Digital switchover in Kuboia

The digital switchover in Kuboia is a current 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 is scheduled to conclude 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.

As of October 2022, North Kuboia is the only region in Kuboia to still have analogue terrestrial television. Hausekeep, the last region, is scheduled to end its remaining analogue services just before midnight on 31st January, 2023.

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

Analogue signals are usually turned off on a Sunday right before midnight, though some areas opted to switch their signals off on a Tuesday night instead.

Effects
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.