By Claire Reilly

Residents in Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast have become the latest Australians to see the complete switch off of analogue free-to-air TV signals as part of the Federal Government’s switchover to digital TV.

The region represented the largest switch in Australia since the rollout of digital free-to-air television began, with more than 1.19 million households in Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast now getting access to the new service. To date, almost 5 million households across Australia have switched to digital TV.

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Chris Lebreton from Broadbeach Betta Electrical on Queensland’s Gold Coast said the change in technology had meant strong sales in his store’s TV department over recent months, especially as the retailer caters to a large number of property owners of strata titled units that are rented out as holiday accommodation.

“We mainly deal with the accommodation industry — holiday accommodation where all the units are owned by individual owners — and a lot of managers have been in touch with us because there are still some owners out there that still have the old analogue sets.

“There were a few units here and there that slipped through where the owners had the old analogue sets, and obviously they’re no longer suitable. So we have been doing a few set-top boxes and upgrades. We’ve been quite busy!”

While it is possible to upgrade an analogue television with a new set-top box, Lebreton said most customers where choosing to upgrade their whole TV to a newer model.

“It’s absolutely been positive in regards to TV sales, there’s certainly been a spike in that.”

Now that the switchover has occurred, consumers no longer have the need to go out and upgrade their TV, but Lebreton said there was still plenty of reasons for consumers to come into his store.

“Everyone wants a bigger and better TV now. People might have had a 32-inch High Definition LCD which is about 5 years old now. So customers that got those TVs when they first came out will probably say might opt for a 50-inch model because obviously the prices have changed since five years ago.”