Digital Switchover

The digital switchover

The digital TV switchover is the process of turning off the UK's analogue TV signal and replacing it with a digital signal.

That means that between now and 2012, television services in the UK will go completely digital, TV region by TV region. Some areas have already switched over to digital, and the whole country will switch by 2012.

When is my area switching?

	Region	Date
1	STV North	2010
2	STV Central	2010/11
3	UTV	2012
4	Border	2008/09
5	Tyne Tees	2012
6	Granada	2009
7	Yorkshire	2011
8	Wales	2009/10
9	Central	2011
10	Anglia	2011
11	West Country	2009
12	West	2010/11
13	Meridian	2012
14	London	2012
15	Channel Islands	2012

Why is it happening?

The digital switchover is Government policy. Analogue signals are being turned off to allow for more powerful digital broadcasts, bringing digital TV to the quarter of households who can't currently receive it through their aerials. Switching analogue signals off also frees up space for more services, such as TV on demand, high definition TV pictures and TV via your mobile phone.

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What is digital TV?

Digital TV means you'll get at least 40 channels – including the five terrestrial channels – plus new features like on-screen listings, interactivity, audio description and subtitling for people with visual and hearing impairments. If you go digital with a company like Virgin Media, you'll have the option to subscribe to additional channels and services, including premium channels like movies and sports), broadband and telephone services.

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What will happen when my area goes digital?

When the analogue television signal is switched off in your area, TVs that haven't been enabled to receive digital signals will no longer work. It'll affect all TVs in your house – not just the main one!

How to get digital TV

Virgin Media provides digital TV through cable, or you can also receive digital signals through a set top box like a Freeview box (which uses your aerial), through your phone line, or a with a satellite dish.

If you've already got digital TV for all the TVs in your house, you're all sorted – lucky you! If any of your TV equipment isn't yet enabled for digital broadcasts, you'll need to convert or upgrade it to receive digital signals.

Why go digital with Virgin Media?

There's lots of reasons to choose Virgin Media to go digital. Here are just a few:

No need for an aerial - or a dish, for that matter. Crystal-clear Virgin TV is delivered by cable.
No need to retune. With some other digital options, you'll need to retune your TV a couple of times throughout the switchover: BBC 2 first, then the rest a couple of weeks later. With Virgin Media there's no need to keep retuning, because it's all updated automatically – happy days!
No need to upgrade recording equipment. If you choose our V+ service, there's no need to upgrade your digital recording equipment - the V+ HD Box will take care of everything, and you'll be able to record two channels while you watch a third, and record entire series at the touch of a button.

What can I watch with Virgin TV?

As a Virgin TV customer you get much more than a fantastic choice of digital channels:

All our TV packages include free Catch Up TV – that means you can watch the last 7 days' TV from BBC iPlayer, ITV Net Player and 4oD.
You'll get access to TV Choice on Demand, a huge library of shows, films and entire series that you can watch whenever you want.
We've got a whole range of channels you can add to your package, like Sky Sports, Sky Movies and more
Plus our V+ HD Box lets you pause and rewind live TV and view high definition content.

Getting set up is easy – we'll do it all for you, and we'll have you up and running in no time. Interested? Check out our TV packages.