Spain postpones HD DTT migration to 2024
January 18, 2023
From David Del Valle in Madrid
The Spanish government has postponed the migration of all standard definition (SD) DTT channels to HD until February 14th 2024.
The Economy Vice president, Nadia Calviño, says that the delay is due to the lack of HD-equipped TV sets in the market as a result of the pandemic. She adds that delaying the migration will prevent many viewers who cannot currently afford a HD TV set from being left without DTT TV services.
The SD DTT switch-off was originally scheduled to occur by January 1st 2023, but the Government first announced a postponement in July 2022.
In October 2022, the regulatory body CNMC indicated that a postponement would be for the best as the number of HD TV sets in the market was not sufficient. At the same time, the CNMC was pushing for TV broadcasters being able to migrate to HD at their convenience.