Tim Jenks, Senior Executive at the Confederation of Aerial Industries Ltd (CAI) looks at how the housing industry has taken to the switch to digital TV and the need to expand beyond a simple coaxial cable feed into a living room.
The nation decides…
With almost 90% of the nation turned onto digital TV in one form or another on their main living room set, there can be no doubt that the switch to digital TV for most folk has been a simple natural progression. The big fear that people would be up in arms over losing pictures on bedroom portables appears to be a myth as well. Another startling statistic emerging from the switch in the South Western counties of England is that 86% of all sets – i.e. extra sets around the home - were converted once the Stockland Hill had turned off its analogue transmissions. The dramatic price falls of smaller screen TVs with digital tuners probably responsible for this unexpected enthusiasm. The Scottish Borders – where the first regional switch began – reveals the same story. Here 92% of all TVs in the home are now digital.
Local Authorities lead the way…
In areas of high population concentration there is a tiny biting insect in this otherwise gradual healing ointment. Where people are not in charge of their own destiny when it comes to signal reception the overall picture of what has been or being achieved towards readiness for the big switch is unclear. Living in a private apartment block, sheltered housing scheme, housing association property or council flat reveals a very mixed bag of scenarios. Without doubt probably the most advanced in catering for the switchover are the local authorities. The accessibility of local authority listings of location and responsible personnel probably accounts for this advancement. The only possible thorn in the bouquet being the lack of budget some are claiming they do not have for a massive aerial upgrade project. However despite the gloom and misery, over 50% of local authorities are well on the way to providing solutions to the switchover issues, most having already done it.
Private problems…
The private sector is harder to track down, particularly the individual private landlords or small builders. It is this sector that is proving hardest to convince that signal reception has progressed from 4 channels on a push button TV. Even the mighty budget of Digital UK (DUK) the body charged with leading us all through the switch with a ‘pink tick’, are finding this one tough going.
For those of you involved in new build projects this really should be a ‘no brainer’ when it comes to how to cater for the emerging habits of the British TV viewing public. One more interesting statistic here; around 46% of the nation subscribes, i.e. pays for extra TV channels to compliment their weekly dosage of BBC and ITV. Interestingly the biggest sufferer from TV viewing habit shift is Channel 4. Much groaning is emerging from this broadcaster. The latest speculation being there is no money at all at C4 for High Definition TV (HDTV), if and when it emerges on our already crowded terrestrial airwaves.
Freesat opens the market
With the emergence of BBC and ITV’s ‘Freesat’ service – totally subscription free satellite TV – the field is definitely widened and more arduous for signal providers in shared aerial blocks. Satellite TV without monthly payment seemed like a wild dream, but a liaison between BBC and ITV has borne much fruit. Over 400,000 provide an unimaginable statistic for the pundits on broadcast uptake charts and diagrams. This is a product that has proved one of the most popular since TV transmissions began. The one-off payment for the equipment is sure-fire winner, but if you live in flats, you need the structure in place to feed signal into your new acquisition.
Second class society?
For many years the flat dweller could be a second-class citizen when it came to channel availability, even if you owned a £1m apartment. The norm has to be an outlet plate in the dwelling that supplies UHF TV, a satellite twin feed to allow boxes that record as well as view and probably a DAB (Digital Audio Broadcast) aerial feed in the unlikely event that FM radio as we know it bites the dust, the same as analogue TV.
BSkyB have made great strides in educating the construction industry about its wants and desires when it comes to signal feed provision. Their strong HDTV offering of around 30 channels coupled with their ability to make expensive things look cheap, must not be ignored. At the moment the only credible route to HDTV is via the ASTRA satellite system and Sky boxes, so a builder of multi-dwellings ignores the provision of satellite signal at its peril.
IRS and Digital Britain
The CAI has long advocated that the ‘Integrated Reception System’ (IRS) approach is the natural successor to the standard coaxial networks that have lingered around blocks of flats for 50 years. IRS provides all that the average viewer may want as far as TV provision is concerned. An IRS delivers the usual terrestrial TV, any number of satellites desired by the provider of the system and radio as well. However since the CAI’s bold statements and articles on the topic the Blair government became champions of the digital Britain push which has now found its way right to the front of politics with Lord Carter’s document called ‘Digital Britain’.
The whole emphasis now shifts on extending signal provision to a network in the home that allows broadband service everywhere we live and breathe. The word ‘convergence’ – once in every sentence and discussion of digital switchover – is now back in the headlines. Again, the driver is tending to be mobile viewing of moving picture content. YouTube on your mobile phone or watching BBC news on the same device as you call home from the train, is now driving technology further into total control of our living environment by digital signal networks.
Building right now?
The modern builder has to now be mindful that folk may just wish to have a clever box in the lounge that delivers internet based service into the main TV and indeed to all the sets around the home. You could argue many of us are still ‘divergent’ in that we are still banned by our spouse to answer emails in the office space rather than interrupt Coronation Street. Nevertheless, we still need the provision of an outlet in that office area that delivers broadband access. The new world signal reception installer has therefore to have honed a vast array of skills as compared to the days of simply bracketing a UHF TV aerial to a wall or chimney and drilling a coaxial cable through the window frame.
The average installer may well soon be – or already is – an aerial rigger, dish fitter, system engineer and telephony provider. The last one probably developing into the key piece of expertise as TV starts appearing out of the telephone socket…?
Tim Jenks is senior executive at the CAI Ltd, Britain’s only trade association for the Broadcast Signal Reception and Distribution Industry. The CAI has nearly 1,000 companies nationwide, from the sole proprietor aerial installer right through to the largest manufacturers and distributors of signal reception antennas and associated ancillary equipment. Tim regularly contributes articles to the trade press and can be heard on BBC local and national radio commenting on broadcast reception issues.