ONdigital Chief Calls For Joint Effort In Digital TV Promotion

Stuart Prebble, ONdigital’s chief executive, has called for a joint effort from the broadcasting industry to promote the uptake of digital television, including free promotional spots explaining the benefits of the various platforms to the public.

Around a quarter of UK homes are now thought to have signed up to digital TV (see Oftel Report Shows Rapid Rate Of Internet Growth Continues), but a date for ‘analogue switch-off’ will not be set by the government until that figure reaches 95%. This is predicted to happen in the second half of this decade, but detractors say that switch-off before 2010 is unlikely.

It is thought that many consumers could still be confused about the different digital platforms available, and that this could be holding back the rate of uptake. Making his appeal, Prebble pointed out that his company was in part responsible for failing to educate the public and added that during the last 18 months alone over 4 million non-digital TV sets have been sold in the UK, making the achievement of a switch-off date even harder.

The uptake of digital television is likely to have a major influence on the landscape of the medium, as viewing figures show very different viewing patterns, in terms of share, in digital homes compared to terrestrial homes (see Digital Round-Up October 2000: ITV Makes Headway Across The Board).

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