The Switchover Help Scheme was part of the

digital television Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using Digital signal, digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television technology which used analog signals. At the time of its development it was considered an ...

switchover process in the United Kingdom. Funded by an increase in the TV licence fee, and administered by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

on behalf of the

Department for Culture, Media and Sport The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It holds the responsibility for Culture of the United Kingdom, culture a ...

, it aimed to ensure that up to 7 million households meeting its eligibility criteria would continue to be able to receive television broadcasts after analogue transmissions had been switched off. The service was scheduled to run until March 2013 after which no more households could apply, however the switchover process was completed on 23 October 2012 with the ceasing of analogue TV broadcasts in Northern Ireland.

Eligibility criteria

The scheme was open to all households in which (between eight months before and one month after analogue switch-off at the relevant transmitter) one or more residents were at least 75 years old, or received a

Disability Living Allowance Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is a social security benefit in the United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off ...

Attendance Allowance Attendance Allowance is a non-contributory Social Security benefit paid to elderly disabled people in the United Kingdom. It was introduced in the National Insurance (Old Persons' and Widows' Pension and Attendance Allowance) Act 1970. The benef ...

, or one or more residents were registered as blind or partially sighted. Also, all residents who had lived in a care home for at least 6 months were automatically eligible.

Cost

If the eligible person (or the person's partner) also received income-related benefits or pension credit, the scheme was free of charge for the standard option. All other recipients had to pay a flat fee of £40.

Procedure

The scheme provided, in essence, whatever it took to get an appropriate digital television service into the household, by the most cost-effective method. For most households this was a set-top box for digital terrestrial TV; the models supplied had to meet certain core requirements beyond what is seen on standard digital boxes, most notably the provision of

Audio description Audio description (AD), also referred to as a video description, described video, or visual description, is a form of narration used to provide information surrounding key visual elements in a media work (such as a film or television program, or ...

. The remote controls provided had also to meet requirements for ease of use. The scheme also provided any help that was required to get the equipment running, including user training and, if necessary, replacement of the aerial system. Householders who preferred to replace an analogue TV set completely, with a digital TV, or wanted a box which included a digital TV recording facility, could obtain these at discount prices. Householders who chose not to receive digital terrestrial TV could opt for a discount on the cost of a subscription-based TV service (

satellite A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scient ...

cable Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...

) – or off the cost of a

Freesat Freesat is a British free-to-air satellite television service, first formed as a joint venture between the BBC and ITV plc and now owned by Everyone TV (itself owned by all of the four UK Public broadcasting, public service broadcasters, BBC, ...

installation.

Whitehaven trial

It has been reported that in the

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and civil parish in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. It is a port on the north-west coast, and lies outside the Lake District National parks of England and Wales, National Park. ...

area, the first non-voluntary conversion from analogue to digital television, take-up of the help scheme has been surprisingly low. This may be partly due to the high percentage of homes already receiving satellite TV in the absence, before switchover, of any

Freeview Freeview may refer to: *Freeview (Australia), the marketing name for the digital terrestrial television platform in Australia *Freeview (New Zealand), a digital satellite and digital terrestrial television platform in New Zealand *Freeview (UK), a ...

transmissions. Additionally, many householders who met the age criteria but had no special needs did not require the enhanced set-top box, or a replacement aerial (most of the population lives within a few kilometres of the transmitter) and therefore had no reason to pay the £40 flat fee.

Helping Hand Campaign

The Helping Hand Campaign urged people to tell those aged over 75 and disabled people about the special assistance available for switching from analogue to digital television.

References

{{reflist

External links

Switchover Help Scheme website
Digital television in the United Kingdom