Digital switchover in Kuboia

The digital switchover in Kuboia was the process of turning off all analogue television providers and television channels in the country of Kuboia in favour of broadcasting television only in digital format. The process concluded on 31st January 2023 with the closure of analogue television in Hausekeep.

History
Digital television commenced in Kuboia with the launch of Digitele in 1999.

In 2010, the KDC announced that Kuboia would become "digital only" by the end of 2020. Although some of the public responded negatively to the news, KDC said they would "do everything possible" to make sure nobody would be left without television after analogue signals were turned off.

Analogue satellite television came to an end in Kuboia after Rutten Satellite closed its remaining services on 10th February 2013.

The closure of analogue terrestrial started when South Kuboia switched off its remaining signals on 2nd September 2018. East Kuboia followed suit when it turned off its last signals on 30th June 2019. North and West Kuboia were originally scheduled to switch off their analogue signals by the end of 2020. However, the process ended up being delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After a two-year delay, West Kuboia concluded its switchover on 26th June 2022. Hausekeep, the last region, ended its remaining analogue services just before midnight on 31st January 2023.

Switch-to-Digital campaign
From 2018 to 2023, KBG, TVVC and Telesketch Media launched a campaign that would promote the switch to digital television and advise the public how to do it.

Process and stages
Generally, there were two stages to the process; local channels were usually switched off a week or two first before the analogue signals for KBG, Vision One, Telenet and TVD were switched off.

When choosing switch-off dates, KDC suggested that areas with fewer analogue users should have their signals turned off first. North Kuboia was chosen to be the last area to complete digital switchover it had much more analogue television users compared to other regions throughout the 2010s.

Reactions and effects
According to statistics, digital switchover was treated as a bigger deal in Kuboia compared to other European countries. Several local television channels opted to cease transmissions due to believing that broadcasting on digital only would not be commercially viable. A few criticised the switch to digital as "greedy" and unfair for local television networks.

In June 2022, a digital terrestrial television provider called Satanet was launched, targeted towards those who favoured analogue television and a smaller selection of television channels.