Tasmania switches to digital TV
Tasmania switched off analog television today, the first state-wide switch to digital.
- Published by David Knox
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Tasmania switched off analog television today, as the switch to digital continues across the country.
“At 9am today over 207,000 households across Tasmania switched to digital-only free-to-air TV, as analog signals across the Tasmania switchover region were switched off,” Senator Conroy said.
“I would like to thank the local broadcasters for their support and assistance and congratulate Tasmania on a very smooth transition to digital-only free-to-air TV.
“Tasmania, as the eighth official switchover region, represents a significant milestone as it signals that we are now over half way through our digital switchover program with just seven regions left to go. Tasmania also represents the first state-wide switchover.”
Tasmania brings the total number of households across Australia that have officially made the switch to over 3 million.
Next week Perth flicks the switch.
17 Responses
Ahh! I forgot about East Coast Television/Austar (now Foxtel) coming from Mt Wellington, or ‘the mountain’ as we Hobartians call it. 🙂
I did notice WIN went later.
I can’t find any reference to the fire on the internet but I’m fairly sure it was around Friday June 22, 2001.
I remember not having my newly connected Austar for days because of the fire!
Thanks for filling me in on whats up the mountain. I haven’t been up there in years!
Glennc, I believe that TX tower at Government Hill in Risdon is a translator that re-broadcasts every channel for some black spots in the northern suburbs. Since that fire in 2002 (date??) that wiped out WIN’s Mount Wellington transmission building, news reports said that all commercial (WIN, SCTV & TDT) digital broadcasts were going to come from the WIN tower (plus WIN analog on channel 6). The concrete TX tower on the other side of the mountain apparently carried all ABC & SBS analog & digital, SCTV analog (channel 31), & most FM radio signals. That means SCTV was coming from two different towers. Might also explain why ABC1, SBS One & SCTV all went together at 9am yesterday & WIN took a little longer?
@Stan I read yesterday that “Technician Steve Leeper flicked the switch at 9am at the Southern Cross TV transmitter on Government Hills (Risdon).”
I’m with you, I always thought that’s what the two towers on Mt Wellington were? I had always thought one was SBS/Sth Cross and one was Win/ABC?
I’m probably wrong, don’t really understand how the system works!
Silkecho, I noticed that too! Seems rather poetic that TVT6 (WIN Hobart) was the first station on-air in 1960 & the last off analogue by about 19 minutes. Was watching ABC1 analogue at 9am & they went off on the dot with a minute’s worth of coloured bar test pattern (no sound) before snow.
In Hobart at least, it might’ve had something to do with the shared TX tower on Mt Wellington that did broadcast analogue ABC1, SBS One, & Southern Cross together. WIN analogue was on the other tower.
@MHA @dylan2012 @anyone else – the first state to be completely changed over to non-analogue will be WA on 25 June 2013 when the rest of the state switches off.
Parts of the west coast and central Tas have not yet switched off analogue and most of SA’s area won’t switch off until 10 December 2013.
@TasTVcameraman The voice not matching the mouths on Win/Go/GEM really irritates me too! Almost to the point where I can’t watch them!!
@thebgl A mate of mine lives in St Helens. They’ve only had the digital set up for the area for a couple of years, so it wouldn’t surprise me to hear that lots of people are relying on this service.
@Ann – Doesn’t Sydney, Melbourne, etc. still have analogue? It’s not that Tas. just switched from analogue to digital, they actually switched off analogue. They’ve had digital as long as anyone else.
@dylan2012, Actually David is corrent, as there are areas of outback SA that still have analogue on until the end of the year.
I can assume that their would be a lot of viewers in parts of Tasmania away fro the major population centres who cannot receive local Freeview reception of Tasmanian channels and therefore have to rely on the V.A.S.T (Viewer Access Satellite Television) service for the free-to-air channels. The terrain in a lot of areas across the Apple Isle includes many mountains, hills and valleys. At least VAST provides the Regional News Channels so that Tassie gets WIN News and Southern Cross news if they want to watch one of those bulletins.
I have been digital for quite a few years now, Now I wonder will WIN finally fix their sound sync problems?
Wow Tassie enters the 21st century or is it 20th?
I’m not sure about this, but Tasmania still has Avoca ABC Analog on which is Remote Area. The actual first state will be Western Australia.
QLD is at the end of May!
Still got a small old TV I use on occasion, need to trade it in or something.
From Hobart, I noticed that ABC, SBS and Southern Cross switched off at 9am, while WIN stayed on-air until about 9:20am.
First on-air, last switched off?
SA was the first state to completely switch to digital after the switch off in Adelaide last week. Not Tasmania.
Yes, we switched and at our house, at least, we still had TV at a second past 9am!! Even my mum has been ‘digital’ for the last year or so.