Digital countdown

It's thought thousands of people have still got TVs they haven't converted to digital, three months before analogue TV's switched off forever in parts of the Anglia region.

Any TV that receives its signals through an aerial in Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire and parts of Milton Keynes, Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire will start to go blank from 30 March 2011 as the analogue signals are switched off at the Sandy Heath transmitter near Bedford.

While 87% of households in the Anglia region have converted their main TV set, only 67% have converted all their TVs.  It's thought there are thousands of secondary TVs - in bedrooms and kitchens - that will have to be upgraded or replaced come the spring.

Peter Monteith from Digital UK said: "Every television set, if it's getting a signal from an aerial, whether it's on the roof or on top of the set, needs to be converted for digital.  If you don't do anything and you're only watching analogue at the moment, which is just four or five channels, your screen will go blank."

The digital switchover will take place in two stages, with analogue BBC Two going off the air at Sandy Heath on 30 March, followed by analogue BBC One, ITV1, Channel 4 and Five on 13 April, two weeks later.

Going digital means better picture and sound quality and more channels.  By going digital, you will also be able to listen to Heart through your TV, as Heart broadcasts on Freeview (through an aerial) as well as Freesat and Sky (through a satellite dish).

Find out more about the digital switchover in Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire, Milton Keynes, Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire