Melbourne to close out digital TV switchover on 10 Dec, 2013

The PVR for MeTV (Credit: Optus)

The Federal Government has this afternoon published the proposed timetable for the remaining areas yet to have analogue television signals turned off, with Melbourne set to become the last area to switch.

While an approximate timetable was known prior to today, Minister for Broadband, Communication and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy has now released official dates for the change over, after which point Australians will no longer be able to view television over analogue signals.

According to the provisional timetable (see below for full timetable), next year Adelaide will switch on the 2nd April, Tasmania on the 9th April, Perth on the 16th April, Brisbane (including Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast) on the 28th May, Darwin on 30th July, Sydney (including Gosford) on the 3rd December, and lastly bringing to an end the switchover, Melbourne on the 10th December.

Remote and Regional Western Australia will switch on the 25th June 2013, with Remote Central and Eastern Australia to make the change on the 10th December 2013.

“Over 1.6 million people across five switchover regions are watching digital-only free to air TV and nationally, around 82 per cent of households have already converted to digital television,” Conroy said in a statement today.

“The Digital Switchover is a significant moment in Australian television history and the biggest technological change in broadcasting since colour TV was introduced in this country more than three decades ago.”

By switching off the analogue signals, the Government will auction off the bandwidth with parts of it set to go to the nation’s telecommunications providers who are eager to use it for their next generation networks.

Many areas have already made the switch, including regional Queensland, parts of regional NSW and areas of regional Victoria and South Australia. Those impacted by the change are encouraged to visit the Government’s DigitalReady website for more information.

Proposed timetable for remaining areas (Credit: DigitalReady/Federal Government):