[comtv-l] Digital TV for a tenner from Tesco

[Editor, Airflash Magazine]

Digital TV for a tenner from Tesco

Jemima Kiss
Wednesday August 29, 2007
MediaGuardian.co.uk


Tesco has unveiled what it claims is the UK's cheapest digital set- 
top box, aiming to outdo its high street rivals with a £10 model on  
sale from today.

Manufactured by Techwood, the digital TV box offers the standard 40  
Freeview digital terrestrial TV channels and numerous radio stations,  
at half the cost of the previous cheapest set-top box.

Small margins on the sales of digital TV set-top boxes mean the  
product is likely to be a loss leader for the high street giant, but  
Tesco claims the move is designed to prepare consumers for digital  
switchover.

By 2012, the UK's analogue TV signal will be switched off and  
consumers will have to use digital TV services, either through a TV  
set with a digital built-in digital receiver, or a set-top box  
attached to an analogue set. Digital switchover begins in the  
Cumbrian town of Whitehaven on October 17.

Freeview is regarded as a bridge between analogue TV services and  
digital TV offerings available via satellite or cable, which offer  
more channels and more interactive services.

Consumers can buy a Freeview box with a one-off payment and no  
further monthly subscriptions and receive around 40 free-to-air  
channels, including all BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel Five services.

"We know that many of our customers aren't ready for the change in  
the way their TV programmes are transmitted, so to get them prepared  
for the switchover from analogue to digital, we're offering this  
digital TV technology at the lowest price ever," said a spokesman for  
Tesco.
Digital UK, the industry body charged with promoting the take-up of  
digital TV, welcomed the announcement.
"We've seen the cheapest digital box go from £100 to £10 in just five  
years, and this is further proof that going digital needn't be  
expensive," said Ford Ennals, the chief executive of Digital UK.

"We're now working with Tesco and the other supermarkets to help them  
provide switchover information in their stores."
Tesco's previous cheapest set-top box, along with rivals Comet and  
Argos, was £19.99.

Freeview was introduced in October 2002 and to date, 19m set-top  
boxes and TV sets with built in digital receivers have been sold.  
According to Ofcom, 80.5% of UK households now receive digital TV  
through their main TV set.

Source:  Media Guardian
http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,,2157737,00.html

-

Michelle McGuire
Editor, Airflash Magazine

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