Poor reception for digital TV as homes miss half the channels

TELEVISION'S digital revolution has failed to live up to its promise in rural Scotland, watchdogs have warned.

Nearly half the homes in the Borders, the first area to experience the full switchover to digital television, can get only half the available channels, according to a report out today.

The study from Consumer Focus Scotland found that the 47 per cent of homes served by relay transmitters could get only 20 of the 40 channels on offer.

Viewers elsewhere should be given a clear idea of what they can expect from the digital switchover, it said.

However, Digital UK pointed out that 20 channels was a considerable improvement on the four or five available before the switchover.

Today's report is the watchdog's final assessment on last year's switching off of analogue TV services across the Borders.

The report – published as the switchover is about to begin in Dumfries and Galloway – said that while the technical switch in the Borders was largely a smooth one, help for the vulnerable must remain the priority.

More than 100 people, including the elderly and vulnerable, kept diaries from July 2007 until the beginning of this year to give a insight into the switchover process

Trisha McAuley, of Consumer Focus Scotland, said: "At the very least, Digital UK needs to make it entirely clear how switchover will affect the rest of rural Scotland in relation to the choice of new services available."

But Paul Hughes, Digital UK's national manager for Scotland, said that only those served by one of the relay masts would not get the complete package of 40 channels. He added: "Everybody is going from four or five channels to 20 digital channels, and these are the 20 most widely watched channels – they are not obscure channels. This is a big jump in service from what was there before."

Mr Hughes said there were also many other ways of accessing television channels, from free satellite services to using the internet.