Sky wins TV licence cash to aid digital switchover

chris

The Digital Switchover Help Scheme has confirmed that it will be handing over licence fee money to BSkyB to supply "low-cost" set top boxes for older and disabled people in the first region in the UK to have its analogue terrestrial television signal switched off.

Sky has beaten competition including Freesat, the joint venture satellite service from the BBC and ITV, to win the SHS contract for the ITV Border region, which covers Cumbria and the Scottish borders.

Sky will provide and install digital satellite receiver equipment for a subsidised cost of £40, or free in some cases, with "extra" Sky TV channels and the Sky+ digital recording service for two months without charge.

At the end of two months, people can opt in to Sky's pay-TV channels or continue to get the free TV and radio services the satellite broadcaster offers.

The deal with Sky will only be valid for the ITV Borger region. The DSHS tendering process will be repeated for switchover in each ITV region around the UK between now and the end of digital terrestrial TV switchover in 2012.

DSHS was set up by the government and is run by the BBC to use around £600m of ring-fenced licence fee money to make the transition easier for certain groups by converting one television in each eligible household to digital TV.

People yet to switch from analogue terrestrial TV will be offered the help if they are 75 or over or are eligible for certain disability benefits.

Those eligible for the scheme can choose from other "digital options", some of which cost extra, from providers including Freeview, Top Up TV and Freesat.

All options and prices are set out in an information pack sent to each household eligible for the DSHS scheme.

David Scott, chief executive of Digital UK, the body set up to oversee switchover, said: "I welcome [the] announcement by the Switchover Help Scheme, which provides a vital safety net for eligible viewers who need assistance making the transition to digital television. It will play a crucial role in ensuring that the switchover goes smoothly for viewers in the Border TV region."

The ITV Border region will be the first in the UK to switch completely to digital terrestrial television starting on November 6, with completion of the process in the area expected by June next year.

Digital switchover kicks off in earnest in the ITV Border region following last autumn's pilot scheme in the Cumbrian town of Whitehaven.


Source: MediaGuardian

BGonaSTICK

Hmm, now that doesn't seem quite right somehow...

OK, subsidised hardware - yes, but all the other pay-crap that goes with it?

rolfw

This is the bit which concerns me:

As in my experience, they operate an opt out system, whereby if you don't make a call, you end up having the money taken automatically.

Also, can you imagine the average 70 plus year old who has never used digital TV, trying to find their way around a Sky plus box, not mentioning the majority of channels in the EPG which won't be viewable after the trial period? The mind boggles.

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HEROES BAR

I Live In Tenerife Will It Be Available Here ?

PaulR

Errrrm, no I don't think so!

PaulR As I get older I find myself thinking about the hereafter - I go into a room and then wonder what I'm here after.

2cvbloke

I.E. Boxes that are so old that they are slow and unreliable, but they've sprayed them silver...

BGonaSTICK

Exactly. These tactics really get to me

Come on Sky, fight fair. Nothing wrong with a bit of competition, but it works both ways.