Analogue TV Will Be Switched Off on October 24, 2012

Are you ready to say goodbye?

Digital UK has announced that the country's 'analogue era' will end 80 years after the first experimental broadcasts went out in August of 1932. The old five-channel system will be switched off for good on October 24 of next year, signalling the end of the analogue era and the completion of the digital switchover that started three years ago, in 2008.

"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," said David Scott, Chief Executive of Digital UK. "I'm looking forward to October next year when we will have brought the benefits of digital to every corner of the country." 

The UK's digital switch over officially commenced in 2008, following a pilot program involving the residents of Whitehaven, Cumbria. The Whitehaven test began in October of 2007 and by mid-November of the same year, 25,000 homes had completed the switch to digital television. At its conclusion next year (which is inside the timetable set out by the government, by the way), Digital UK says a total of 15 million new viewers will have been brought into coverage for Freeview services. The independent, not-for-profit, which was established in 2005 to lead the digital switch over, says that the project is on course for a completion that is £53 million under budget.