There is a digital clock in Whitehaven harbour that is silently counting down. For the most part, the locals ignore it. Passers-by are more interested in the nearby ice-cream van and the geese that scavenge for food. But in two weeks' time the countdown will reach zero, and the town will hold its breath.
On October 17, this Cumbrian port and the surrounding area will be the first part of the UK to have its analogue TV signal switched off and replaced by digital-only broadcasts. There's a lot riding on it. For Digital UK, the body established by the government to deliver digital switchover, it is the first chance to show it is on top of its remit. For the government, the electoral consequences of depriving voters of their TVs do not bear thinking about.
With the authorities determined to make switchover a success, Whitehaven has been at the centre of a marketing firestorm. Since it was named as the test area a year ago, roadshows, posters, radio campaigns, direct mail, in-store activity - even ministerial visits - have been employed to ensure that everyone is aware of the switchover.
It is a process that will be played out in towns and cities across the country over the next five years. Region by region, the analogue signal will be turned off between 2008 and 2012. Digital UK has a £200m budget to inform the public and make sure nobody is left behind. Whitehaven, then, is the test-bed for the biggest public-sector marketing campaign the UK has ever seen. Its importance is clear in the amount being spent. Digital UK won't reveal the budget for the activity in Copeland (the region around Whitehaven), but it admits that it is investing 25% more per household than its national target. The lessons learned here will affect the next five years of activity.
Copeland seems a peculiar choice to test the shiny new world of digital TV. This sliver of Cumbrian coastline has not until now been able to receive Freeview transmissions, and there is no cable TV. Consequently Sky penetration is high, at about 70% of households, but for the remainder of the population, digital is something new. In two weeks, the screens will go dark on BBC Two, and a range of channels will appear on Freeview. Four weeks later, the rest of the analogue signal will be turned off.
The official reasons for the choice of Copeland is that technically it is easy to switch off without affecting neighbouring areas, and that the region is reasonably representative in terms of the types of housing (private versus social and houses versus flats). But you don't have to go far to find competing theories. Andrew Davies, who moved to Whitehaven four years ago to open a guesthouse, voices a simmering resentment common among residents. 'The reason that they're doing it here is that if and when it all goes wrong, nobody will notice,' he says. 'If it happened in Surrey there would be uproar.'
This is not the first time Whitehaven has flirted with the future. One of its claims to fame is that in the 18th century it became the first planned town of the modern era, and right angles abound as the Georgian streets fall back from the harbour in a surprisingly modern grid pattern. In fact, Whitehaven even claims to be the template for the expansion of New York. Those were the town's glory days, when the local coal and iron ore industries brought prosperity to Cumbria's west coast. It became the third-biggest port in England, behind only Bristol and London, as ships packed with sugar and rum jostled with the fishing fleet beside the stone jetties. The town cemented long-term links with the US when former resident John Paul Jones became a US naval hero - and came back to attack Whitehaven for good measure.
Since that peak, however, the town's fortunes have fared less well. The pits are closed and the fishing industry is a fraction of what it was; the harbour is now packed with small pleasure boats. The main employer is the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant a few miles down the coast, which accounts for half the jobs in the Copeland region. The majority of the rest of the locals depend on the tourism at nearby Lake District National Park, and every two years Whitehaven gets a payday in its Maritime Festival, when upwards of 200,000 people pour into the town.
A Millennium Lottery Grant has cleaned up the harbour and the Georgian facades of the town centre. But you don't have to go far up the steep hills that hem the town into the coast to see peeling paint and crumbling brickwork. The main shopping street features as many pound shops as it does coffee shops, and Copeland Council's statistics show a population in decline and older than the national average. Alan Cleaver, deputy editor of the Whitehaven News, says it is a region of extremes. 'Economically, we're on a par with Romania in terms of EU grants. There is real poverty on some of the estates, with a lot of families on the breadline. For them a Digibox is serious money,' he says. 'Then there's the Sellafield managers on very good salaries.'
Given these demographics, Digital UK has set itself a challenge. The official figures show 100% awareness that switch-over is taking place. But knowing it is happening does not mean the town's population knows what to do about it. In fact, several issues have arisen over the course of the campaign.
The first is confusion over exactly where switchover is happening. Not all parts of the Copeland area are served by the transmitters that are being converted. There are tales of Digital UK volunteers knocking on doors of residents in north Whitehaven, only to find out those houses are not in the switchover area. To combat this, Digital UK ran TV captions that appeared only on sets in the affected areas, as well as leafleting relevant postcodes. 'These were the only ways to tell somebody for certain that they would be affected,' says Beth Thoren, director of communications at Digital UK. 'They are perhaps the most important part of our communications.'
Another issue is the complexity of the message that needs to be broadcast. It is not just a question of signing up to Sky or buying a Freeview box; the town's residents need to convert every TV set in their homes. They also need to replace their VCRs, as once the analogue signal is switched off, they will no longer work properly (viewers can only record what they are watching). For this reason the campaign has had to pass through several phases, from initial awareness-raising to explaining the issues to make sure people know what to do with their new equipment. Local retailers have joined in - one electronics store is running a radio ad urging people to replace their VCRs.
Perhaps the biggest hurdle has been converting awareness and knowledge into action. At Brooks, an audio-visual store in Whitehaven town centre, the rush to buy boxes has begun only in recent weeks. 'It's been a very late take-up,' says manager David Simpson. 'We've been encouraging people to convert all year, but only in the past few weeks have people woken up to what's going on.'
According to Simpson, one of the biggest spurs to action was the test launch of Five on digital terrestrial over the summer. For the first time, it allowed people who bought Freeview boxes to test whether they worked. Nevertheless, official figures show most non-digital households don't plan to do anything until directly before switchover, and 5% of households won't act until after it's taken place. That will place a major strain on resources.
'You can't change human nature, and part of that is leaving things to the last minute,' says Thoren. As a result, Digital UK has changed its plans for work in other regions. Instead of beginning its local campaigns three years ahead of switchover as planned, it will begin marketing two years beforehand.
Round the corner from Brooks, on Whitehaven's main shopping street, is the official Digital Help Scheme shop. Run by Capita for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, it was opened in July by local MP Jamie Reed and the town's oldest resident, Florence Parnaby, aged 100. Those over 75, the blind or partially sighted, and recipients of certain benefits can claim help under the scheme, which will sell them a Freeview box for £40 and install it (though it will only convert one TV set).
It, too, is expecting a last-minute rush. Reports in September suggested that just 1000 of the 9000 forms sent to eligible people had been returned. The fact that Tesco is selling Digiboxes from £10 may have led some to question why they should pay £40 for the Help Scheme.
The assumption behind the Help Scheme is that old people are the ones who need guidance. But Cleaver believes the Whitehaven experience has undermined this expectation. He points to poor families, who find it difficult to manage money yet have several TVs to replace. 'It's very patronising. Whatever help scheme is run for the rest of the country, they must get away from this idea that only the elderly need help.'
It is a view shared by Mary Bradley, director of Age Concern North-West Cumbria. The charity, the biggest in the region, has been one of Digital UK's most prominent partners in the information campaign, running drop-in centres, providing volunteers and housing Digital UK's local development leader. 'The people who have come in to our centres have been all ages,' she says. 'Single mums with four teenage sons, each with a TV in their room, want advice on how to do it cheaply.'
Building local partnerships has been key. Tying with Age Concern has given the campaign a bigger presence, as the charity has run stalls at local events. It has also allowed access to peer networks that conventional marketing might not reach.
Digital UK's Thoren believes generating word of mouth in this way is crucial. The organisation certainly achieved this with the countdown clock, which caused a storm when it was erected without planning permission. More intentionally, it has trained staff in retailers that sell digital equipment. The idea is that the message is better coming from local people than a central authority. To this end, it is in talks with a number of charities to replicate the Age Concern tie on a national scale. Future switchover campaigns will rely on organisations with the local connections to spread the word effectively.
Freeview, which has been marketing heavily in Whitehaven, has also been following a locally tailored strategy. It began in-store work in July, then a month later launched a press campaign featuring prominent townspeople such as Whitehaven's town crier and the local butcher.
The operator's activity has followed two strands: to introduce the Freeview service to people without digital; and for those who already know about digital TV, to sell the Freeview Playback digital recorder as an alternative to a VCR. Recent events included a VCR 'amnesty' at a local Comet store, in which 100 people received a free Freeview Playback device in return for their old video recorder. When the 100 free sets had been given away, there was nearly a riot among those who had missed out.
According to Sophie Alexander, Freeview's head of consumer marketing, the Whitehaven experience has convinced it that this two-pronged approach is the right one. 'We've learned to engage with people at a local level, and it's been well received,' she says.
For all this activity, there are still many who complain they have not received enough information. Thoren admits there has been a lot of 'white noise' as the various organisations and companies involved have sent out different messages.
As a result, nobody is quite sure what will happen when the screens go dark. Between October 17 and full switchover in November, Whitehaven's townsfolk will have to switch between analogue and digital to receive the full range of channels. It is at this stage that problems may arise as people realise
exactly what analogue switch-off means for them. Electrical shops will be inundated, helplines jammed and manpower stretched to the limit. But, ultimately, there is no going back. In the digital revolution, the people of this sleepy little port are - whether they like it or not - the vanguard.