Digital switchover

There's also the logistocal aspects of the switchover - Transmitter A can't have it's digital channels added because it would interfere with Transmitters B, C D and E so they have to be switched over first etc

]f anyone wants to have a go at the logistics, you can have a play with the BBC R&D game at http://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/projects/switchover-game/instructions.shtml

But this is the problem - it's all well them saying digital is in most homes but I'll take a wild guess it's only on one television - and most homes have more than one. Where are the stats about what percentage of TVs have actually been made digital?

BBC Two in Whitehaven is tonight being replaced ITV1, and in ITV1s place, multiplex PSB1, which is like Mux 1, but with added Five.

On a related note I'm not too sure why BBC News and others have been say 'Whitehaven is the first town to go digital', as if it was just that town which switched over. From speaking to someone in that area I'm led to believe that the switchover affects many other towns and villages in the surrounding area. Thus on a pedantic note it's 'most of West Cumbria is the first to go digital'.

Whitehaven's Tesco store has seen sales of digital set-top boxes rise by 1400% since the end of July, and digital TV sales were up 280% in the same period.

That's the problem, though thinking about it my family and their households have all made the switch to digital completely in terms of TV - but it's videos which are the problem.

I also think delaying the switchover is causing unneccessary confusion over digital aerials. The main problem with reception is interference - and when the analogue signals are turned off there should be less interference, and therefore it's probably less likely you'll need a digital aerial - leading to some people forking out when in the long run they might not need too.

There are also quite alot of people who though they receive digital now fine through their existing aerial believe they'll need a digital aerial after switchover - and also quite a few aerial fitters willing to exploit that belief!

Just three years ago, the 30th anniversary of Ceefax showed us, perhaps surprisingly, how what is seen by some as a dated service was still a valued one. I could go into the advantages of digital and traditional text services but that is not what this thread is for.

What I will say, however, is that despite the massive publicity a large number of people failed to get the message when Oracle closed at the end of 1992. The ITC were apparently deluged by calls in the new year from viewers wandering what was going on. My point being? When the new ITV franchises came in at the same time, it was they that were getting all the publicity and Oracle's transition to Teletext ended up being overlooked by the news coverage. You could argue that a similar thing is happening again with teletext, as the emphasis is on making people know that analogue CHANNELS are being switched off.

Looks like TVForum's TV is stuck on analogue and located in West Cumbria.

On a related note I'm not too sure why BBC News and others have been say 'Whitehaven is the first town to go digital', as if it was just that town which switched over. From speaking to someone in that area I'm led to believe that the switchover affects many other towns and villages in the surrounding area. Thus on a pedantic note it's 'most of West Cumbria is the first to go digital'.

There is also a widespread myth going around that there is such a thing as a 'digital aerial'.

And we have a digital aerial.