§ Mr. CarmichaelTo ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which areas of the country are able to access the transmission signal of Channel 5 via a 155W terrestrial television; what plans she has to increase the coverage of Channel 5; and if she plans to upgrade the television transmitters unable to broadcast Channel 5's signal. [19620]
§ Dr. HowellsAnalogue terrestrial Channel 5 services reach around 80 per cent. of the UK population and coverage details can be found on Channel 5's website at: www.channel5.co.uk. There are no plans to extend analogue Channel 5 services, as the provision of digital terrestrial television now has priority in the use of scarce spectrum. Channel 5 is carried on all digital platforms. Digital terrestrial coverage information is available on the Digital Television Group website at: www.dtg.org.uk. The Government's aim is to ensure that the main free-to-view analogue channels are available in digital form to those who can currently get these analogue channels.