes for more information.
We've selected random areas of the UK to see the different timescales for switchover, what will be required in terms of retuning or replacement of aerials and availability of broadband TV packages.
Lincolnshire See the results from Sky, Virgin Media, BT and Digital UK in 5 random postcodes in Lincoln, Spalding, Skegness, Horncastle and Grimsby in the county of Lincolnshire - switching to digital TV in 2011. Click for more about Lincolnshire TV switchover...
Wyre See the results from Sky, Virgin Media, BT and Digital UK in 3 random postcodes in Warren, Garstang and Brock in the Wyre district of Lancashire - switching to digital TV on two dates in late 2009. Click for more about Wyre TV switchover...
Stoke-on-Trent See the results from Sky, Virgin Media, BT and Digital UK in 3 random postcodes in Tunstall, Hanley and Fenton in the Staffordshire city of Stoke-on-Trent - switching to digital TV in 2011. Click for more about Stoke-on-Trent TV switchover...
London Borough of Southwark See the results from Sky, Virgin Media, BT and Digital UK in 3 random postcodes in Walworth, Peckham and Dulwich in the London Borough of Southwark - switching to digital TV in 2012. Click for more about Southwark TV switchover...
Torbay Borough Council - the English Riviera See the results from Sky, Virgin Media, BT and Digital UK in 3 random postcodes in Torquay, Blagdon and Brixham in the Borough of Torbay - switched to digital TV in two stages in April 2009. Click for more about Torbay TV switchover...
Exeter City Council See the results from Sky, Virgin Media, BT and Digital UK in 3 random postcodes in Whitestone, Exeter and Whimple in the city of Exeter - switched to digital TV in two stages in May 2009. Click for more about Exeter TV switchover...
South Somerset As this area covers two different TV regions and transmitters, due to switch in May 2009 and then in March-April 2010, we've taken 4 random postcodes in Yeovil, Ilminster, Chard and Wincanton to compare the results. Click for more about South Somerset TV switchover...
Carlisle City Council See the results from Sky, Virgin Media, BT and Digital UK in 3 random postcodes in Carlisle, Stanwix and Rockcliffe in the Carlisle City Council area - switched to digital TV in two stages in June and July 2009. Click for more about Carlisle TV switchover...
Dumfries and Galloway See the results from Sky, Virgin Media, BT and Digital UK in 3 random postcodes in Dumfries, New Galloway and Moffat in the Dumfries and Galloway area - switched to digital TV in two stages in June and July 2009. Click for more about Dumfries and Galloway TV switchover...
North Devon See the results from Sky, Virgin Media, BT and Digital UK in 3 random postcodes in Barnstaple, Bideford and Hatherleigh in the part of North Devon covered by Huntshaw Cross transmitter - switched to digital TV in two stages in July 2009. Click for more about North Devon TV switchover...
Cornwall - Redruth See the results from Sky, Virgin Media, BT and Digital UK in 3 random postcodes in Penzance, Redruth and Falmouth in the part of Cornwall covered by the Redruth transmitter - switched to digital TV in two stages in July and August 2009. Click for more about Cornwall Redruth TV switchover...
Sheffield See the results from Sky, Virgin Media, BT and Digital UK in 3 postcodes where Sheffield Homes has properties, in Leverton Gardens, Callow Mount and Roscoe Court covered by the Sheffield and Emley Moor transmitters - switching to digital TV in 2011. Click for more about Sheffield Homes TV switchover...
Preseli, South West Wales See the results from Sky, Virgin Media, BT and Digital UK in 3 postcodes covered by the Preseli transmitter in Pembrokeshire, switched to digital TV in August and September 2009. Featured areas are Haverfordwest or Hwlffordd, Cardigan or Aberteifi and Fishguard or Abergwaun. Click for more about Pembrokeshire TV switchover...
Swansea Switched to digital TV in August and September 2009 as part of the Kilvey Hill transmitter - See the results from Sky, Virgin Media, BT and Digital UK in 3 postcodes. Featured areas are central Swansea or Abertawe, Morriston and Neath. Click for more about Swansea TV options...
Carmel, South West Wales See the results from Sky, Virgin Media, BT and Digital UK in 3 postcodes covered by the Carmel transmitter in Carmarthenshire, switched to digital TV in August and September 2009. Featured areas are Carmarthen or Caerfyrddin, Tenby or Dinbych-y-Pysgod and Llanelli. Click for more about Carmarthenshire TV switchover...
Caradon Hill - Devon and Cornwall See the results from Sky, Virgin Media, BT and Digital UK in 3 postcodes covered by the Caradon Hill transmitter in Plymouth, Launceston and Tavistock. Caradon Hill covers much of Devon and Cornwall and is switched to digital TV in two stages on August 12th and September 30th 2009. Click for more about Devon and Cornwall switchover...
When it comes to the question of equipment, almost all televisions are capable of displaying digital TV, as long as they have some way of receiving the signal. Your old TV has an analogue tuner which currently picks up the 5 terrestial channels through your aerial - this is what will gradually be switched off between now and 2012, so you need to replace it with Freeview (via a set-top box or by buying a TV with Freeview built in) if you want cheap digital TV, or a satellite or cable subscription or a service which provides TV through your broadband like BT Vision or Tiscali. So, your TV is probably safe for now, but when you come to buy your next one you will need to consider firstly "Do I want a built-in digital tuner?", to which the answer is yes, preferably two to enable you to watch one and record another, and secondly "Do I want HD TV?" - you can see a selection of great HD TV deals here.
Recording-wise on Digital TV Switchover your current recorder, be it DVD, hard disc or good old-fashioned VHS, will be able to record all of the digital channels you receive but remember a VCR, like your old telly, picks up the terrestial channels through it's analogue tuner, which will no longer work. This means you'll only be able to watch the channel you're recording and vice versa, but there are several ways to get round this. On Freeview you can have two tuners (a set-top box or TV with two tuners, or one in your box and one in the TV), or you could opt for a single tuner set-top box coupled with a hard disc/DVD recorder with a Freeview receiver built-in - in a nutshell you need two tuners to receive two different channels at the same time. Sky, Virgin and BT Vision all offer PVR or Personal Video Recorder services like Sky+, Virgin V+ and the V-Box too.
An excellent guide to the channels available to each area of the UK can be found here.
The first place in the UK to have the analogue signal switched off was Whitehaven in the Copeland area of Cumbria, on 14th November 2007. The first channel to go was BBC 2 on October 17th 2007. The MP for Copeland is Jamie Reed, who said "All eyes will be on Whitehaven, and Digital UK must continue it's good work and make sure it gets the switchover right". Reed is also chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Digital Switchover. See our Digital Switchover page to find out when it's happening in your area.
If you opt for Sky TV you will have a mini-dish installed somewhere on your property which receives the TV service from satellite transmitters over 22,000 miles above the earth. You will also be given as part of the Sky TV package a Sky+HD box which allows you to select which channel you want to watch, as well as record, pause and rewind TV.
Sky has a huge range of channels from the basic terrestrials like BBC1, 2, 3 and 4 to Sky One, FilmFour, MTV and Sky Movies. However it's the sport coverage that attracts a lot of customers to Sky TV, as everything from Sky Sports 1 to Eurosport, At The Races and The Fight Network is available either as part of a TV package or as an added extra. More about Sky TV deals here.
In order to receive cable TV you have to live in area where the fibre-optic cables have been laid - since the mid-late 80s a programme of cable-laying has provided coverage for much of the UK. Virgin Media will connect the cabling in your street to the V-Box which then connects to your TV, so there's no need for a dish to receive the signal. Cable TV can be better than satellite TV in built-up areas where a signal sent over the air could be obstructed by buildings, geographical features or bad weather - cable TV is unaffected by these.
Virgin Media boasts up to 145 digital TV channels including Setanta Sports, MTV, Nickelodeon and Sky 1, plus a massive library of films, TV, music available on demand. Currently they are the only TV provider to offer access to the popular BBC iPlayer. More about cable TV deals here.
The BT Vision box combines a Freeview decoder with an interface for your broadband - the Freeview channels come through your aerial as normal and the on-demand content comes through your broadband connection - the box brings it all together, a real example of 'convergence'.
The on-demand content features Pay per View movies and sport, music TV and kids' channels as well as general viewing like Channel 4 On Demand. The great thing about the sport in particular is the flexibility - you can take a monthly package with unlimited sport or you can pay to view single events, you don't need to commit to a contract (other than the BT broadband service through which it comes). More about BT Vision here.
You can now get the new improved BT Home Hub version 2 free on all broadband options! It offers up to twice the wireless range of any other UK broadband provider's gear, is very simple to set up and has a new powersave function added - as you can see from the picture here it's beautifully designed too.
Tiscali uses your phone line to deliver broadband and TV - set-up is free for broadband only and £99 for the TV service, which includes around 70 channels and thousands of on demand programmes and movies. Tiscali is not available everywhere in the UK, currently just in larger places like London, Birmingham, Liverpool and Leicester, but coverage is increasing all the time. Please note - Tiscali has ben acquired by Talk Talk and changes are underway to the service - watch this space.
Tiscali offers over 70 channels including Sky One, E4, More4, Film4, Discovery, National Geographic, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, Sky Sports and Sky Movies. You also have access to lots of movies, music videos and TV shows on demand.
This site deals with the UK digital switchover - if you've arrived looking for details of US and Australian switchover click on the Blackstump banner here for useful links in those territories.