Digital television transition
The digital television transition, also called the digital switchover or analogue switch-off, is the process in which analog television broadcasting is converted to and replaced by digital television. This primarily involves the conversion of analogue terrestrial television to digital terrestrial. However, it also involves analogue cable conversion to digital cable, as well as analogue satellite to digital satellite.
In many countries, a simulcast service is operated where a broadcast is made available to viewers in both analog and digital at the same time. As digital becomes more popular, it is likely that the existing analogue services will be removed. In some cases this has already happened, where a broadcaster has offered incentives to viewers to encourage them to switch to digital. In other cases government policies have been introduced to encourage or force the switchover process, especially with regard to terrestrial broadcasts. Government intervention usually involves providing some funding for broadcasters and, in some cases monetary relief to viewers, to enable a switchover to happen by a given deadline.
The switchover for individual countries varies; in some countries it is being implemented in stages as in the United Kingdom, where each region has a separate date to switch off. In others, the whole country switches on one date, such as France, which switched off all analog services on 29 November 2011.
Purpose of the transition
Almost all analog formats in current use were standardised between the 1940s and 1950s and have had to be adapted to the technological innovations since then. Initially offering only black and white images with monophonic sound, the formats have had to be modified to broadcast in colour, stereo sound, SAP, captioning, and other information all while being backwards compatible with televisions unable to use the features. Additionally, engineers have had to implement these protocols within the limits of a set bandwidth and the tolerances of an inefficient analog format.
However during this time, the application and distribution of digital communications evolved. Digital television transmission is more efficient, easily integrating other digital processes. Analogue features have difficulty or cannot do the extra digital features.
- For the end-user, digital television has potential for resolutions and sound fidelity comparable with blu-ray home video and with digital multiplexing, it is also possible to offer subchannels, distinct simulcast programming, from the same broadcaster.
- For government and industry, digital television reallocates the radio spectrum so that it can be auctioned off by the government. In the subsequent auctions, telecommunications industries can introduce new services and products in mobile telephony, wi-fi internet, and other nationwide telecommunications projects.
Timeline for the digital switchover
- 2006: Netherlands
- 2007: Finland, Andorra, Sweden, Switzerland
- 2009: Germany, Isle of Man, Denmark, Norway
- 2010: Belgium, Spain, Latvia, Estonia, Jersey, Guernsey, Slovenia, Luxembourg, Croatia
- 2011: Israel, Monaco, Austria, Cyprus, Malta, France
- 2012: Arab world, Japan, Serbia, Portugal, Czech Republic, Kenya, Taiwan, Canada, Ireland, Lithuania, United Kingdom, Gibraltar, Italy, Bulgaria, South Korea, Azerbaijan, Bolivia, Slovakia
- 2013: North Macedonia, Poland, New Zealand, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Iceland, Australia
- 2015: Romania, Hungary, India, Ukraine, Hong Kong, Iran, Mexico, Philippines, Russia, United States, Uruguay, and the Arab Maghreb, which comprises Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Mauritania and Western Sahara Brunei
- 2016: Brazil
- 2017: Colombia, Chile, Thailand
- 2018: Indonesia, Costa Rica
- 2019: El Salvador, Argentina
- 2020: Venezuela, Peru, Malaysia, Singapore
- 2024: Cuba
- 2026: Vietnam
- 203?: Laos
Other information
The Geneva 2006 Agreement sets 17 June 2015 as the date after which countries may use those frequencies currently assigned for analogue television transmission for digital services, without being required to protect the analogue services of neighbouring countries against interference. This date is generally viewed as an internationally mandated analogue switch-off date, at least along national borders.[1] The European Commission has recommended that digital switchover should be completed by 1 January 2012 - Commission Recommendation 2009/848/EC, of 28.10.2009.[2]
Digital switchover at a glance
Country | First DTT broadcast | Started switch-over | Finished switch-over | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|
Andorra | 25 September 2007 | |||
Arab Maghreb | 2012 | 6 March 2015 | 3 April 2015 | [3] |
Arab world | 1 January 2004 | 13 February 2012 | ||
Australia | 1 January 2001 | 30 June 2010 | 31 December 2013 | [4] |
Belgium | 3 November 2008 | 1 March 2010 | ||
Canada | 1 March 2003 | 31 July 2012 | ||
Croatia | 13 June 2002 | 26 January 2010 | 5 October 2010 | [5] |
Czech Republic | 30 June 2012 | |||
Denmark | 1 March 2003 | 1 November 2009 | ||
Estonia | 1 July 2010 | |||
Finland | 21 August 2001 | 1 September 2007 | ||
France | 31 March 2005 | 2 February 2010 | 29 November 2011 | [6] |
Germany | 1 November 2002 | 25 November 2008 | ||
Greece | 20 March 2006 | 24 September 2009 | 2013 | |
Guernsey | 17 November 2010 | |||
India | 31 March 2012 | 31 March 2015 | [7] | |
Ireland | 29 October 2010 | 24 October 2012 | [8] | |
Isle of Man | 16 July 2009 | |||
Italy | 2003 | 15 October 2008 | 4 July 2012 | |
Japan | 1 December 2003 | 24 July 2011 | 31 March 2012 | [9] |
Jersey | 17 November 2010 | |||
Latvia | 1 June 2010 | |||
Mexico | 2011 | 2015 | [10] | |
Netherlands | 11 December 2006 | |||
New Zealand | 2 May 2007 | 30 September 2012 | 1 December 2013 | [11] |
Norway | 1 September 2007 | 1 March 2008 | 1 December 2009 | |
Portugal | 29 April 2009 | 12 January 2012 | 26 April 2012 | |
Philippines | 2012 | 31 May 2015 | 31 December 2015 | |
Slovenia | 30 June 2011 | |||
South Africa | 1 November 2008 | 1 December 2013 | [12] | |
Spain | 30 November 2005 | 3 April 2010 | ||
Sweden | 1999 | 19 September 2005 | 29 September 2007 | |
Switzerland | 1 June 2006 | 1 January 2008 | ||
Taiwan | 1 January 2004 | 7 May 2012 | 30 June 2012 | |
United Kingdom | 1 October 1998 | 17 October 2007 | 24 October 2012 | [13] |
United States | 29 October 1998 | 12 June 2009 | 1 September 2015 | [14] |
Transitions around the world
Transitions completed
- Netherlands moved to digital-only broadcasting on Monday, 11 December 2006. The switch-off was helped greatly by the fact that about 80% of Dutch households subscribe to cable systems, which continued to use analog distribution, and thus their old tuners continued to be useful. Like Germany, Sweden and Japan, the Arab world, the Netherlands still has a high number of analogue cable viewers and therefore a switchover to Digital broadcasting is unlikely to happen in the near future.
- Finland ceased analog terrestrial transmissions nationwide at 04:00, Saturday, September 1, 2007[15] (the switch-off was previously planned for midnight on September 1 but a few extra hours were added for technical reasons). This was controversial, as the cost of a digital TV set in Finland at the time was heavily criticised and saw a substantial decrease in how much the television license cost. Cable TV viewers continued to receive analogue broadcasts until the end of February 2008.
- Andorra completed its switch-off on Tuesday, September 25, 2007.[16]
- Sweden: The switch-off of the analogue terrestrial network progressed region–by–region. It started on the island of Gotland on Tuesday, September 19, 2005, and was completed on Monday, October 29, 2007, when the last analogue SVT1 transmitters in Blekinge and western Scania were shut down.[17] Like the Netherlands, Germany and Japan, cable distributors continued broadcasting analogue television. Cable broadcasters continue to broadcast in analogue (like the Netherlands, Arab world and Germany), so therefore a cable switchover is unlikely to happen in the near future.
- Switzerland began with the switch-off on Monday, July 24, 2006 in Ticino and continued with Engadin on Monday, November 13, 2006. The switch-off was completed on Monday, November 26, 2007.
- Germany started the switch-off in the Berlin area, beginning on Friday, November 1, 2002 and completing on Monday, August 4, 2003. "Simulcast" digital transmissions started in other parts of the country in an effort to prepare for a full switchover. The switch-off of terrestrial analogue transmitters was completed on Tuesday, November 25, 2008, except one main transmitter in Bad Mergentheim, which was shut down in June 2009. Analogue satellite receivers were still used by 6% of households in 2010 - the highest in Europe. The analogue satellite transmissions were switched off on 30 April 2012. However, analogue cable is still used by about 30% of the population (more than digital cable), so therefore a cable switchover is unlikely to happen in the near future.
- Isle of Man switched off all analog services on Thursday, July 16, 2009.[18]
- Denmark switched off all analog services at midnight on Sunday, November 1, 2009.[19]
- Norway: The switch-off of the analogue transmissions started in March 2008 and was completed on Tuesday, December 1, 2009. Norway started its DTT service on the Saturday, September 1, 2007.[20]
- Belgium: Media regulations are under regional legislation. Flanders switched off analogue television on Monday, November 3, 2008, while in Wallonia, all analogue services were switched off on Monday, March 1, 2010, making Belgium a country completely serviced by a digital signal. However, analogue cable is still used by many cable subscribers, so therefore a cable switchover is unlikely to happen in the near future.
- Spain: The switch-off of the analogue terrestrial transmissions was completed on Saturday, April 3, 2010. The switch-off was successful, as about 70% of Spanish television transmissions are terrestrial, so it was easy for people to just switch to the digital signal. Spain started its DTT service on Wednesday, November 30, 2005.[21]
- Latvia's analogue television completely converted to digital broadcasting on Tuesday, June 1, 2010.
- Estonia's analogue television was switched off completely on Thursday, 1 July 2010.
- Jersey and Guernsey switched off their analogue signals on Wednesday, 17 November 2010.
- Croatia: Analogue television broadcasts were switched off for all national TV channels on Tuesday, 5 October 2010 at 12:35 and for local TV channels on 20 November 2010.[22]
- Slovenia: the switch-off on main transmitters was completed on Wednesday, 1 December 2010. The last local analogue transmitters were switched off on 30 June 2011.
- San Marino completed its switch-off on Thursday, December 2, 2010.
- Luxembourg shut down their last analog transmitter on UHF Channel 21 on Friday, 31 December 2010.
- Israel started digital transmissions in MPEG-4 on Sunday, 2 August 2009 and analogue transmissions ended on 31 March 2011. Israel was the first nation in the Middle East and the first Non-European nation to shut down their analogue signals.
- Monaco switched off their analog TV broadcasts on 24 May 2011.
- Austria: Began analogue switch-off on Monday, 5 March 2007, progressing from the west to the east.[23] The analog broadcast was shut down nationwide at the end of 2010 regarding the main transmitters.[24] The last analog translators were switched off on 7 June 2011.
- Cyprus terminated all analog transmissions on 30 June 2011 and moved to digital-only transmissions in MPEG-4 on 1 July 2011.
- Malta terminated all analogue services on Monday, 31 October 2011. The switch-off was originally planned for 1 June 2011 but was delayed for unknown reasons.[25]
- France switched off all analogue services (terrestrial, satellite and cable) on Tuesday, 29 November 2011. This included overseas departments and territories such as Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Mayotte, Réunion, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Martin, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, and Wallis and Futuna.
- Arab world started digital transmissions in MPEG-2 on 1 January 2002, with shut down all analog terrestrial television on 13 February 2012 and The analogue satellite transmissions were switch off on 2 July 2012. Analogue cable viewers and therefore a switchover to Digital broadcasting on 13 August 2012.
- Japan shut down all analog satellite and the analog terrestrial television in 44 prefectures at noon on Sunday, 24 July 2011, except for the 3 remaining prefectures that were destroyed or heavily damaged in the March 11, 2011 9.0 magnitude Tohoku earthquake and its related nuclear accidents, which stopped analog broadcasting at noon on Saturday, end of fiscal year 31 March 2012.[26] Analog high-definition television broadcasting ended on Sunday, 30 September 2007.[27] Like Netherlands, Germany, Sweden and Arab world, analogue cable continues to broadcast with a high demand too (25% of all viewings). Many television stations across the country have already begun broadcasting simultaneously in digital, beginning on 1 December 2003 in the Kanto region and spreading to the other six regions by the end of analog high-definition television broadcasting.
- Portugal: Digital broadcasts started on Wednesday, April 29, 2009. Portugal's government hoped to cover 80% of the territory with DTV by the end of 2009, and simulcasts remained until Thursday, April 26, 2012, when the analogue broadcasting ended. The switchover began on January 12, 2012.
- Taiwan: Digital television launched terrestrially throughout Taiwan on Friday, 2 July 2004. Analogue television has cease transmission on 30 June 2012.
- Italy: The switch-off of the analogue terrestrial network progressed region–by–region. It started in Sardinia on Wednesday, October 15, 2008, and was completed on Wednesday, July 4, 2012, when the last analogue transmitters in the Province of Palermo were shut down.
Transitions in progress
- Argentina: Digital television broadcasts started on Tuesday, 9 September 2008 in Buenos Aires. The analogue network will be terminated on Sunday, 1 September 2019.
- Australia: Digital television commenced in Australia's five most populous cities on Monday, January 1, 2001. Digital switchover will be complete by Tuesday, 31 December 2013 with Mildura being the first region to terminate its analogue network on 30 June 2010. Until the switch-off in the respective areas, free-to-air stations will be simulcast, along with digital-only channels like ABC2. Cable television networks began simulcasting in 2004 and analogue cable services were switched off in April 2007. The switchover is being co-ordinated by the Digital Switchover Taskforce operating under the federal Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy.[4]
- Azerbaijan: Began analogue switch-off on 17 October 2010, is expected to complete by early 2012.[28]
- Bolivia: Started on Tuesday, 20 July 2010, is expected to complete by 2012.
- Brazil: Began free-to-air HD digital transmissions, after a period of test broadcasts, on Sunday, 2 December 2007 in São Paulo, expanding in January 2008 to Brasília, Rio de Janeiro, and Belo Horizonte.[29] Digital broadcasts will be phased into the other 23 state capitals by the end of 2009, and to the remaining cities by December 31, 2013.[30] Analogue and digital simulcasts will continue until Wednesday, 29 June 2016, when analogue will be discontinued. The main broadcasters (Globo, Record, Band, SBT and RedeTV!) are simulcasting in analogue and digital broadcast, in standard definition and 1080i high definition.
- Bulgaria will complete its analog switch-off on Friday, 21 December 2012.
- Cambodia will launch DVB-T in 201; the transition will start in 2015, and will be completed by 2020.
- Canada: Canada's DTV transition was completed in 28 mandatory markets on Wednesday, August 31, 2011. Some CBC analog transmitters in mandatory markets were permitted to operate for another year, but the CBC decided to shut down all of its remaining analog transmitters on July 31, 2012, without replacing them.[31] Also on August 31, 2011, all full power TV transmitters had to vacate channels 52 to 69. Low-power analog transmitters and analog transmitters not in the CRTC's mandatory markets are allowed to continue operations.
- Chile: The transition to digital started in 2012, and the switch-off is scheduled for 2017.
- Czech Republic: The last analogue transmitters in the south-east Moravia and the northern Moravia - Silesia will be switched off on Saturday, 30 June 2012.
- Gibraltar will cease analogue transmissions in December 2012. A concrete date will be announced in June or July 2012.
- Greece plans to switch off analogue broadcasting in 2013.[32]
- Hong Kong's analogue broadcasting was planned to be switched off by 2012.[33] However, it has been postponed until the end of 2015.[34]
- Hungary was originally going to switch off analogue broadcasting on 1 January 2012, but has been delayed to 1 January 2015.[35] This change was left out of the official English translation of the Hungarian Media Act.[36]
- Iceland will cease all analog broadcasting in 2013.[37]
- Iran commenced broadcasting digital TV in 2009, using the DVB-T MPEG-4 standard, with 40% of population having access to digital TV by mid 2011. The switch over to digital TV will be completed by 2015, when all analogue signals will be terminated.[38][39][40]
- Ireland's broadcaster RTÉ made its digital television service Saorview available to most of the population on 29 October 2010; the first channels available to terrestrial only in digital form were RTÉ Two HD and RTÉ News Now, followed shortly afterwards by 3e.[5] Analogue terrestrial will stop on 24 October 2012.[8] There has been no confirmation on when analogue cable will stop, and many major cable companies (i.e. UPC Ireland) are still actively offering analogue. Analogue satellite was discontinued on 27 September 2001, as Ireland uses the same satellite services as the United Kingdom.
- Kenya became the second African country after South Africa to start digital broadcasting on Wednesday, 9 December 2009. The analog network is set to be switched off in June 2012.[41]
- Lithuania: The government aims to switch off all analogue television broadcasts on Monday, 29 October 2012.
- North Macedonia: The switch-off will be completed on 1 July 2013.[42]
- Mexico: Analogue shutdown was originally scheduled to occur in 2021, but on 2 September 2010, Mexican president Felipe Calderón, in its Fourth Report of the Government, advanced the analog shutdown from 2021 to 2015, with the transition beginning in 2011.[43] Some digital signals are already on-air, the first being Tijuana's XETV – an English-language affiliate of The CW serving primarily San Diego, California. Groups of cities which are required to simulcast digitally are added in descending order of size, with full coverage of the smallest centers required by 2015.
- New Zealand: The New Zealand government is planning to switch to digital-only transmissions by the end of 2013. Trackside was the first channel to switch off its nationwide analogue transmissions on 31 July 2011. The first regions to switch off will be Hawke's Bay and West Coast on 30 September 2012. The remainder of the South Island will follow on 28 April 2013; the Lower North Island and East Cape on 29 September 2013; and finally the Upper North Island on 1 December 2013.[44]
- Peru: Digital television broadcasts started in Lima on March 2010, and analogue broadcasts are scheduled to be terminated on Tuesday, July 28, 2020.
- Poland: Analogue broadcasts will stop on Wednesday, 31 July 2013. (DVB-T in Poland)
- Philippines: The Philippine Government will terminate all analogue transmissions by Thursday, December 31, 2015. Although, according to the National Telecommunications Commission of the Philippines, they will introduce first DTV to the country's main cities Manila, Metro Cebu, and Metro Davao. Some transmissions are currently in test broadcast, just like in the government-owned station National Broadcasting Network which is transmitting signal coming from its analog broadcast. The first fully operational DTV Station in the country is the Christian Era Broadcasting Service or GEM TV.
- Romania plans to switch off analogue broadcasting by 1 January 2015.[45]
- Russia has announced that the switch-off is to be completed in 2015.[46]
- Slovakia: The government aims to complete the digital switchover by 2012.
- Serbia launched its first DTT transmissions in 2005. The first DTT-only channel was made available in 2008. Analogue transmissions will be terminated on 4 April 2012.[47]
- South Korea's analogue transmissions will terminate at 04:00 on Monday, 31 December 2012. Until that time, major broadcasters like MBC, SBS or other affiliated networks, such as KBS will broadcast both analog and digital TV in most major cities.
- Thailand launched DVB-T2 in 2010, and the transition to digital started in February 2012. Analogue television will cease broadcasting in 2015.[48]
- Turkey launched trial digital transmissions in 2006 and originally planned to gradually handle the switchover, with a scheduled completion date of 2014.[49]
- United Kingdom: The transition for analogue terrestrial signals started on Wednesday, 17 October 2007 with Whitehaven in Cumbria,[50] and is proceeding to a transmitter switchover timetable, implemented by region. The last transmitters to be switched this year are: Meridian, Tyne Tees and Ulster.[51] All analogue terrestrial broadcasting will finish on 24 October 2012.[52] Analogue cable broadcasts ended in January 2012, although Milton Keynes is the only town in the country left broadcasting analogue cable and are unable to switch to digital-only. Analogue satellite on the other hand was discontinued on 27 September 2001 - the first in Europe for digital-only satellite.
- United States: Most full-power analog transmitters were shut down on or by June 12, 2009, with the exception of "nightlight" analog stations (which broadcasted a video on how to set up a digital TV). These were shut down on June 26, 2009. Television transmission on channels 52 to 69 was required to cease by December 31, 2011. All analog low power transmitters will be forced shut down by September 1, 2015.[14]
Transitions not yet started
- Albania: The Albanian Parliament passed legislation to switch off analogue broadcasting by end of 2012. According to KKRT, such a commitment is unattainable, and thus Albania is seeking to postpone the transition to 2015.
- Arab Maghreb, which comprises Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia, Mauritania and Western Sahara: The analogue TV nationwide will be terminated on 3 April 2015[3]
- Colombia: The government has plans to close down analogue on Sunday, 1 January 2017.
- Costa Rica: Will shut down analogue signals permanently in December 2018.
- Cuba began to propose DVB-T in May 2009, and the analogue switchoff will take place approximately 15 years later, most likely in 2024.[53]
- El Salvador: The target date is Tuesday, 1 January 2019.[54]
- India: The Cabinet has given the go ahead to switch off analogue television. On cable and terrestrial, it will have four phases, in a 3-year transition starting from 31 March 2012, and finishing on 31 March 2015. There has been no confirmation as of yet that analogue satellite will be discontinued. For more information go to this website.
- Indonesia's analogue television will be phased out starting in 2012. It will take six years before it's switched off nationwide, which is scheduled for early 2018.[55]
- Laos: The initial plan for transition was announced in May 2007 to start in 2011 and complete in 2015. The government announced in 2010 that they were going to delay this to finish in 2042. In 2011, plans were modified again to being phased out in the 2030s. However, since digital television has still not been launched it is likely that they have delayed the start time to later in the decade. Currently Laos i.s still broadcasting only analog signals[disputed – discuss]
- Malaysia: Information Ministry was planning to shut down the country's analogue television system in phases beginning from 2012 and finishing with the country exclusively broadcasting in DVB-T in 2015. However, it was shelved after Najib Tun Razak became Prime Minister in 2008.[56] It was soon revealed that ASEAN's commitment to the digital switchover will take effect between 2015 and 2020.
- Singapore plans to complete the switchover to digital broadcasting in line with ASEAN's commitment to the digital switchover, which, similarly to Malaysia, will take effect between 2015 and 2020. Once analogue switchoff is completed, all of MediaCorp's free-to-air TV channels will be broadcast fully in digital.[57]
- South Africa started simultaneous digital and analogue broadcasting in November, 2008 in preparation for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The switch-off was originally scheduled to be completed by 1 November 2011, but for unknown reasons it has now been pushed back to an expected completion date of 1 December 2013. However, while transmitters can choose to switch off analogue before this date, no analogue transmitters have yet been switched off.[58]
- Ukraine's analogue transmissions will be terminated on Friday, 17 July 2015. Launch of a full-fledged digital TV network capable to replace the existing analog transmissions will occur in 2011 or 2012. The DVB-T2 standard will be used for both SD and HD.
- Venezuela plans to close down analogue on Wednesday, January 1, 2020.[citation needed]
- Vietnam tested DVB-T in 2010 in the northern part of Vietnam. DVB-T in Vietnam finished test on September 26, 2011. On December 19, 2011, Vietnam announced the official launch for DVB-T channel, which is launching in 2012. The DVB-T signal will be broadcasting only in Hanoi and nearby cities, other countries continues to broadcast only analog signals.
- Zimbabwe will terminate analogue on 1 December 2013.
Digital-to-analog converters
After the switch from analog to digital broadcasts is complete, analog TVs will be incapable of receiving over-the-air broadcasts without the addition of a set-top converter box. Consequently, a digital converter box – an electronic device that connects to an analog television – must be used in order to allow the television to receive digital broadcasts.[59] In the United States, the government has subsidized the purchase of such boxes via their coupon-eligible converter box program, funded by a small part of the billions of dollars brought in by the spectrum auction of 12 of the upper UHF channels. The program is managed by the Department of Commerce through its National Telecommunications and Information Administration.[60]
European deployment
United Kingdom
The initial plan for transition announced in 1999 was to start in 2006 and finish in 2010 but after ITC was replaced by Ofcom it changed the plan to a 5-year transition between 2007 and 2012. The transition started on Wednesday, 17 October 2007 with Whitehaven in Cumbria, and is proceeding to a transmitter switchover timetable, implemented by region. The last transmitters will be switched over during 2012; these will be London, Meridian, Tyne Tees and Ulster. The process is managed by Digital UK, and viewers that are aged over 75 or live in a care home will be able to apply to Digital Switchover Help Scheme until March 2013.
All analogue broadcasting will finish on 24 October 2012; the specific date for England is 26 September 2012. Analogue switchoff in Northern Ireland has not yet started but will finish on 24 October 2012. However, this only applies to the terrestrial network; analogue cable is still allowed to broadcast for now, however Virgin Media has plans to shut down its analogue service by January 2012. Analogue satellite was discontinued on 27 September 2001. The old analogue service has been replaced by a stronger digital service and high-definition (HD) channels in regions which have finished the switchover.
Republic of Ireland
Digital television was launched in the Republic of Ireland as Saorview on 29 October 2010. At launch it had 5 standard-definition channels and 1 high-definition channel. The analogue service is set to terminate on 24 October 2012 and will be replaced by a second multiplex for Saorview.
North American deployment
United States
All US full-power analog TV broadcasts came to an end on 12 June 2009.[61] New television devices that receive signals over-the-air, including pocket sized portable televisions, personal computer video capture card tuners and DVD recorders, have been required to include ATSC digital tuners since March 1, 2007.[62]
On 8 September 2008, Wilmington, North Carolina became the first city in the United States to fully switch over from analog to digital broadcasts. All analog signals were terminated at noon. This switchover was a test by FCC to make further improvements to the transition process before the whole nation was switched over to digital.[63] Hawaii followed on 15 January 2009. By midnight on 17 February 2009, the original cut-off date set by the Congress, 641 stations representing 36 percent of U.S. full-power broadcasters were transmitting exclusively in digital.[64] After that, most of the remaining full-power U.S. broadcasters were beaming their signals in both analog and digital formats.
In a January 2009 study, 70% of over-the-air viewers expected to get a DTV converter box, 10% would switch to pay TV services, and 20% would abandon TV altogether.[65] Based on this survey and considering that 13–15% of TV viewers depend on over-the-air TV,[66][67] 3% of the overall TV viewership might be lost due to the DTV conversion. Potential negative impacts on TV stations include reduced TV advertising and pledge drive revenue.
Cable TV systems are not required to convert, but must-carry rules will require local stations to be carried in analog for at least three years after the over-the-air cutoff, until early 2012. Must-carry rules requiring digital-only subchannels to be carried have been a source of contention.
Australian deployment
Digital television commenced in Australia's five most populous cities on Monday, January 1, 2001. Digital switchover was originally intended to be complete by 2008, but got delayed to an expected completion date of Tuesday, 31 December 2013 with Mildura being the first region to terminate its analogue network on 30 June 2010. The next regions to terminate its analogue network were Riverland, Mount Gambier, Spencer Gulf and Broken Hill on 15 December 2010. Regional centers will switchoff between 2011 and 2012, while the main capitals will cease the analogue network in 2013. Until that time, free-to-air stations will be simulcast, along with digital-only channels like ABC2. Since 1999, legislation has required all locally made free-to-air television transmissions to be in 16:9 widescreen format. Cable television networks began simulcasting in 2004 and analogue cable services were switched off in April 2007. The switchover is being co-ordinated by the Digital Switchover Taskforce operating under the federal Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy.
Switchover table
- Mildura: 30 June 2010
- Riverland, Mount Gambier, Spencer Gulf and Broken Hill: 15 December 2010
- Rural Victoria: 5 May 2011
- Rural Queensland: 6 December 2011
- Southern New South Wales and the ACT: 5 June 2012
- Northern New South Wales: 27 November 2012
- Adelaide: 2 April 2013
- Tasmania: 9 April 2013
- Perth: 16 April 2013
- Brisbane: 28 May 2013
- Rural Western Australia: 25 June 2013
- Darwin: 30 July 2013
- Sydney: 3 December 2013
- Melbourne: 10 December 2013
- Isolated areas in Central and Eastern Australia: 10 December 2013
New Zealand deployment
New Zealand officially began broadcasting digital terrestrial television using DVB-T MPEG-4 under the name Freeview in 2007. Analogue began to be phased out on 31 July 2011 when Trackside was removed from analogue. The first region to lose all of its analogue channels will be Hawke's Bay and West Coast on 30 September 2012. The remainder of the South Island will follow on 28 April 2013; the Lower North Island and East Cape on 29 September 2013; and finally the Upper North Island on 1 December 2013.
See also
References
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{{cite web}}
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ignored (help) - ^ http://www.eubusiness.com/topics/media/tv-switchover-guide/
- ^ http://www.dvb.org/about_dvb/dvb_worldwide/malta/
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suggested) (help) - ^ "Broadcasting Digitization Schedule". DPA: The Association for Promotion of Digital Broadcasting. Retrieved 2009-11-16.
- ^ [1]
- ^ Cassia, Fernando (2007-12-02). "Brazil starts HDTV transmissions". The Enquirer. p. 1. Retrieved 2007-12-03.
- ^ "Conheça os planos das emissoras para a TV digital" (in Portuguese). G1. 2007-11-13. p. 1. Retrieved 2007-11-19.
- ^ 2015 Same Strategy, Different Path
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- ^ "Digital TV". Government of Hong Kong. Retrieved 2007-06-04.
- ^ "Analogue television switch-off working target deferred to end 2015". Government of Hong Kong. Retrieved 2011-06-23.
- ^ http://index.hu/kultur/media/2010/12/21/megszavaztak_a_mediatorvenyt_elhalasztottak_a_digitalis_atallast/
- ^ http://www.nepszava.hu/articles/article.php?id=380910&referer_id=ezt_beszelik
- ^ "Hætta hliðrænum útsendingum. Stafrænt sjónvarp nauðsyn 2013" (in Icelandic). Eyjan Media ehf. 16 June 2011.
{{cite web}}
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suggested) (help) - ^ http://portal.irib.ir/web/digitaltv/main/-/asset_publisher/TY7v/content/40-%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%B5%D8%AF-%D8%A7%D8%B2-%D8%AC%D9%85%D8%B9%D9%8A%D8%AA-%D9%83%D8%B4%D9%88%D8%B1-%D8%AA%D8%AD%D8%AA-%D9%BE%D9%88%D8%B4%D8%B4-%D8%B3%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%87-%D8%AA%D9%84%D9%88%D9%8A%D8%B2%D9%8A%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%AC%D9%8A%D8%AA%D8%A7%D9%84-%D9%82%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%86%D8%AF?redirect=%2Fweb%2Fdigitaltv%2Fmain
- ^ http://portal.irib.ir/web/digitaltv/main/-/asset_publisher/TY7v/content/%D9%85%D8%B4%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%AD-%D9%85%D8%B5%D8%A7%D8%AD%D8%A8%D9%87-%D8%AF%DA%A9%D8%AA%D8%B1-%D8%B9%D9%84%DB%8C%E2%80%8C%D8%B9%D8%B3%DA%A9%D8%B1%DB%8C%D8%8C-%D9%85%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%B3%D8%B9%D9%87-%D9%88-%D9%81%D9%86%D8%A7%D9%88%D8%B1%DB%8C-%D8%B1%D8%B3%D8%A7%D9%86%D9%87%D8%8C-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D8%A8%D8%B1%D9%86%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%87-%D9%BE%D8%A7%D8%B1%DA%A9-%D9%85%D9%84%D8%AA-%D9%BE%D9%86%D8%AC%D8%B4%D9%86%D8%A8%D9%87-13-%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%AF-1390?redirect=%2Fweb%2Fdigitaltv%2Fmain
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- ^ Daily Nation, December 9, 2009: Digital TV a reality in Kenya
- ^ "Digitalization of all Macedonian televisions by 2013". Ministry of Information Society and Administration. 14 March 2012. Retrieved 15 March 2012.
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- ^ "When is my area going digital? - Going Digital". New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 17 July 2011.
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- ^ Template:Ru icon Ministry for Informatics and Communications. Federal Program "Developing in Television and Radio Broadcasting in the Russian Federation in 2008–2015"
- ^ http://www.dvb.org/about_dvb/dvb_worldwide/serbia/
- ^ http://www.dvb.org/about_dvb/dvb_worldwide/thailand/
- ^ "Türkiye'de DVB-T". Republic of Turkey Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications.
- ^ "First digital TV switch date set". BBC News. 2007-03-15. Retrieved 2007-04-24.
- ^ digitaluk.co.uk
- ^ digitaluk.co.uk
- ^ http://www.dvb.org/about_dvb/dvb_worldwide/cuba/
- ^ El Diario de Hoy, El Salvador prepara el salto a la TV Digital, July 11, 2010
- ^ Metro TV, Suara Anda: Menuju Era TV Digital, February 21, 2012 (see video number 3)
- ^ Content + Technology: DVB-T2 Trialled in Malaysia (Retrieved on 10 June 2011)
- ^ Media Development Authority Introduction to Digital TV
- ^ DVB Project (2011). DVB - Digital Video Broadcasting - South Africa. Accessed on October 21, 2011.
- ^ "What is a set-top converter box?". Digital TV Facts. 2007. Retrieved 2008-03-23.
- ^ "Digital TV subsidy program running out of money". Assoiciated Press. 2008-01-03.
- ^ United States Congress (2009-01-29). "DTV Delay Act [[Act of Congress#Public law, private law, designation|Pub. L.]] [https://www.govinfo.gov/link/plaw/111/public/4?link-type=html 111–4 (text)] [https://www.govinfo.gov/link/plaw/111/public/4?link-type=pdf&.pdf (PDF)]" (PDF). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved 2009-02-18.
{{cite web}}
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- ^ Bray, Hiawatha (2007-02-26). "FCC rule requires all new TVs to be digital". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2007-04-24.
- ^ http://www.dtv.gov/wilmington/index.html
- ^ "DTV Call Centers Field Over 28,000 Calls Tuesday" (PDF) (Press release). Federal Communications Commission. 2009-02-18. Retrieved 2009-02-18.
- ^ "Terrestrial TV viewing to decline sharply post DTV transition". Broadcast Engineering. 2008-10-22. Retrieved 2009-01-29.
- ^ http://www.ce.org/Press/CurrentNews/press_release_detail.asp?id=10759
- ^ http://broadcastengineering.com/eng/terrestrial-viewing-decline-sharply-dtv-transition-1022/
Further reading
- Hart, Jeffrey A., Television, technology, and competition : HDTV and digital TV in the United States, Western Europe, and Japan, New York : Cambridge University Press, 2004. ISBN 0-521-82624-1