Australia releases Q4 2010 Digital Tracker survey

Friday, March 4th, 2011
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Digital Tracker: Quarter 4 Summary Indicators

Eight out of ten households in regional Victoria had converted to digital television by the end of 2010, well ahead of the regional Victoria switchover on 5 May 2011, the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, said today.

“As the third region in Australia to switch, and by far the largest to date with approximately 450,000 households part of the switchover, regional Victoria is on track for the switch to digital TV,” Senator Conroy said.

The Digital Tracker Summary Report for Quarter 4 (October-December 2010) showed that 81 per cent of households in regional Victoria had converted to digital TV during the quarter compared to 45 per cent in early 2009.

“South-West Victoria had the highest rate of conversion in regional Victoria, with 85 per cent of households reporting they were digital ready,” Senator Conroy said.

Across Australia, 77 per cent of households had converted to digital TV during the quarter.

Darwin and Tasmania lead the nation in the take-up of digital TV, with a conversion rate of 88 per cent by the end of 2010. Perth and Adelaide reported 81 per cent of households converted; Melbourne 79 per cent, Brisbane 78 per cent, and Sydney 66 per cent.

“Broadcasters have rolled out new digital TV transmitters in several locations across regional Victoria to improve the reliability of local digital TV reception, meaning that more households will be able to receive terrestrial digital TV,” Senator Conroy said.

The reach of free to air digital TV channels is being extended further by the government-funded VAST satellite service which is broadcasting digital TV into households in remote areas and terrestrial reception blackspots.

The number of digital ready households in the Remote Central & Eastern Australia TV licence area, which includes remote areas of South Australia, the Northern Territory, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania had more than doubled since early 2009.

“By the end of last year, 58 per cent of households in this licence area were digital ready, demonstrating that Australia’s switchover to digital TV is extending well beyond the major population centres into some of the most remote parts of the country,” Senator Conroy said.

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