Island Prepares for the Digital Switch Over

The Big Digital Switchover 2012 (Image source: www.digitaluk.co.uk) There are currently two important changes being made to TV services on the Island and Meridian area as preparations begin for the big digital switchover in 2012.

The digital TV switchover involves turning off analogue television signals in order to make digital TV through an aerial (Freeview) available to all parts of the country. To keep your TV service, you will need to convert your TVs to digital before your area’s switchover date.

As preparations for the digital switchover in the Meridian TV region (2012) two things will happen on 25 March 2009:

Channel Five will be switched off permanently meaning that analogue TV viewers in on the Isle of Wight will need digital TV in order to watch Channel Five.

There will be a reorganisation of the airwaves used to broadcast digital terrestrial television which will affect around 500,000 homes. Viewers receiving their TV signal from the Rowridge transmitter here on the Isle of Wight, who have Freeview, Top Up TV or BT Vision will need to re-tune their digital boxes and TVs.

These two changes on Wednesday 25 March are necessary to protect existing digital terrestrial broadcasts from interference from neighbouring areas in the UK and France where the switchover is due to start from May 2009.

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