Basse-Normandie digital TV switch
Homes across the region will lose analogue this morning. You will need a digital receiver to continue receiving TV
ONE and a half million people in Basse-Normandie will be switched over to digital TV this morning as the old analogue signal is switched off across the region.
The switchover will happen between 8.00 and 14.00. After this time, you will have tune your TV channels again (even, in some cases, if you already have digital TV) because it is possible they will have moved during the transmitter reorganisation.
If you are still watching on analogue, you will see banner messages on your screen warning of the imminent switch. You will need to buy a digital set-top box to continue receiving a signal.
A helpline in French is available, at the cost of a local call, on 09 70 818 818 or you can visit www.tousaunumerique.fr for more information.
Digital TV (télévision numérique terrestre or TNT) means improved pictures and sound and 18 channels instead of six.
Boxes start at €20 – and financial help is available for low-income families and the elderly. See our article here for more details.
All ordinary TVs bought in France since 1981 have the capacity to show digital – the key point being whether or not they have a scart (péritel) socket to plug a decoder in. Recently-bought ones should come with digital as standard.
About 200,000 homes near Cherbourg and Lisieux acted as a pilot region late last year and have already made the switch.
The Pays-de-la-Loire is the next region to lose analogue TV, in May, followed by Brittany in June. All of France is due to have switched over by November 2011.
