The Government has started playing commercials, specific to the Mildura/Sunraysia area, to remind viewers that local analogue signals will be shut down in less than six months – 30 June to be exact:
Viewers will notice a couple of familiar names in the campaign – Rebekah Elmaloglou, best known from Home And Away, and David Callan, from the former SBS series Going Home.
In the latest Digital Tracker survey, released late last year, 95 per cent of Mildura/Sunraysia households were aware of the changeover to digital television, 79 per cent of households had already converted to digital, however only 19 per cent of households were aware of the analogue shutdown date. Rates of awareness and conversion to digital TV in Mildura/Sunraysia are higher than most other parts of Australia, largely due to the region’s third commercial channel, a relay of Network Ten, being broadcast solely in digital. Mildura also currently receives digital signals for ABC, SBS, Prime and WIN, including additional channels ABC2, ABC3, SBS2, GO!, 7TWO and One HD.
After Mildura, analogue television signals will be progressively shutdown across the remainder of Australia over the next few years. The Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy is also rolling out commercials across Australia to give viewers a broad overview as to when analogue signals will be switched off in local areas:
Source: Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Digital Ready, Freeview
