Third of UK TVs not ready for digital

Digital UK: raising awareness
Digital UK: raising awareness

Digital UK is warning that one third of the UK's 60 million TVs are not ready to receive a digital television signal ahead of the analogue switch off.

With the first large scale regional switch taking place on November 6, Digital UK, the body set up to oversee the region by region switch, believes not enough of us are ready.

Apparently 18 million televisions are still accessing the analogue signal with equipment that will no longer work when the television channels are moved wholly onto digital.

Patchy Freeview

Digital UK Chief Executive David Scott said: "While nearly nine out of ten homes have switched to digital on their main TV, it's no coincidence that many of the places lagging behind in the conversion of all sets are those where Freeview services are currently patchy."

The figures suggest that nearly 90 per cent of homes do have at least one of their household's televisions either receiving Freeview, Freesat, satellite broadcast, IPTV or cable – but a small percentage do not yet have any access to digital broadcasts, and many people's second sets are not yet converted.

Yorkshire, Anglia and STV are the main culprits – but with Digital UK still battling to educate people on how to convert their equipment, the time will come when some people will find Coronation Street is even less informative than normal.

Patrick Goss

Patrick Goss is the ex-Editor in Chief of TechRadar. Patrick was a passionate and experienced journalist, and he has been lucky enough to work on some of the finest online properties on the planet, building audiences everywhere and establishing himself at the forefront of digital content.  After a long stint as the boss at TechRadar, Patrick has now moved on to a role with Apple, where he is the Managing Editor for the App Store in the UK.