TESSA JOWELL CONFIRMS DIGITAL SWITCHOVER TIMETABLE

TESSA JOWELL CONFIRMS DIGITAL SWITCHOVER TIMETABLE

London, 15 Sep/GNN/ --

DEPARTMENT FOR CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT News Release (DCMS116/05) issued by
the Government News Network on 15 September 2005

PLEASE NOTE EMBARGO
Not for publication or broadcast before
1700 hours Thursday 15 Sep 2005

Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell today announced the go ahead for the switch
to digital only TV in the UK and support to make sure no group is left behind.

Digital switchover will happen between 2008 and 2012 by ITV region in the
following order:

* 2008 - Border

* 2009 - West Country, HTV Wales, Granada

* 2010 - HTV West, Grampian, Scottish Television

* 2011 - Yorkshire, Anglia, Central

* 2012 - Meridian, Carlton/LWT (London), Tyne Tees, Ulster

The Government wants all UK households to benefit from digital TV. Key to
this is ensuring that everyone has a choice of digital TV options that they
can afford. This can only be achieved through a universal switchover from
analogue to digital signals.

Tessa Jowell also announced a support scheme to make sure that no one is left
behind in the switch. It will provide help with equipment and installation and
follow-up support for people aged 75 years and over and people with significant
disabilities. The scheme will be funded by the BBC through the licence fee.

The scope of the support scheme for the most vulnerable households is:

* help will go to all households with one person aged 75 or over;

* help will go to all households with one person with a significant disability
(receiving attendance allowance, disability living allowance);

* help will be available free of charge to households with one person aged
75 or over/disabled households receiving pension credit, income support or
jobseekers allowance; other households will pay a modest fee;

* specific support for households where one person is blind.

Assistance will consist of providing the necessary equipment to convert one
TV set and the relevant support to install and use the equipment. Equivalent
arrangements will be made to provide assistance if a different platform
for receiving digital is opted for. Further details of how the scheme will
operate in practice need to be developed by the BBC and the Government.

Speaking at the Royal Television Society Cambridge Convention 2005 in
Cambridge, Tessa Jowell today said:

"Digital television is no longer a probability, it is a certainty. And
I believe it can leave us with a legacy of more choice, for more people,
than anywhere else in the world.

"When a new technology comes along, Governments have two choices. And only
two. They can follow it, trying to make retrospective sense of how society
is changing as a result.

"Or they can be ahead of the curve, shaping the future and ensuring that
the fruits of technology are evenly spread. We have chosen the latter course."

Trade and Industry Secretary Alan Johnson said:

"The way is now set for UK television to become fully digital.

"Everyone should now take their decisions about how and when to go digital
with confidence. The "digital tick" logo certifies goods and services designed
to help consumers through switchover.

"Switchover represents an enormous change to our society. Industry must
maximise the opportunities and benefits on offer and continue to play a
vital role, along with broadcasters and Digital UK, in keeping the UK at
the forefront of the digital TV revolution."

The region-by-region timetable for Switchover has been developed by
broadcasters in consultation with Ofcom and Government.

It builds on considerable progress made so far.

Already 63 % of UK households have digital television and over two million
households have switched in the last 12 months, an increase of 18.4% on the
previous year.

The current system of jointly broadcasting in analogue and digital is
inefficient and means that only 73% of households can currently get access
to the full range of digital TV services available through an aerial and
only 80% can currently access Five.

Access can only be increased by switching off the analogue signal.

The Department for Culture Media and Sport has worked with charities -
including the RNIB, the RNID, Age Concern, Help the Aged and the Consumers'
Association - along with the Department for Work and Pensions and the BBC
to develop the support package.

The help will be free for the poorest eligible households - those on Income
Support, Job Seeks' Allowance or Pension Credit. A modest fee will be charged
to others.

Tessa Jowell added:

"Nearly two thirds of the population have already exercised their private
choice to go digital. They have already voted with their wallets.

"Yet many of those yet to go digital are exactly the people that the State
has a duty to protect - the elderly, the disabled, the poorest.

"They have in many cases the most to gain from a fully digital world. And
we have to make sure they aren't left behind."

Switchover will be co-ordinated by Digital UK, an independent, not-for-profit
company set up by the broadcasters, commercial multiplex operators and
involving the supply chain.

Digital UK - formally known as Switchco - will launch tomorrow. It will
ensure that the public have timely and accurate information about switchover,
including knowing when their transmitter is going digital and what they have
to do to ensure they receive the new signal.

Notes to Editors

1. Tessa Jowell was speaking at the Royal Television Society Cambridge
Convention 2005.

2. Timetable: Digital switchover will take place between 2008 and 2012 based
on the following order of ITV regions agreed by broadcasters and Ofcom:

Region Year Regional Start Date
Border 2008 2nd Half
West Country 2009 1st Half
HTV Wales 2nd Half
Granada 2nd Half
HTV West 2010 1st Half
Grampian 1st Half
Scottish 2nd Half
Television
Yorkshire 2011 1st Half
Anglia 1st Half
Central 1st Half
Meridian 2012 1st Half
Carlton / LWT 1st Half
(London)
Tyne Tees 2nd Half
Ulster 2nd Half

3. This regional order has been determined by technical criteria determined by
the Broadcasters and Ofcom. The regional order will follow ITV regions. This
ensures that the impact on ITV regional advertising markets is minimised.

4. For more information about digital TV and switchover go to
www.digitaltelevision.gov.uk

5. For more information about Digital UK go to www.digitaluk.co.uk or press
office ph: 0207 580 2626

6. Digital switchover is the process of turning off the UK's analogue
television broadcasting to digital format. Households can access digital
television in the UK through a satellite (digital satellite), cable (digital
cable) or aerial (digital terrestrial) or thorough their telephone line
(broadband).

7. Digital switchover will involve changing the current television broadcasting
infrastructure and network to digital, as well as ensuring that consumers
have suitable TV and recording equipment to receive digital television.

8. To continue to watch broadcast television services through an aerial
after switchover, viewers will need to convert their analogue TV sets and
recording equipment or get a digital television set. After switchover,
viewers will be able to get all the services they get today through their
aerial, and many more as standard (including digital channels from public
service broadcasters including BBC3, BBC4, Cbeebies, ITV2, ITV3. More4 and
BBC News 24). The coverage of Five (Channel 5), limited today, will also
be dramatically extended after switchover.

9. In the first five years of digital television in the UK, 12.5 million
households adopted digital television services. Ofcom estimated that by
the end of June 2005, 63% of UK homes (15.7 million) were accessing digital
television via all platforms.

10. The Government is platform and technology neutral in relation to digital
switchover.

Press Enquiries: 0207 211 6267/6269
Out of hours telephone pager no: 07699 751153
Public Enquiries: 0207 211 6200
Internet: http://www.culture.gov.uk

Department for Culture, Media and Sport
2-4 Cockspur Street
London SW1Y 5DH
www.culture.gov.uk

Source: DEPARTMENT FOR CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT

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