Digital TV conversion reaches 61 percent

A new report found that 61 percent of Australian households had converted to digital television by the end of last year.

The result was published in the latest edition of the Digital Tracker Survey. It represents a 14 percent increase during 2009 and a 5 percent growth in the last quarter of the year.

Analogue broadcast will be switched off on a staggered timetable, starting with Mildura on June 30 and continuing with regional centres and eventually capital cities, until the transition is completed in 2013. Mildura has reached a 79 percent conversion, six months before its June switchover deadline.

According to the executive director of the Digital Switchover Taskforce, Andy Townend, 78 percent of Australian households know how to convert to digital.