Minister Rabbiitte welcomes strong signs of momentum as households make the Digital TV Switch in big numbers
50,000 viewers make the switch in the latter half of September leaving 100,000 TV users still to make the switch at the end of September
Minister for Communications, Pat Rabbitte, has today announced further encouraging results from the latest Millward Brown Lansdowne tracking study on the Digital TV Switchover which was carried out in the latter half of September.
The research revealed that an estimated 50,000 households who are reliant on the analogue signal, made the switch in the last two weeks of September, leaving approximately 100,000 households left to make the switch at the end of September. Awareness of the digital switchover among those reliant on the analogue service continues to increase and now stands at 99%. Date awareness has also increased by 2% to 94%.
Commenting on the latest research results, Minister Rabbitte said, "Today’s research figures confirm that momentum is building as we approach the end of the switchover process. By the end of June there were 200,000 households who were still using the old analogue network for their primary TV; by mid September that figure stood at 150,000 and by the end of September that figure had reduced to 100,000. National Digital Switchover Week which we ran in the third week of September appears to have contributed significantly to the particularly strong switchover figures revealed in this latest piece of research. Nevertheless, now is not a time for complacency - I would urge those viewers, who have yet to make the switch, to do so now and not to wait until the last minute. With just 14 days to go, I would ask the public to give a helping hand to friends, relatives and neighbours who may need assistance with the switch to ensure they are not without a TV signal from Wednesday 24th October."
Viewers who can currently see ‘X 24 October’ in the corner of their TV screens are using the Analogue TV system and need to switch to Digital in advance of 24th October. These viewers have two options, depending on the range of services or channels they require. They can get Saorview by purchasing a set top box or a Saorview approved television or they can go to a Pay TV provider, such as Sky or UPC.
Guidance on the Digital Switchover is available at www.goingdigital.ie, through LoCall 1890 940 980 (English language) and 1890 940 970 (Irish language).
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Notes to Editor:
Millward Brown Lansdowne Research (Millward Brown Lansdowne Digital Switchover Benchmark Study, 8th October 2012) interviewed a representative sample of 1031 adults aged 15+. 14 respondents who claimed not to have a television in their household were excluded, thus giving an effective sample of 1,017. All respondents were interviewed in their own homes. Fieldwork dates were 20th September 2012 – 3rd October 2012.
The ‘Bug’ or marker, ‘X 24 October’ or ‘X 24/10/2012’ currently appears on RTE, TV3 and TG4 analogue screens