Dutch analog television over the air stopped
Submitted
by
Koos
Koos writes "In the night between 10 and 11 December 2006, the terrestrial analogue TV transmitters for the Netherlands were switched off, and digital (DVB-T) transmitters took over (page in Dutch!).
For 55 years analogue over-the-air television was available in the Netherlands (history page in Dutch!). The switch to digital was prompted by European regulations pushing the switch to digital and because of the running costs of the high-power VHF and UHF transmitters. The Netherlands was the first country to end analogue terrestrial television broadcast.
About 74000 to 200000 (estimates differ) households depend on terrestrial broadcast for receiving television. In this densely populated country cable tv is available almost everywhere. Satellite receivers are used a lot by people wanting more channels.
The interesting part about the switch was that the same channels used by the old analogue transmitters were going to be occupied by the DVB-T transmitters, so very little testing for correct reach and signal could be done before the switch. Some tests with DVB-T were seen in the previous weeks. DVB-T was available already in the 'Randstad' (area in the west of the country, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht and all the cities in between) but transmitters closer to our borders have to be set up not to interfere with German and Belgium transmitters."
For 55 years analogue over-the-air television was available in the Netherlands (history page in Dutch!). The switch to digital was prompted by European regulations pushing the switch to digital and because of the running costs of the high-power VHF and UHF transmitters. The Netherlands was the first country to end analogue terrestrial television broadcast.
About 74000 to 200000 (estimates differ) households depend on terrestrial broadcast for receiving television. In this densely populated country cable tv is available almost everywhere. Satellite receivers are used a lot by people wanting more channels.
The interesting part about the switch was that the same channels used by the old analogue transmitters were going to be occupied by the DVB-T transmitters, so very little testing for correct reach and signal could be done before the switch. Some tests with DVB-T were seen in the previous weeks. DVB-T was available already in the 'Randstad' (area in the west of the country, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht and all the cities in between) but transmitters closer to our borders have to be set up not to interfere with German and Belgium transmitters."