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2013: Digital switch bill passes.

It's official. Australia, your digital TV is ready.

The Federal Government’s plan for Australia to switch to digital television by the end of 2013 has been approved by Parliament.

The Opposition, which had been criticised by Senator Conroy for dragging its feet, had wanted to amend the bill concerned some people will have trouble affording a digital television set or a set top box.

But the Government argued there are adequate measures to help people switch over and used its numbers in the lower house to remove the Opposition’s amendments.

In what has been (dubiously) described as our biggest change since the introduction of decimal currency, analogue television will cease to exist in Australia. All viewers will need a digital television set or a set-top box to watch free-to-air television.

The four-year program begins in Mildura in the first half of 2010.

Source: ABC

14 Responses

  1. Hopefully by 2013 Set Top Boxes will be a lot better than they are now. Every cheap STB I’ve tried lock up at the first opportunity, even my supposedly good Topfield.

  2. To TV worker

    Just because the end product may seem free, doesn’t mean it is actually free (in a monetary sense).

    First off, as a nation, we own the frequencies that tv channels are broadcast on, our representative (the government) then leases out these frequencies to companies so they can provide content. To pay for these lisences the companies sell air time to advertising companies.

    So, not only are these stations using our (as a nation) frequencies, but they are also making anyone who wishes to sit down and watch the channel, to sit through 20 minutes of ads each hour from about 12pm to 10:30pm (approx.)
    So we’re essentially paying these tv stations with our time (i realise its not a monetary form of payment, but none the less, it’s still payment).
    I mean it’s ridiculous, ad breaks during prime time now days go for up to 4 mintues between sections. This has personally put me off live tv now. Appart from the news, i either tape it on a dvd-ram and spend time deleting the ads, or i don’t watch it at all. I cant afford that much time.

  3. Hang on… my point was…to the end consumer..the product is free to them…television advertising (while it lasts) is paid for by clients which in turn pay for the TV programing and production of the quality trips the execs make to see the US product…of course…but mr and mrs Smith sitting in there loungeroom don’t actually pay…so all the amount of whinging won’t change a thing…normally…there are exceptions…. but the programmers only listen to rating points and Nine and have never been one to wait for them to get better….what puzzels me, is now the non ratings…or no competition season…is just as competitive… its all just opinions…don’t get too fired up people

  4. The remote licences, Imparja and SC in the east and GWN and WIN in the west, have no digital transmitters except for the one that WIN has at Mawson, WA.

    And earlier this year ACMA issued about 50 narrowcast analogue television licences for local Aboriginal communities to broadcast NITV. These licences expire in mid 2012. Why would the government fund the start up an analogue television network that they will have to shutdown in 5 years! But then, the Digital Television Switch-OVer Bill 2008 does not mention narrowcast licences or NITV.

  5. Apart from advertising as subsidising the ‘free’ in ‘free to air’ methinks the taxes that go to ABC, SBS and Screen Australia funding of production just shot a hole in your theory. But I suspect you are about to get some other feedback…!

  6. I couldnt agree more with Dans Dans …. me being lucky (i use that loosely) enuf to work in TV. people keep telling me it is their right to watch some free to air television…I have never fully understood that when someone gets something for nothing…that they still complain about not getting it just right…if I was paying for it, Like foxtel and something was wrong then great complain…but when it arrives into your house and the only cost is the outlay of the Tv itself… put up and shut up… or download and watch on your own time or buy the DVD… its Free to Air TV…everyone has now ample warning that the big analogue switched will be turned off…please dont wake up one morning and go…. where is my TV….

  7. You watch the whinging from all the idiots who haven’t changed over by 2013 – they’ll be complaining about the lack to TV like there is no tomorrow!

  8. Why doesn’t the government actually make it more worthwhile switching to digital by lifting restrictions on multichannels, so the networks can start up as many channels as they want to now, including timeshift channels.
    For example, we could have all the networks available on a two hour delay (and maybe 1 hour delay too). Just like the UK has itv+1, itv+2 on Freeview and Foxtel here has Fox 8 +2 and The Comedy Channel +2 etc. We should have 7 +2, 9 +2, ten +2, ABC1 +2, SBS +2.

  9. I never got what it starts in Mildura of all places, do they have the highest per-head number of digital TVs?

    Also are they going to ban the sale of analogue TVs and other devices that use analogue, even though you’d be had pressed to find many in most stores now.

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