The era of analogue television officially ended on December 10th in Australia, heralding the new dawn of digital only viewing. In what is anticipated to be a boom for retailers and electronics manufacturers, the switchover also promises to rapidly shift the appetites of the general consumer to more varied methods of digital consumption whether via IPTV, mobile or subscription TV options.
Victoria was the last state to switch off analogue transmission which had reigned as Australia’s distribution platform for 57 years.
The Australian Government has invested millions of dollars into the switchover which included the creation of Digital Switchover Taskforce.
The Government has also reaped the benefits of the switchover with the Digital Dividend or sale of the usage rights of the analogue spectrum. The Federal Government held an auction for the usage rights in April which generated nearly AUD$2 billion in revenue. Telstra and Optus made successful bids and will have usage rights from 1 January 2015. The spectrum will be used to extend Australia's high-speed mobile Broadband networks.
According to the Taskforce, the Digital Switchover in Australia has been smooth with over 95% of Melbournians already converted at switchover deadline. Covering 1.7 million homes, Melbourne's switchover was the largest of the digital rollout.
Digital broadcasts began in Australia in 2001 with the promise of sharper pictures, improved sound and a wealth of extra channels.
The experience offshore would suggest that digital switchover has a marked effect on the general take up of new technologies as many consumers that have been uninitiated to the world of PVRs and the content benefits of subscription and IPTV services, suddenly have new options opened to them.
In the UK, many consumers and organizations found that upgrading to IPTV technology with all its advantages is an attractive option. The UK, which completed switchover last year was the leading European country for TV revenues this year, with £11.7 billion compared with £11 billion in Germany and £9.5 billion in France, according to a report from Ofcom. UK homes also had the highest propensity to own DVRs, with 41% of households owning a device, and UK consumers were most likely to access TV content over the internet, with 36% of internet users claiming to do so every week.
Germany and France were both ahead of the UK in the number of homes signed up to pay TV services with 64% each, according to Ofcom. The UK, Spain and Italy were the only three major countries where all main TV sets in households received digital signals. Almost half of UK homes received HD TV, higher than the 33% average for the major European countries.
