"Freeview Tipped To Overtake Sky By 2007"- MG

It is true that Germany will be able to switch of analogue terrestrial by 2010 (and indeed allready have started phasing it out - it's no longer available in Berlin) but Germany is different. Just because terrestrial is the defacto base level TV standard here, people seem to assume that it is everywhere.

In fact it's not, and in Germany, where terrestrial reception can be patchy, most people use satellite and cable to receive TV, which is why Astra carries the main public broadcast channels ARD and ZDF, and all the 'regional 3' channels.

Switching off terrestrial in Germany is nowhere near as big a deal as it is here. And in any case, Germany might still be commited to analogue even after terrestrial goes - all the channels have extended their analogue carriage deals on Astra until 2010, with an option to extend them again if they need to (SES I think have said they will continue to provide analogue transmission for as long as it's viable for them - and if all the German channels stay there I'd imagine it would be).

There is no way in hell we should be seeking to match a German target when their TV market operates in an entirely different way to ours - their target has nothing to do with efficiency or commitment to analogue switch off, it's just workable because it affects less people, and as I said, even if they do eradicate analogue terrestrial by 2010 it's entirely on the cards that Germany will continue to use analogue satellite well beyond that point.

I agree with Cwathen totally on this one.

Don't forget, the likes of the Benelux countries being able to do the same thing basically, as 90% of their viewers are either digital already or watching via cable services!

How much of the UK is cabled? Naff all in comparison.

If we switch over to digital only by 2015, I'd be very surprised.

SImon

The problem is mainly one of a lack of will to actually set a firm timetable for analogue switch off.

Until a firm date is set, say 2015 for arguments sake, manufacturers will have no incentive to mass produce integrated DTT sets or VCRs with DTT decoders. In other words, the status quo will continue where no decision will be made until a certain proportion of the population have moved to digital reception methods. In turn, this creates a vicious circle where no change will ever happen.

Yep - there is a significant amount of concern in "analogue switch off" circles at the popularity of DVD-Recorders and Hard Disc recorders that only come with analogue tuners. These are perceived as "high tech" and "modern" replacements for the analogue VHS machine - and most are not coming with DTT reception.

Already people are suggesting that dual-tuner set-top boxes should be marketed - with dual outputs - one to feed a TV the second to independently feed a VCR, DVD recorder or analogue PVR... This still doesn't make set-top-box control easy - though if the timer can be set on the DTT receiver (and many DVD recorders and VCRs now support external record triggering) this may help.

Over 5 years after digital terrestrial launched in the UK there is only ONE DTT VHS machine on the market I believe, and no DTT equipped DVD recorders (until the Fusion launches - if it launches)... There are the Pace and Humax DTT PVRs - but these are the exception not the rule.

This had better change soon - as people are still buying new analogue stuff.

Absolutely. Many a TV set lasts more than 7 years; the portable I have in my bedroom is older than that, my parents telly is probably about 12 years old.

So I think we can safely assume that a large number of the analogue-only sets purchased now and from this point onwards will still be functional in 2011. Hardly 100%. And that's without considering videos, as cwathen has already said.

It's all a bit of a dream. And until they improve digital terrestrial TV I can't say I personally have any problem with analogue UHF transmissions continuing indefinately!

That's part of the problem. Until they switch off analogue transmissions there is little they can do to improve digital coverage. The current 6 DTT services are fitted into "gaps" in the existing 4+1 analogue channel plan - and can only do so by running at much lower power than analogue to avoid interference (and even now they reduce the analogue coverage quality a bit in some areas)

Once analogue is switched off the plan is to move some of the DTT services to higher power slots that are free-ed up. However it is a chicken and egg situation - people won't buy DTT receivers until they have to (and can get a decent signal) - but they won't neccesarily get a decent signal until space is freed up by switching analogue off.

Some suggestions have included switching analogue services off channel-by-channel in a phased basis - others have suggested working on a regional basis. Whatever method is chosen it is going to be horrid - it'll make the Channel 5 VCR retuning look like a walk in the park I suspect.

(The worst bit is that the government currently plan to only allocate the top and bottom of the current TV bands to the current DTT system after analogue switch off - selling the middle chunk off... They really should use it to launch some HD DTT services like the US, Japan, Korea, Australia etc are launching)