Town makes top 20 for black and white TV licences

Dungannon has made the top 20 across the UK for homes still using a black and white TV Licence.

According to TV Licencing there are 49 homes in the area who have not yet converted to that ‘new fangled’ colour TV, placing the town in 17th place.

Saturday (July 1) marked 50 years since the first colour transmission on the BBC, but new figures from TV Licensing reveal more than 8,000 homes across the UK still enjoy programmes in black and white.

The TV Licensing B&W Index, shows large urban areas hold the majority of black and white TV Licences, with more than 600 homes in Northern Ireland watching in black and white and 15 viewers in Cookstown.

Almost 70 postcodes dropped out of the Index in the past 18 months, including Augher and Donaghadee, as entire suburbs convert to full-colour viewing. A further 313 postcodes across the UK boast a sole black and white viewer in their community.

Karen Grimason, TV Licensing spokesperson for Northern Ireland, said: “It is striking that in an era of HD TV and spectacular true-to-life pictures, there are still more than 8,000 viewers, including 49 in Dungannon, content to watch spectacular programmes like The Night Manager and Planet Earth in monochrome.”

A TV Licence is needed to watch or record live TV, or watch or download BBC programmes on iPlayer. A licence costs £147 and can be bought at tvlicensing.co.uk/ni