Japan goes digital after turning off analogue TV

TOKYO – Japan on Sunday shifted to digital terrestrial broadcasting, switching off its analogue television network in all areas except those worst hit by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the government said.

Japanese broadcasters ended analogue transmission across most of the country at noon (0900 GMT) after 58 years. No major problems among viewers were immediately reported.

As of the end of June, the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry believed at least 290,000 households were still not ready to receive digital signals, Jiji Press said.

The Japanese government has postponed the move to digital in the prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima until the end of March next year due to damage from the earthquake and tsunami.