[jambutty]

Go digital Aunty Beeb proclaims. “We are starting switchover in the Border region in 2008, West Country, Wales and Granada in 2009, West, Grampian and Scottish in 2010, Central, Yorkshire and Anglia in 2011, Meridian, London, Tyne Tees and Ulster in 2012, ending with Channel Islands in 2013.”

Those are the dates when the analogue broadcast will be switched OFF in those areas. However most places can receive the digital broadcast now if they have a digital TV or a digibox for around £50.

More details are available at http://www.digitaluk.co.uk presided over by Digit Al, that funny little creature that adorns the current BBC ads for digital. You know the one where Digit Al sits next to a woman with a towel around her head filing her nails. Al also has a towel around his head doing his nails, although he must use a mini grinder because sparks fly off in abundance. Nice touch though.

Just to digress a tad – has Aunty missed the boat with Digit Al? A Digit Al toy or an executive desk top adornment for Xmas would I am sure, earn them millions. Maybe there is something planned for 2008? Does anyone else have a small table lamp on top of or close to the TV to soften the glare from the screen? I do and the thought occurs that a Digit Al lamp would be a novelty and also useful.

I managed to get a photo of the ad from my telly and then went on to find two pictures on the web site. No prizes for guessing which of the three below is the actual photo and which two have been grabbed from the web site.

Just to digress once more – I heard the other day that the BBC DOES NOT OWN their transmitting masts and aerials and presumably they rent them from the company that does. No comment! I don’t want to get banned.

We are told that digital channels take up less bandwidth so there can be more of them for any given frequency range and being digital there will be no hisses, crackles and bangs distorting the picture or sound.

The question is do we need hundreds of channels? I don’t but others may do. My digibox gives me something in the order of 35 ‘free view’ channels to choose from and they do come in handy to watch the ‘must view’ programme that I missed but that is all apart from UK TV History.

On balance I welcome the digital era but there are times when it taxes my ancient brain cell when trying to plan what I intend to view in the evenings.