With 16 days to the start of the first digital television switchover in Whitehaven in Cumbria, a new online Postcode Checker has been launched to provide viewers across the UK with essential information about the switch to digital television in their area.
The ëone-stop-shopí service from Digital UK has been designed to provide viewers with details of when they will switch and what digital services and channels they are likely to receive ñ right down to an individual street. Latest research from Digital UK and Ofcom* shows that on average only about one in six viewers across the UK know when they will need to make the switch.
The new online service (
www.digitaluk.co.uk) launches less than one month before the switch to digital begins in Whitehaven, Cumbria on October 17. Switchover will then roll out across the entire country transmitter by transmitter, finishing in 2012.
Key features of the service include:
- Date when switchover is happening by transmitter
- Name of the transmitter from which they are most likely to receive digital TV broadcasts
- Digital platforms e.g. Freeview, Sky, cable or freesat, and channels available to them now, and at switchover
- Likelihood of receiving a good quality Freeview signal now, and at switchover
The Postcode checker is being promoted as part of the latest phase of a new £8m public information campaign featuring the switchover robot character Digit Al travelling around the country and helping people to prepare.
Ford Ennals, Chief Executive of Digital UK, said: ìPublic awareness and understanding about switchover is generally good but we do want to make sure people know what is happening and especially when it is coming to their area. Thanks to the Postcode Checker we can now provide everyone in the UK with a personalised switchover information service.î
