AN auction of ITV Digital's knitted monkey mascots this week acts as a stark reminder of the perils of taking on BSkyB at the digital game.

Even the bad-tempered cult hero of the channel's adverts, helped by his sidekick Johnny Vegas, could not rescue the doomed channel.

The service was met with indifference by the public, who were not prepared to fork out for unglamorous Nationwide League matches no matter how many monkeys they were offered.

It paid £315m for the rights to these matches, but some games attracted such poor audiences, it would have been cheaper for ITV to drive the viewers to the game, pay for their tickets and put them up in a hotel for the night than to broadcast the game.

However, digital television is not going to go away - the Government intends to switch off analogue services between 2006 and 2010, unless we all dig our heels in and refuse to convert.

Sky viewers will be well aware of the benefits of digital, which include an interactive facility that is particularly well established in sports coverage.

Viewers can now watch their favourite football team from a variety of angles, choosing to ignore the broadcaster's standard, perfect view of the action if they so desire. If they want to recapture the feeling of standing on a terrace behind a 7ft tall thug from Milwall, the interactive service is happy to oblige.

Joking aside, digital does beat analogue hands down in every area. The DVD player has virtually made the VHS video player obsolete in the past couple of years with its far superior picture and ease of use, and digital television should follow suit.

This would explain why the BBC has decided to pick up the pieces and take over ITV's failed digital service next month.

The Beeb is launching Freeview, which will be available to former ITV Digital users and existing analogue viewers who are willing to take the plunge.

It will be armed with our licence fees as it provides BBC4, Sky News, BBC Choice and ITV2, as well as two entertainment channels, one music channel and the original five terrestrial channels.

"Freeview offers something new for viewers who aren't attracted by pay television but would like more quality TV channels," said Andy Duncan, BBC director of marketing.

"It will be a fresh start for many consumers."

The new service differs from the ITV disaster in that it does not offer subscription channels to rival those of the mighty Sky empire. The cost is met by the licence fee, but viewers will need to shell out £99 for a set-top box and may require a new aerial too.

Sky subscribers should already be receiving the BBC digital channels, as well as several hundred others showing old Neighbours episodes and Indonesian five-a-side football tournaments for the over-40s. New subscribers will need to pay the minimum 12-month Sky subscription fee of £120 as well as having a satellite dish attached to the house, usually at a cost of about £100.

A third way of getting digital TV is via a cable TV provider, who will provide you with a set-top box to go with your existing TV set in return for a subscription fee.

The good news is that there is no need to rush out and buy a new television to cope with this bewildering new technology. However, most digital programmes will be broadcast in widescreen format - bad news if you have just bought a new standard set.

"Nobody will have to change their TV, but all broadcasters have decided to broadcast in widescreen," says Heath Evans, a partner at TV Express in Malvern Link.

"Widescreen is the future. Buying a non-widescreen TV now is almost like buying a black-and-white TV two years after colour TVs came out."

The problem with buying an old-style television, he explains, is that widescreen programmes will leave a quarter of its screen empty. You'll soon realise why it was so cheap.

The plummeting prices of standard sets have made widescreen sets look expensive, but while it's still possible to spend thousands if you want to buy yourself a mini-cinema, the widescreen variety can now be had for as little as £300.

"There have been a lot of ridiculous deals on old-style sets recently," said Mr Evans. "But if you lose a quarter of the picture, you're not left with much.

"Fewer and fewer people are going to put up with that."

The BBC's real trump card is that the weak digital signal that crippled ITV Digital by reaching only half the country will be strengthened by the lower number of channels the BBC is offering, resulting in a better reception for everyone.

So, while it may not be giving away free woolly monkeys, the BBC should succeed where ITV failed. Whether you like it or not, television's digital age has well and truly arrived.