Organisation: DCMS

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Analysis and commentary by Echo Research.

The failure last week of Equitable's £700m legal claim against former auditor Ernst & Young and subsequent mudslinging disgraced both parties, disgusted media commentators and "shattered the dreams" (Scotsman, 23/9) of thousands of policyholders. Reporting of the "biggest climbdown in UK legal history" (icWales, 23/9) focused on whether Equitable Chairman Vanni Treves and CEO Charles Thomson should resign, with sympathy evident in some quarters: "Treves must stay, despite the climbdown" (thisismoney.co.uk, 25/6).Thisismoney.co.uk did its own calculations, arriving at the headline " £2000 to go digital" (16/9); " Concern over cost of digital TV switchover" stated the FT simply (19/9).

Beyond cost concerns were fears about the impact on the elderly: " OAPs will suffer in digital TV shake-up" (Cumbria Online, 16/9), and worries over the strength of the digital signal. Bubbling away quietly was the view that the Government had not properly sold the case for switchover. " If the process of going digital is going to be as disruptive to Britain as decimalisation … why are we doing it?" questioned Greg Dyke, one of digital's earliest proponents and apparent heretic (Independent, 19/9). Digital UK, charged with informing the public and implementing the switchover, clearly has a huge job ahead.