The digital television transition (also called the digital switchover or analogue switchoff) is the process in which analogue broadcast television is converted to digital television. The motivation behind the switch is the improved quality of digital broadcasts over analogue ones and the freeing up of valuable spectrum space for other services (and bidders).

The scale of the transition can vary: at one extreme, a small, low-power transmitter can be converted to digital. This is what happened at Ferryside and Llansteffan in the UK, and is normally conducted as a trial, although it can be a permanent change. At the other extreme, a whole country can be converted from analogue to digital television.

In many countries, a simulcast service is operated where a broadcast is made available to viewers in both analog and digital at the same time. As digital becomes more popular it is likely that the existing analogue services will be removed. In some cases this has already happened where a broadcaster has offered incentives to viewers to encourage them to switch to digital or simply switched their service regardless of whether they want to switch. In other cases government policies have been introduced to encourage the switch-over process, especially with regard to terrestrial broadcasts.

Government intervention usually involves providing some funding for broadcasters and, in some cases, monetary relief to viewers, to enable a switch-over to happen by a given deadline.

The facility with which digital switchover can be achieved depends not only on the size of the area and number of transmitters to be converted, but also on the number of viewers who rely on the analogue signal as their primary or only means of TV reception. In Berlin, for example, most residents were using cable television, so only a small number of households needed the new equipment necessary for digital reception. On the other hand, around 60% of UK households had access to multi-channel television as of Summer 2005 1. This left around 10 million households who would be forced to convert to another means of receiving television by the time digital switchover reaches their area.

Purpose of the transition

In addition to the higher image and sound quality, the switch to all-digital broadcasting will free up much of the valuable broadcast spectrum for public safety communications (e.g., police, rescue squads, and fire departments). Other parts of the spectrum will be available for commercial wireless services like wireless broadband.

Switch-off completed

• was the first country to complete the move to digital broadcasting on September 1, 2006.
• moved to digital broadcasting on December 11, 2006. The switch-off was helped greatly by the fact that about 90% of the households have cable that continues to use analog distribution.
• ceased analogue terrestrial transmissions nationwide at 4am, September 1, 2007 (switch-off was previously planned for the midnight after August 31 but a few extra hours were added for technical reasons). Cable TV viewers continued to receive analogue broadcasts until the end of February 2008.
• completed its switch-off on September 25, 2007.
• : The switch-off of the analogue terrestrial network progressed region–by–region. It started on the island of Gotland on September 15, 2005, and was completed on October 15, 2007, when the last analogue SVT1 transmitters in Scania and Blekinge were shut down. Cable distributors are allowed to continue broadcasting analogue television.
• began with the switch-off on July 24, 2006 in Ticino and continued with Engadin on November 13, 2006. The switch-off was completed on 26 November, 2007.
• began analogue switch-off on March 5, 2007, progressing from the west to the east and finishing the switchover on May 5, 2008.