We've taken sample areas of the UK to find out the options for services after the switchover Click here
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.
Broadband and digital TV are generally much better value when ordered together - here's how it adds up.
The basic Sky TV package is £16.50 per month, which is one 'Entertainment Pack', and this includes Sky 'Broadband Base' 2MB broadband and Sky Talk Freetime, a landline service with free evening and weekend calls (although you do need to pay either BT or Sky for your landline line rental). Leaving aside the landline element this is the cheapest way to get Sky broadband, as even if you live outside of the network area and want to get broadband, Broadband Base on it's own costs £17 per month - 50p more than the broadband TV packages.
The cheapest way to get the basic Virgin TV package is to take a size 'M' landline phone service for £11 per month and get the 40 channel size 'M' TV free. You can get the 2MB broadband size 'M' for £10 per month for the first 6 months on promotion and £17 per month thereafter - effective monthly cost over a year £13.50. The cheapest broadband TV packages from Virgin Media are £25 per month, so it isn't quite so clear cut as the Sky pricing - consider that you're paying an extra £11.50 per month to have digital TV and broadband instead of just the broadband. You can add the landline phone into that by taking the £16 per month Triple Deal, which when added to the conditional £11 per month for the landline comes out at £27 per month.
BT broadband Option 1 is £15.64 per month when taken on a 12 month contract, and the broadband, phone and TV package is £39.62 - quite a difference at £23.98, so you need to consider the benefits of the BT Vision on-demand content and decide if it's worth it for your needs and taste. There are reductions for taking an 18 month contract (£7.78 for 3 months on the broadband only and £24.90 for 3 months on the triple package) which take the effective monthly cost over 18 months down to £14.33 for the broadband and £37.16 for the package, but the difference is much the same at £22.83.
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.
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 - switching 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 - switching 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 - switching 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 - switching 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 - switching 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 - switching 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...
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 one of the Sky boxes (regular, Sky+ or HD) which allows you to select which channel you want to watch, and with some boxes, record, pause and rewind.
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 broadband TV 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.