TV viewers in Yorkshire get dates for digital switchover

TV viewers in Yorkshire were yesterday told of the dates when their analogue channels will be switched off and replaced with a stronger digital connection.

In a move that marks the biggest change to broadcasting in a generation, thousands of homes in the region will be able to receive Freeview digital channels for the first time next year.

People in the Scarborough area, Lincolnshire, Humberside and East Yorkshire will be the first to benefit, the process starting on August 3, 2011.

Sheffield and Chesterfield follow, their analogue switch off beginning on August 10, 2011, before West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire on September 7, 2011.

The switchover from analogue to digital will take place over two stages, BBC32 first becoming unavailable, then BBC1, ITV1, Channel 4 and Five being withdrawn later.

By September 21 2011, all terrestrial channels will be inaccessible to those living in the region, but the boosted digital service will reach nearly all households in the Yorkshire TV area.

Digital blackspots such as Halifax and Skipton will be able to receive Freeview for the first time.

Some viewers away from city centres will receive only around 18 of the 60 channels available. They are served by smaller “relay” transmitters which lack the bandwidth to carry all six of the digital signals that make up the service.

Viewers in Skipton, Ilkley, Otley and surrounding towns in lower Wharfedale will be able to tune into all the BBC channels but will miss out on ITV3, ITV4 and others.

The timetable announcement was made at the National Media Museum in Bradford.

Digital UK’s Regional Manager for the Yorkshire TV region, John Askew, said: “Today’s announcement paves the way for a new era in broadcasting for viewers in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.

“We’re preparing for the end of the analogue TV era and the dawn of a fully digital age in which everyone can enjoy extra choice.

Digital UK, the organisation which assists consumers in the conversion, and the Switchover Help Scheme, which gives advice about the move to elderly and disabled people, are also preparing to launch a public information campaign to ensure viewers are ready for the change.

In a creative step, a digital poet has been appointed to make sure the region hears the message loud and clear. Local wordsmith and national broadcaster Ian McMillan will dedicate a series of switchover sonnets to Yorkshire and Lincolnshire as the region counts down to the big day.

Local TV themes will be immortalised in the poems and viewers will be invited to lend Ian a hand capturing what the region loves about TV.

Mr Askew said: “We’re delighted that Yorkshire and Lincolnshire has appointed the first ever switchover poet.

“Born in Barnsley, Ian McMillan is known and loved across the region having risen to fame here, and I can’t wait to hear our move into the digital era celebrated in his work.”

Mr McMillan added: “I'm looking forward to being the world's first digital switchover bard and I hope I'll help people not to wander lonely when the analogue signal gets switched off – and I'm looking forward to finding rhymes for digital!”

The curator of TV at the National Media Museum, Iain Logie Baird – grandson of TV inventor John Logie Baird – said: “The analogue system has lasted a long time, but digital terrestrial TV gives viewers higher quality HD images and more choice of programmes.”

People looking to find out when the switchover happens in their area can use the postcode checker at www.digitaluk.co.uk or ring the advice line on 08456 50 50 50. The switchover will see more than 1,000 local relay transmitters upgraded.