Digital switchover dates in the United Kingdom

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UK digital switchover dates UK digital switchover.svg
UK digital switchover dates

The digital switchover was the process by which analogue terrestrial television in the United Kingdom was replaced with digital terrestrial television. It is sometimes referred to as the "analogue switch off".

Contents

In the United Kingdom, the terrestrial switchover started on 17 October 2007 and was completed on 24 October 2012. Each group of transmitters within each TV region had its analogue broadcasts switched off at a certain point between those dates. The process was co-ordinated by an independent body, Digital UK (now Everyone TV).

Switchover guide

Stage 1 – Known as DSO1 - Analogue BBC Two and low power digital Multiplex 1 switched off. High power Multiplex 1 switched on.
Stage 2 – Known as DSO2 - All remaining analogue channels and low power digital multiplexes switched off. Remaining high power digital multiplexes switched on.

Switchover dates

These are the dates at which switchover took place in each TV region, as published by Digital UK.

Technical trial

Transmitter(s)Area servedBBC One, ITV1, S4C switched off
Ferryside Ferryside and Llansteffan communities in Wales (approx 1200 people in around 500 properties)30 March 2005
^† BBC Two was not switched off until 19 August 2009 in conjunction with stage 1 of Ferryside's parent transmitter, Preseli. In addition, the digital multiplexes did not adopt their final transmission modes until switchover at Preseli in 2009.

Border

Transmitter(s)Area servedStage 1 date
(BBC Two switched off)
Stage 2 date
(BBC One, ITV1, Channel 4, Channel 5 switched off)
Eskdale Green, Gosforth and Whitehaven Copeland17 October 200714 November 2007
Selkirk [1] Scottish Borders6 November 200820 November 2008
Caldbeck [2]
Relay transmitters

England:

Scotland:

North and Mid-Cumbria, and Dumfries & Galloway18 June 200924 June 2009
^‡ Digital multiplexes from these three transmitters did not adopt their final transmission modes until switchover at their parent transmitter, Caldbeck.

Westcountry

Transmitter(s)Area servedStage 1 date
(BBC Two switched off)
Stage 2 date
(BBC One, ITV1, Channel 4, Channel 5 switched off)
Beacon Hill
Relay transmitters
South Devon8 April 200922 April 2009
Stockland Hill South-west Somerset, parts of west Dorset and south-east Devon, including Exeter6 May 200920 May 2009
Huntshaw Cross North Devon1 July 200929 July 2009
Redruth East Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly8 July 20095 August 2009
Caradon Hill Cornwall and Devon, including Plymouth12 August 20099 September 2009

HTV Wales

Transmitter(s)Area servedStage 1 date
(BBC Two switched off)
Stage 2 date
(BBC One, ITV1, S4C, Channel 5 switched off)
Kilvey Hill [3]
Relay transmitters
Swansea 12 August 20099 September 2009
Preseli West Wales19 August 200916 September 2009
CarmelSouth and central Wales26 August 200923 September 2009
Llanddona North-west Wales, including Anglesey 21 October 200918 November 2009
Moel-y-Parc North-east Wales28 October 200925 November 2009
Long MountainEast-central Wales4 November 20093 December 2009
Blaenplwyf
Relay transmitters
Central and mid Wales10 February 201010 March 2010
Wenvoe South-east Wales, including Cardiff 3 March 201031 March 2010

Granada

Transmitter(s)Area servedStage 1 date
(BBC Two switched off)
Stage 2 date
(BBC One, ITV1, Channel 4, Channel 5 switched off)
Douglas
Relay transmitters
Isle of Man18 June 200916 July 2009
Winter Hill Lancashire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Cheshire and South Cumbria4 November 20092 December 2009

HTV West

Transmitter(s)Area servedStage 1 date
(BBC Two switched off)
Stage 2 date
(BBC One, ITV1, Channel 4, Channel 5 switched off)
Mendip Bristol, parts of Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire and Southern Gloucestershire24 March 20107 April 2010
Ridge Hill (West) North Gloucestershire6 April 201120 April 2011

STV North (Grampian)

Transmitter(s)Area servedStage 1 date
(BBC Two switched off)
Stage 2 date
(BBC One, STV, Channel 4, Channel 5 switched off)
Bressay
Relay transmitters
Pink banners on lampposts in Baltasound remind residents about the digital switchover in The Shetland Islands Digital TV is coming, Baltasound - geograph.org.uk - 1497998.jpg
Pink banners on lampposts in Baltasound remind residents about the digital switchover in The Shetland Islands
5 May 201019 May 2010
Keelylang Hill
Relay transmitters
  • Burgar Hill HP
  • Burgar Hill VP
  • Pierowall
The Orkney Islands12 May 201026 May 2010
Rumster Forest
Relay transmitters
Caithness2 June 201016 June 2010
Eitshal
Relay transmitters
Lewis, Wester Ross, North West Sutherland and parts of Harris and Skye7 July 201021 July 2010
Skriaig
Relay transmitters
Skye, Harris, North Uist, Benbecula, South Uist and parts of Barra14 July 201028 July 2010
Angus
Relay transmitters
Angus, Dundee, Perth and parts of Fife4 August 201018 August 2010
Durris Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire1 September 201015 September 2010
Knockmore
Relay transmitters
Moray, Strathspey and parts of Easter Ross8 September 201022 September 2010
Rosemarkie
Relay transmitters
Inverness and the Great Glen6 October 201020 October 2010

Channel Islands

Transmitter(s)Area servedBBC One, BBC Two, ITV1, Channel 4 switched off
Frémont Point The Channel Islands17 November 2010

The Channel Islands' transmitters carry three of the DTT multiplexes – BBCA, D3&4 and BBCB. BBCA carries the BBC's SD channels as elsewhere, the D3&4 mux carries ITVBe (which is on the SDN mux elsewhere) as of September 2022 in place of ITV1 +1 (which is not available on the islands), and BBCB carries BBC HD, BBC One HD and Channel 4 HD (ITV Channel Television does not broadcast an HD version of their services).

Due to close proximity to France, a multi-stage switchover was deemed impossible. Instead, the switchover was done in a single day. As such, all analogue signals were switched off at around 01:30, while digital signals were switched on at Frémont Point before 06:00 and at its relay transmitters before 15:00. [4]

STV Central

Transmitter(s)Area servedStage 1 date
(BBC Two switched off)
Stage 2 date
(BBC One, STV, Channel 4, Channel 5 switched off)
Torosay
Relay transmitters
South west Highlands and Islands13 October 201027 October 2010
DarvelParts of central Scotland, Argyll and Bute11 May 201125 May 2011
Rosneath HPRosneath
Rosneath VP
Relay transmitters
Craigkelly
Relay transmitters
Lothian, parts of Edinburgh and parts of Fife1 June 201115 June 2011
Black Hill Glasgow, central Scotland and parts of Edinburgh8 June 201122 June 2011

Anglia

Transmitter(s)Area servedStage 1 date
(BBC Two switched off)
Stage 2 date
(BBC One, ITV1, Channel 4, Channel 5 switched off)
Sandy Heath
Relay transmitters
Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire30 March 201113 April 2011
Sudbury
Relay transmitters
Parts of Suffolk and Essex6 July 201120 July 2011
Tacolneston Norfolk and north Suffolk9 November 201123 November 2011

Central

Transmitter(s)Area servedStage 1 date
(BBC Two switched off)
Stage 2 date
(BBC One, ITV1, Channel 4, Channel 5 switched off)
NottinghamThe Nottingham area30 March 201113 April 2011
BromsgroveThe Bromsgrove area6 April 201120 April 2011
Lark StokeStratford upon Avon area
Ridge Hill (Central) Herefordshire and south Shropshire
The Wrekin North Shropshire and south Cheshire
Waltham Parts of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire and south Nottinghamshire17 August 201131 August 2011
FentonStoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme7 September 201121 September 2011
Sutton Coldfield much of the West Midlands
Oxford
Relay transmitters
Oxfordshire, parts of Berkshire and Buckinghamshire14 September 201128 September 2011

Yorkshire

Transmitter(s)Area servedStage 1 date
(BBC Two switched off)
Stage 2 date
(BBC One, ITV1, Channel 4, Channel 5 switched off)
Belmont Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire3 August 201117 August 2011
Oliver's Mount
Relay transmitters
  • Humanby
The Scarborough area
Chesterfield
Relay transmitters
The Chesterfield area10 August 201124 August 2011
Sheffield
Relay transmitters
  • Totley Rise
The Sheffield area
Emley Moor Most of Yorkshire7 September 201121 September 2011

Meridian

Transmitter(s)Area servedStage 1 date
(BBC Two switched off)
Stage 2 date
(BBC One, ITV1, Channel 4, Channel 5 switched off)
Hannington
Relay transmitters
Parts of Hampshire, Berkshire and Surrey8 February 201222 February 2012
Midhurst
Relay transmitters
Much of West Sussex29 February 201214 March 2012
Rowridge
Relay transmitters
  • Bovington
  • Brading
  • Brighstone
  • Canford Heath
  • Cheselbourne
  • Corfe Castle
  • Donhead
  • Findon
  • Horndean
  • Luccombe
  • Lulworth
  • Luscombe Valley
  • Millbrook HP
  • Millbrook VP
  • Piddletrenthide
  • Poole
  • Poulner
  • Salisbury
  • Shrewton
  • Singleton
  • Sutton Row
  • Till Valley
  • Ventnor
  • Westbourne
  • Winterbourne Steepleton
  • Winterborne Stickland
Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, parts of Dorset, Wiltshire and West Sussex7 March 201221 March 2012
Whitehawk HillThe Brighton area
HastingsThe Hastings area30 May 201213 June 2012
Heathfield East Sussex
Tunbridge WellsThe Tunbridge Wells area
Bluebell Hill North Kent and south Essex13 June 201227 June 2012
Dover South and east Kent

London

Transmitter(s)Area servedStage 1 date
(BBC Two switched off)
Stage 2 date
(BBC One, ITV1, Channel 4, Channel 5 switched off)
Crystal Palace Greater London and parts of the Home Counties4 April 201218 April 2012

Tyne Tees

Transmitter(s)Area servedStage 1 date
(BBC Two switched off)
Stage 2 date
(BBC One, ITV1, Channel 4, Channel 5 switched off)
Bilsdale Teesside, County Durham and much of North Yorkshire12 September 201226 September 2012
Chatton
Relay transmitters
North Northumberland
Pontop Pike Tyne and Wear and County Durham

UTV

Transmitter(s)Area servedStage 1 date
(BBC Two switched off)
Stage 2 date
(BBC One, UTV, Channel 4, Channel 5 switched off)
Brougher Mountain
Relay transmitters
South West Northern Ireland10 October 201224 October 2012
Divis
Relay transmitters
Belfast and the surrounding area
Limavady
Relay transmitters
North West Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland completed the digital switchover on the same day as the Republic of Ireland, with Northern Ireland switching off analogue transmissions shortly before midnight, and the Republic of Ireland shortly after 10am. Viewers in some areas are able to receive an additional multiplex of channels carrying RTÉ One, RTÉ2 and TG4. These are broadcast in DVB-T2, and despite not being in high definition, require a Freeview HD receiver. Viewers in much of Northern Ireland can receive these and other Irish channels directly from Saorview transmitters based in the Republic. As these are broadcast in MPEG4, a Freeview HD receiver is generally required, although a very small number of standard Freeview receivers are compatible. Almost all viewers in Northern Ireland are able to receive at least some channels from the Republic by one or both of these means.

See also

References

  1. "Selkirk group next for switchover". 29 October 2007. Retrieved 2 November 2007.
  2. "News & Star". Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 15 April 2007.
  3. "Digital switchover for Wales unveiled". Digital Spy. 8 August 2008. Retrieved 15 October 2008.
  4. "Channel Islands' television goes digital". BBC News. 17 November 2010.