[gottago]

Sky HD boxes were standard since 2010 and it took 13 years for the BBC to be willing to switch off SD regional news due to the amount of SD satellite boxes still in use. There will be many more SD Freeview boxes and TVs in use for years into the future and I can imagine a lot of Freeview users, particularly older and more casual viewers, have little interest in upgrading to more modern equipment. There were still loads of analogue TVs in use that had to have boxes installed when digital switchover happened. I think you're underestimating it quite a bit.