Analogue television channels in Oxfordshire and parts of Berkshire and Buckinghamshire have been permanently switched off.

The digital switchover began on 14 September when BBC Two’s analogue signal was turned off at the Oxford transmitter group.

Freeview channels are now available to viewers who had previously been in digital blackspots.

The move completes the digital switchover in the Oxfordshire area.

Before 14 September, about 6,000 viewers in areas including Chipping Norton had been unable to receive BBC Freeview channels.

The final switchover on Wednesday has meant further Freeview channels from ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 are available from local transmitters for the first time.

Existing Freeview viewers will have to retune their sets.

special focus on TV at the Cannes Lions advertising festival today gave rise to some fascinating reflections on the future of TV. Proceedings began with a connected TV presentation from Samsung, which notably revealed that the manufacturer’s research had shown that for consumers, “connected TV” above all means “apps.”

The research could well be right: 5 million Samsung TV apps have been downloaded to date. Whilst the fifth most popular app is amusingly “How to tie a necktie”, the number one app is vTune Radio, which allows you to listen to the radio on your TV. Further proof that, as Google chairman Eric Schmidt put it later, “with gigabit internet, the distinction between tv and internet & radio disappears.” We may as such already be in the era of entertainment as a stream…

Then four veritable giants appeared onstage: TV presenter Piers Morgan, TimeWarner CEO Jeff Bewkes; Aaron Sorkin, the screenwriter best known for The West Wing and The Social Network; and David Simon, creator of The Wire.

The panel’s theme was what TimeWarner sees as “The golden age of TV. Everywhere”. For Bewkes, we are currently in TV’s second golden age, firstly because “there’s a lot of great stuff on TV, and a huge migration of talent to TV. Viewers & quality are up; it’s no longer mass-market TV, rather bold, targeted programming.” The second factor behind this golden age, said Bewkes, is “TV going on the internet” (and not, as he pointed out later, “TV versus the internet”).

“So does this mean the end of TV as we know it?” asked Morgan. “Well, there’s the big screen on the wall of your lounge, and there’s the small one you take with you,” said Bewkes. “You’ll soon be able to see whatever you want on either of those screens, anytime. It’s going to bring tremendous vitality. And if people are more engaged, it’s a good thing (for brands). Furthermore, you don’t have to give the same message to every viewer.”

This ‘targeting’ point was also made by Google’s Schmidt later, underlining its importance for TV advertising moving forwards. “People are worried about the role Netflix is playing in movie distribution,” said Schmidt. “Whereas they’re succeeding because they know their consumers. A TV should know not to show nappy ads to people who don’t have children,” said Schmidt, promsing Google TV would be capable of such a feat, one day.

So what is the impact of this innovation on TV creatives? Said Simon, “When we started The Wire, we knew it was complicated (plotwise), but as HBO was showing it 3 times a week we decided we could get away with it. Now that TV’s no longer appointment-based, rather a lending library, that serves complicated stories, because as a writer, you know people won’t miss an episode. That’s revolutionary.”

“I think and hope we are (in a golden age),” said Sorkin. “The best theatre in the US is on TV right now, because the best talent is coming from theatre and film to TV. We’re beginning to overcome the passive relationship viewers have with TV, and that’s great for us. And happens to be great for advertisers too.”

Key to the “golden age” of TV, then, is the notion of limitless choice for consumers in the post-scheduled TV era. The content offering of TV, said Bewkes, is “like books now. There’s everything from best sellers to lesser known works.”

What this means is new opportunities for edgier works like The Wire. “The renaissance now is that you longer have to reach 50m people to survive,’ said Sorkin. “The Wire is one of the most-talked about shows in the world and many would say it’s the best TV show ever. But its ratings couldn’t stand up to the biggest flop.”

Faced with this overwhelming choice of new content, Google naturally has an answer: search. “Look at YouTube’s billion views a day ; most of this is user-generated content,” said Schmidt. “You’ll never be able to watch all of those videos. So it becomes a search problem. We need to move past the search box model, so we should know what you’re searching for. With your permission, we could select videos based on what you watch, or suggest content to your mobile phone based on your location.”

Brave new world indeed…

Revealed: the Nation’s Joy of Sets

Landmark report reveals how today’s TV is changing lives.

TV’s influence on British life is bigger than ever before, according to a unique freesat study. The Joy of Sets study, in collaboration with media psychologist Dr Brian Young from the University of Exeter, reveals that the biggest motivation for watching TV is the opportunity to talk about it with others. People no longer just tune in to be entertained. When we are not talking about it, we are inspired by it – to change jobs, take up a new interest or even shape relationships.

The adoption and accessibility of digital media has changed behaviours and attitudes towards TV for good. People now tune in to actively participate in the TV experience. We are a nation of ‘a

IF you’ve been to the pub to watch the Premier League football in 3D, you’ll know how exciting this new technology can be.

But things have moved on since most of the major manufacturers announced they were bringing 3D tellies to our living rooms back in January at the Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show.

So, to get you slap, bang, up-to-date with the latest news, here’s 9 things you should be aware of.

1) JOHN LEWIS has become the first store to sell 3D televisions in their shops. Well, one shop. The Samsung UE40 C7000 came out on Friday, priced at £1,799. But the 40 incher is only available in the Oxford Street branch or online. Other stores will have some on display though, just so you can check them out. Which does seem a little strange. You can also buy the Samsung 3D Blu-ray Player BD C6900 for £349 and if you do that with the telly, you get two pairs of specs and the 3D Blu-ray Monsters v Aliens DVD for nothing, saving £149.

2) COMET aren’t far behind with Samsung and Panasonic 3D sets already onsale on their websites, priced from £1600 to £2300. Selected stores are also set to get them this weekend, although there’s no news which ones just yet.

3) LG are the people supplying the tellies to pubs across the UK and working with Sky to bring football to life. Their sets will be out in May or June to buy for your home and LG are the only ones to offer both Active and Passive technology to power 3D pictures.

4) PASSIVE basically means all the gubbins to create a 3D image is inside the television. This means the glasses cost just 50p a pair and the TVs are cheaper too. It makes the jump to 3D much more affordable for people and LG’s LD950 — with a 47 inch display — will come with four pairs of polarised glasses out of the box for all the family. It will cost between £1500 and £2500.

5) ACTIVE on the other hand places a lot of the technology in the glasses themselves, meaning they might look a lot cooler, but they’ll cost you upwards of £100 a piece. The active shutter system blacks out each eye without you noticing when needed so the left and right eye see the images meant for them. That means full high definition 1080p pictures can be received by each eye to provide the clearest HD picture available. LG’s LX9900 Active TVs will be in 47 and 55 inch sizes and cost around £2500 and £3600.

6) IT’S not all about watching football though. There’s going to be plenty of 3D games coming out in the next year or two. The likes of Avatar — itself a great 3D movie — are setting the standard for a whole new way of immersing yourself in virtual action.

7) IF you own a PlayStation 3, then you’ll be pleased to know it will be 3D compatible. A free software update to be delivered soon will allow it to spin 3D Blu-ray movies and games without the need to upgrade your hardware. Sony’s own 3D Bravia models will be out in June.

THERE’S also good news for Sky+ HD customers. The box will work with the new 3D channel from Sky and it’s actually operational now. You’ll need to call customer services though to make it live for you but it won’t cost you a penny more. There’s very little content right now but by the autumn Sky plan to have proper 3D shows and movies to tune into.

9) A 3D DVD version of Avatar is on the way for next Spring. That’s according to The Hollywood Reporter which says Fox Home Entertainment is planning the disc. The 2D version sold more than four million Blu-ray copies on its launch day in America and will be massive here too when it comes out next week. But it’s not the same as watching it as James Cameron intended in cinemas and as 3D TVs slowly begin to invade our high street stores, it won’t be long until someone down your road has one and starts selling tickets to their living room.

Combine the latest Sony 3D Blu-ray players with any one of the TV sets on the way to enjoy 3D films in your front room. The memorably tagged BDP-S470 and the BDP-S570 will both upscale your standard definition DVD’s and give you access to loads of BD-Live content via the internet. The 3D Blu-ray discs should start arriving by the end of this year, so then, just don your active shutter specs and enjoy your films with those paying guests. The S570 model has built-in WiFi by the way, apart from that the players are peas-in-a-pod. No word on price yet.