Ofcom 'to issue DTV blueprint'

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Barry Cox, deputy chairman of Channel 4 and chairman of the digital stakeholders' group, the body overseeing the transition to digital switchover, says planning for a digital-only TV nation is now so far advanced that Ofcom intends to publish key details this month.

Writing in FT Creative Business Cox went on: "This should tell us not only when switchover is planned to start and finish but also the order in which it will happen." Cox says switchover will take at least two years to complete on a region-by-region basis. "Everyone will get at least two years' notice of when the switch will take place in their area," he added.

But Cox argues that there are still a number of uncertainties. "For the traditional broadcasters - the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 - the switch to digital is scarcely an unmixed blessing. In a fully digital Britain, their share of TV audiences could decline by as much as a third from what they are now," he predicts.

He also believes that, in such a situation, the licence fee could command far less public acceptance than it does today and that the viability of the commercial public service broadcasters could be seriously undermined. But he also adds that weaning the BBC off its licence fee income could be a lengthy process.

"Though I think there will be significant changes to the way the BBC is funded and governed as a result of the current charter review process, the licence fee is likely to remain for much of the next 10 years as its prime source of revenue," said Cox.