More and more Poles are ready for the new standard of terrestrial television

A few days ago, the results of the study were presented National Media Institute, regarding the measurement conducted as part of the Founding Study. He embraced 4,524 households. It turns out that between August 2022 and October 2023 the number of farms unprepared for the new standard of terrestrial television reception decreased from 990 thousand. up to 266 thousand And this, in turn, translates into a higher level of readiness of farms prepared for the standard DVB-T2/HEVC increased to 93 percent KIM launched this renewed monitoring in connection with the planned monitoring at the end of this year transition of all broadcasters to the new standard.

KIM data also shows that it is best to receive it in the new standard farms in the southwestern region are adapted (this is 2.3% among households receiving only the DTT signal) and in Masovian Voivodeship (4.3%). The relatively lowest level of readiness for the DVB-T2/HEVC standard was recorded in the central region (9,5 proc.).

Who isn’t ready for DVB-T2/HEVC yet?

Farms not adapted to the new standard are still more likely to be affected single-person households consisting of older people, less educated and earning less. “These are households with less infrastructure, with lower rates of saturation with other media services (SmartTV, Internet, mobile telephony),” the study concluded. It also noted that less than every fifth household in the unadapted group is aware of the planned switch.

This is the second study of this type. KIM monitored the readiness of households for the new DVB-T2/HEVC terrestrial television broadcasting standard for the first time between July 2021 and August 2022. It was then found that the number of households unable to collect it decreased during this time from 2.27 million to 0.99 million, and the knowledge provided by the Institute helped, among others, in creating an information campaign. The MOC TV union requested the study.

The change in the digital terrestrial television broadcasting standard was related with the release of frequencies in the 700 MHz range for the needs of mobile telephony networks. The refarming process was divided into four stages, and the last switchover in 2022 took place on June 27. However, by the decision of the President of UKE, MUX3, which includes the public broadcaster’s channels, it can only broadcast until the end of this year in the previous DVB-T/AVC standard.

TVP reminds about the new standard

In a few weeks, MUX-3 (TVP1, TVP2, TVP3, TVP Info and TVP Historia) will switch to the DVB-T2 standard with the HEVC codec. It is estimated that between 200,000 and 500,000 people have older TVs and tuners. households with digital terrestrial television. Their inhabitants will lose access to stations known from MUX-3. The process will be carried out in two stages.

The first of them will take place on the night of December 14-15 and will cover the western part of Poland, i.e. the West Pomeranian, Pomeranian, Lubusz, Greater Poland, Kuyavian-Pomeranian, Łódź, Lower Silesian, Opole and Silesian voivodeships.

In the eastern part of Poland, i.e. in the Warmian-Masurian, Podlaskie, Masovian, Lublin, Świętokrzyskie, Małopolskie and Podkarpackie voivodeships, the switchover will take place on the night of December 18-19.

The switch to the new standard is now accompanied by an information campaign on TVP, with the participation of Krzysztof Ziemechost of “Teleexpress” on TVP1 i Tomasz Wolny, presenter of “Panorama” and “Pytania na breakfast” on TVP2. The first journalist appears on the graphic with a map and information about the new standard.

– Check whether your TV or decoder will receive TVP channels. How to check? Retune your TV or decoder and check if you receive TVP channels in the same positions on the receiver’s remote control. If, after retuning the TV or decoder, you do not receive TVP channels, it means that you need to replace the TV or decoder with a new one – informs the public broadcaster. In Western Poland, such verification will be possible on December 15, and in Eastern Poland on December 19.

The migration may coincide with changes in TVP

Last year, you could benefit from government funding of up to PLN 100 for the purchase of a decoder or PLN 250 for a new TV set. This year the program is not valid. Viewers at risk of signal loss must therefore invest in the equipment themselves. The cheapest DVB-T2/HEVC tuners can be purchased for PLN 60, and TV sets for less than PLN 500.

The change will bring some benefits for viewers, because they will be able to watch TVP3 and TVP Historia in HD quality and will regain access to stations from other multiplexes that changed the standard in the first half of 2022. TVP was given time by the Office of Electronic Communications to migrate until the end of 2023. This was explained by the war in Ukraine, but private broadcasters claim that the reason was the upcoming parliamentary elections. It was supposed to be about a greater reach of TVP news programs than TVP or Polsat. Commercial broadcasters intend to count potentially lost advertising revenues and apply for compensation from the State Treasury.

Recently, the National Broadcasting Council published a new seating schedule on Polish Television multiplexes after changing the MUX-3 standard to DVB-T2/HEVC. TVP ABC and TVP Kultura channels will be broadcast on the third multiplex. In turn, TVP World will return to digital terrestrial television. It will be available via MUX-6. The public broadcaster, in turn, informed that in order to provide these viewers with additional time to tune their receivers, TVP will broadcast selected channels simultaneously on both MUX-3 and MUX-6. This will apply to: TVP1, TVP2, TVP Info in the period from December 15, 2023 to January 12, 2024 and TVP ABC and TVP Kultura in the period from December 19, 2023 to January 12, 2024.

Experts in an interview with Wirtualnemedia.pl criticized the timing of MUX-3 migration to the new standard. This is the period before Christmas itself, when many people are focused on shopping and other preparations for the holidays. Donald Tusk’s government will also start work soon and announces quick changes in the management of Telewizja Polska. Its news programs broadcast daily material about this announcement. There are many opinions that some viewers with older TV sets may perceive the disappearance of TVP channels as the liquidation of the public broadcaster.

The National Media Institute was established in December 2020 by the then chairman of the National Broadcasting Council. The primary task of the KIM is to conduct the Founding Research.