Jowell To Endorse Switchover Date
Culture secretary, Tessa Jowell, is expected to confirm media watchdog Ofcom’s proposed date for the switchover from analogue to digital, marking the 2008-2012 period as the start of the process.
Speaking tonight at the Royal Television Society Cambridge convention, Jowell looks set to affirm Ofcom’s plan for the UK, switching the country to digital region by region, starting with the Borders in 2008.
Jowell is predicted to tell delegates at the convention: “Digital television is no longer a probability, it is a certainty… I believe it can leave us with a legacy of more choice, for more people, than anywhere in the world. No more rural communities effectively cut off from the media world the rest of us inhabit. The disabled pensioner having the same access to digital as the City broker.”
The impending switchover date has caused much industry concern and debates, with issues raised over how the poor, elderly and disabled will deal with a digital Britain.
According to research published by Ofcom earlier this year, a massive 78% of over 65s are unaware of the governments plans for switchover (see UK Public Unaware Of Impending Digital Switchover).
The culture secretary will address these issues in Cambridge tonight, saying: “Many of those yet to go digital are exactly the people that the state has a duty to protect… They have in many cases the most to gain from a fully digital world. And we have to make sure they aren’t left behind. Because otherwise, we aren’t on the cusp of a revolution, but a coup.”
However, it is not just these group’s that the Government has to educate on the switchover, with Ofcom’s Consumer Panel Study finding that that less than a third of UK consumers have heard of the term “digital switchover” with a significant proportion not knowing where to turn to for advice.
These feelings are echoed within the business world, with a recent report conducted by the London Business School on behalf of Video Networks, showing that more than 50% of television industry executives feel that the government is not doing enough to educate and communicate with consumers about the digital switchover.
Indeed, commenting on the Digital Consensus report, Roger Lynch, chairman and chief executive officer of Video Networks pointed out: “The industry is aware of the opportunities, excited about the possibilities but confused about how we will get to a successful digital switch-over and ultimately what role TV companies should play alongside the government in convincing consumers to make the move.”
Consumer lack of knowledge over the switchover was raised at the MediaTelINSIGHT Future of Digital TV Seminar, with journalist and broadcaster Ray Snoddy, saying: “There’s going to be a huge need for a marketing and educational campaign, the very campaign that the Government shows no interest in funding.”
David Scott, deputy chief executive at Channel 4 and a director of SwitchCo, the body appointed by the government to oversee the switchover, agreed, saying that although he was confident the switchover would be completed within the government’s timeframe there was a lot of work to be done.
Ofcom: 020 7981 3040 www.ofcom.org.uk