The German public broadcaster ARD and the Franco-German cultural channel Arte will switch off analogue distribution on Astra in 2011, the broadcasters said. ZDF will follow suit in 2012. At the moment, ASO for terrestrial in Germany is in full swing and expected to be completed by 2010. For cable, there is yet no time table, but all major operators are heavily promoting digital switch over. However, it is expected that cable will be the last distribution method to switch off analogue.
