Millions of households will be unable to receive BBC1 or BBC2 in three years under radical proposals being drawn up by broadcasters.
The BBC, Channel 4 and ITV plan to switch off the analogue signal in some parts of the country in 2007 in an attempt to persuade viewers to upgrade to digital TV.
Under the proposals from the trade body, the Digital Television Group for a 'staggered switch-off', analogue transmitters will stop broadcasting region by region.
BBC2 would go first, and it would then be available only to digital viewers.
Some months later, BBC1 will stop transmitting an analogue signal, and it too will be broadcast only digitally.
'The idea is to entice viewers to switch to digital,' said one senior industry source. Broadcasters have already spent millions of pounds developing the digital channels but viewing figures have disappointed them.
The industry hopes the gradual switch-off will persuade reluctant viewers to upgrade to digital, despite the extra cost.
'Finally, when we were confident that all homes have digital reception, ITV and Channel 4 would be turned off,' said the industry source.
The plan will take around five years to complete because about 80 transmitters will have to be shut down across the UK.
The broadcasters have written to the Department of Trade and Industry outlining their plans. One industry source said a switch-off could be tried out in parts of Wales as early as this year.
The Government wants to turn off the analogue signal completely between 2006 and 2010, but has promised not do so until 95 per cent of households can receive digital TV.
Despite the surprise success of the BBC's Freeview service, which allows viewers to receive digital programmes free of charge after paying between £50 and £100 for a box, only half of British households have so far made the switch.
Industry experts say the Government's target is unrealistic because a hard core of digital 'refuseniks' will not make the change.
Ministers realise that turning off the analogue signal before viewers have switched to digital would be political suicide because it would leave millions of voters without TV. But they are desperate to avoid the embarrassment of formally abandoning the 2010 target.
Once the analogue signal has been turned off, the Government plans to raise money by selling off parts of the spectrum. That could raise millions of pounds, although it is unlikely to net the billions raised by selling 3G licences to mobile phone companies.
The BBC, Channel 4 and ITV plan to switch off the analogue signal in some parts of the country in 2007 in an attempt to persuade viewers to upgrade to digital TV.
Under the proposals from the trade body, the Digital Television Group for a 'staggered switch-off', analogue transmitters will stop broadcasting region by region.
BBC2 would go first, and it would then be available only to digital viewers.
Some months later, BBC1 will stop transmitting an analogue signal, and it too will be broadcast only digitally.
'The idea is to entice viewers to switch to digital,' said one senior industry source. Broadcasters have already spent millions of pounds developing the digital channels but viewing figures have disappointed them.
The industry hopes the gradual switch-off will persuade reluctant viewers to upgrade to digital, despite the extra cost.
'Finally, when we were confident that all homes have digital reception, ITV and Channel 4 would be turned off,' said the industry source.
The plan will take around five years to complete because about 80 transmitters will have to be shut down across the UK.
The broadcasters have written to the Department of Trade and Industry outlining their plans. One industry source said a switch-off could be tried out in parts of Wales as early as this year.
The Government wants to turn off the analogue signal completely between 2006 and 2010, but has promised not do so until 95 per cent of households can receive digital TV.
Despite the surprise success of the BBC's Freeview service, which allows viewers to receive digital programmes free of charge after paying between £50 and £100 for a box, only half of British households have so far made the switch.
Industry experts say the Government's target is unrealistic because a hard core of digital 'refuseniks' will not make the change.
Ministers realise that turning off the analogue signal before viewers have switched to digital would be political suicide because it would leave millions of voters without TV. But they are desperate to avoid the embarrassment of formally abandoning the 2010 target.
Once the analogue signal has been turned off, the Government plans to raise money by selling off parts of the spectrum. That could raise millions of pounds, although it is unlikely to net the billions raised by selling 3G licences to mobile phone companies.
