Switch on to the BBC's monkey business

The government must have breathed a huge sigh of relief today after a BBC-led consortium scooped ITV Digital's licence.

The state broadcaster and some unlikely bedfellows stepped in to save the government's bacon just when digital TV in the UK had started to take a turn for the worse. The government plans to switch off the analogue signal in 2010 and the implosion of ITV Digital put this deadline in jeopardy.

The BBC's licence coup actually isn't much of a coup at all. Or at least not a great surprise. And it's highly likely the publicly-funded organisation will get it right where ITV Digital got it wrong.

The Granada and Carlton Communications-owned company famed for its woolly monkey mascot tried to swing through trees before it had even learned to peel a banana.

The Beeb is using the platform to provide free-to-air services and while MTV-obsessed teenagers consider that dull, it's actually a very promising proposition.

ITV Digital fell down because it provided pay-TV services before it had a sufficient number of subscribers. Aunty hopes to draw in digital TV viewers based on the fact the service is free and it's highly likely it will add services for a premium charge some time in the future.

But while the move looks good for the government and is definitely good for the future of TV in the UK, what about the ITV Digital subscribers with those lovely boxes perched on their TVs?

Although the BBC says it will improve poor reception endured by viewers it's drawing the line there. The Corporation has said it's not prepared to use licence fee money to support any future technical hitches.

ITV Digital had 800,000 subscribers when it died in May. Not only will these people have to learn to set the clock on the video and replace the batteries in the remote control, they are also going to have to brush up on their set-top box maintenance skills.

Still, sounds better than the limbo of the last few months.