The analogue television signal is to be switched off in London at midnight tonight, marking the end of 75 years of analogue broadcasting in the capital.
To make sure the final hours of fuzzy TV and bad reception goes out with a bang, a special light show has been commissioned for the landmark moment.
This will take place at the Crystal Palace relay transmitter on April 18 and 19 – the transmitter being one of 52 across the Capital that are being switched off.
Let there be light
According to Arqiva, the folks behind the UK's digital switchover, the light show is set to turn the Crystal Palace relay tower into something akin to the Eiffel Tower – with 200,000 watts of lighting (all energy efficient) being used to light the monument up. We can promise you now it won't be anywhere near as romantic.
The first of the light shows will begin at 9:15pm on April 18.
Among the celebs attending the light show will be Sir David Attenborough and Chris Evans.
It is expected that 12 million viewers will be affected but out of these, according to Digital UK, fewer than one in four households have an analogue set in their home and the majority of these are second televisions.
When the signal is switched off – London is the biggest block still to do this – 83 per cent of the UK will now be digital, with parts of Tyne Tees, Meridian and Northern Ireland set for the switchover later in the year.
And then once that's done, it'll be the radio signal that's set to get a digital makeover - but the government has yet to put a real date as to when this will be done.
