LONDON: The uptake of digital television in the United Kingdom is nearing 90 percent, according to Ofcom figures quoted by the BBC. Ofcom, Great Britain’s equivalent of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, said that 22.8 million households had adopted DTV. The U.K. transition is taking place over a number of years, through 2012. Analog shut-downs have already been affected along the Scottish border, the Isle of Man and in the West Country.

Ofcom said that as of March, 61 percent of secondary TV sets were DTV capable. The agency estimated that around 27 percent of TV sets in the country were still analog-only.

DTV adoption in the United Kingdom was facilitated by the introduction of Freeview, a free over-the-air digital TV service provided through a set-top box. Sales of Freeview set-tops are dropping now that sales of TVs with integrated digital tuners have reached 20 million.