Starting in 2008 and ending in 2012, TV services in the UK will go completely digital, TV region by TV region. In Wales, this will begin in 2009. Please click here for a map to show when the change will take place in your area. This process is called digital switchover. The UK's old broadcasting system (known as analogue) is being switched off and replaced with a digital signal. Any TV set that is not converted to digital when the switchover takes place will no longer receive TV programmes.

This section gives information on why the Digital TV switchover is taking place and the benefits of Digital TV, how the switchover might affect you, the options available to receive Digital TV and a simple guide to the terminology associated with Digital TV.

Why the change?

Digital TV Options

Questions and Answers

Guide to Technical Language

Useful links

Why the change?

Some benefits to going digital are:

• As well as receiving the five main channels, BBC1, BBC2, ITV, Channel 4 and Five, a lot more channels will be available to you;
• Some programmes allow you to interact, for example viewing a football or tennis match from different angles;
• You can listen to digital radio stations through your television;
• Digital television offers more special services for people with hearing and visual impairments. As well as subtitles and teletext, there will also be an audio description service for people who have difficulty seeing the screen.

How will it affect me?

If all the televisions in your home are already digital, the change will not affect you. Once your region is switched over to only receive digital signals, however, any televisions you have that have not been changed to receive digital signals will no longer work.

What do I need to do?

You will need to ensure your television equipment can receive digital signals. These can be received in one of four ways: through an aerial, with a satellite dish, by cable or via your telephone line.

Which option you can choose will partly depend on where you live. Most places can receive a digital signal with satellite, but not all areas can receive cable television. Most places can receive digital signals with an aerial, but there are areas in the country where households converting their equipment using the aerial system will not be able to watch digital channels until the switchover has been made in their region.

Click here for information about the different ways you can receive Digital TV