18m Freeview users forced to retune

"Around half a million homes who receive Freeview via a relay transmitter will permanently lose access to ITV3 and ITV4 after the shake-up"

Tragic.

By Lacrobat on 30 Sep 2009

I'm a FreeView user,

and to be honest, I'm quite happy to see that they are getting ready to enable freeview users to watch HD content!. now there is gonna be less and less advantages to paying for these rediculous services from Sky or Virgin ect. So all in all, thank f**k I decided to go with the one off payment option (I had to buy the box of course...).

By SmilerOnline on 30 Sep 2009

Apparently the extra numbers who will get Channel 5 will be about 500,000 - ie about the same as the number who will lose ITV3 and ITV4 (don't know if it's the same people though).

Yes, they're not a tragic loss, but Channel 5 is hardly a big gain - on reflection I'd prefer to have ITV3. The "making space for HD" sounds like vapourware to me and could take a long time for most people to see that benefit.

By halsteadk on 30 Sep 2009

New Equipment

I hope SmilerOnline and others realise you will need a new Freeview HD box to view HD content when it arrives in 2010.

A lot of people who are buying a HDTV with Freeview built in today will be upset that it's already out of date.

By Stiggy on 30 Sep 2009

@Stiggy

I understand that, but I'm saving for a new HDTV at the mo, so by the time I can afford an HDTV, there will be FreeviewHD available... at the mo, I'm using a CRT TV because I'm spending all my money on my PC lol... well, I'm you free an single, I may as well make my dream PC now before the nagger comes along and says that I'm not alowed to spend any money on my PC :P... mind you I'd probably f**k em off if they said that anyway... well, what you expect, I'm a young geek! :P

By SmilerOnline on 30 Sep 2009

@smileronline

BUt lets be honest, the free HD channels you will get wont be great as the best series will still go to those channels that will pay for it, eg Sky.

By Stutheobald on 30 Sep 2009

@Stutheobald

I don't agree with that... at my parents place, they pay for the extra channels, and I never find anything interesting on those channels, I preferre the shows that are on the free to view channels (eg Mock the week on the BBC & Dave)

By SmilerOnline on 30 Sep 2009

@Stutheobald

Disagree. BBC HD has some shows that throw anything Sky has into the bin.

By halsteadk on 30 Sep 2009

OK. Retuned. Lost ITV4 which is the only one I watch but can still get ITV3.

Can't find anywhere to query what has happened since published material suggets some may lose ITV3 AND ITV4 but as stated I get the former but not the latter so there's an inconsistency there.

I live in the capital of Scotland. It's a joke.

Can anyone advise me of the situation or where the heck I can raise my query?

By sputnik1 on 30 Sep 2009

The channel line up should be here:

http://www.dtg.org.uk/industry/dtt_channels.html#p
ost

You should have ITV4 if you still have Film4 and ITV3 if you have QVC. The list does not cover which transmitters have been turned off or had frequency changes due to inteference from transmitters that have finished the digital switch over.

By drog_uk on 30 Sep 2009

Well, after retuning, I got about ten new channels including C5 & Russia Today(!), and lost one - ITV4. So, I'm happy, seeing as I'm just using a portable aerial.

By pbryanw on 30 Sep 2009

I'm getting a few called 'No Name *****' (The *'s being numbers) I get ITV2+1 but its just called 'ITV' Five was one of those called 'no name' but i've retuned and thats called five now, but there is still a few called 'no name'...

By SmilerOnline on 30 Sep 2009

Sorry for being dumb but...

1. Viewers will lose ITV3 and 4: Why? What happens to the signal? Not in my freeview box range? Will they eventually be returned, on a different frequency maybe?

What about the channel bosses? Won't they be pretty pissed that they're transmitting and people aren't receiving?

2. Some set top boxes will fail after the retune: oh really? And who is going to pay for a replacement? You want me to retune and if it fails and I'm left with a doorstop, who's going to foot the bill? Technically, you broke it not me because you made me retune it.

/rant

By mviracca on 30 Sep 2009

@mviracca

1) It's about multiplexes, which are used to group channels together in a single UHF channel. There's 6 of them (1,2,A,B,C &D) - 1,2 & B are public service and have to have 98% coverage of the UK (2 BBC, 1 commercial). The other 3 only have to hit 90% coverage of the UK.

ITV3/ITV4 are moving to A and D multiplexes respectively - generally speaking they're only available directly from the big transmitters (e.g. Mendip in Bristol, Sutton Colefield in Birmingham, Caldbeck in Cumbria). If you're getting your TV from a relay, it doesn't transmit the A, C & D multiplexes, so you'll lose ITV3 & 4 (which have moved to A & D multiplexes) and not get the extra commercial stations.

Wikipedia has more useful info at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_terrestrial_t
elevision_in_the_United_Kingdom#Digital_switchover
and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_terrestrial_t
elevision_in_the_United_Kingdom#Digital_switchover


2) that's pretty unlikely - I've done around 50 retunes for work over the last few months and not one has gone - and I'm talking TVs, DVDs, PVRs, all kinds of kit. MY PC tuner has also not had problems even though I've retuned it from Birmingham to Wales... it's most likely going to cause problems if you lose power when retuning.

By thewelshbrummie on 30 Sep 2009

Sorry for being dumb but...

1. Viewers will lose ITV3 and 4: Why? What happens to the signal? Not in my freeview box range? Will they eventually be returned, on a different frequency maybe?

What about the channel bosses? Won't they be pretty pissed that they're transmitting and people aren't receiving?

2. Some set top boxes will fail after the retune: oh really? And who is going to pay for a replacement? You want me to retune and if it fails and I'm left with a doorstop, who's going to foot the bill? Technically, you broke it not me because you made me retune it.

/rant

By mviracca on 30 Sep 2009

@thewelshbrummie

Wow! Many thanks for that very clear explanation, very useful and succinct.

Maybe you'd be the man to ask how to get my local BBC station (Derby) instead of the one I'm being fed (Midlands)? Would I have to point my antenna in a different direction? It's really annoying as Birmingham is about 25 mins away and the CENTRE of Derby is 6 mins away, the city itself is about 3 mins away).

(And no, I didn't hit the submit button twice, when are we going to see an end to these phantom double posts?)

By mviracca on 30 Sep 2009

@mviracca

Only just spotted the reply, my apologies for not posting sooner.

tbh I'm not certain without knowing the exact locations of the transmitters or relays - http://www.digitaluk has a postcode checker that's useful for pointing you in the right direction - make sure you check the box that says "I'm in the TV aerial trade" - it provides far more information on transmitter and relay locations, including bearings from the postcode you type in.

If you do that, the chances are you'll find the Waltham transmitter - according to what I've found, Derby is linked to it.

However, there is no freqency information for the commercial multiplexes - which suggests that if you move your aerial to point towards the Derby transmitter, you'll get the Derby local variations but will lose about half of the TV channels you can get from your existing transmitter/relay.

It also seems that there's only 2 analogue channels being broadcast - I'd assume BBC 1 and ITV 1. The best option, if you want the Derby stations, is to either find an alternative (I'd suggest Nottingam but I think it offers different content) or you can get a 2nd aerial and point it to the Derby transmitter.

I'll make your Freeview box have a few problems deciding on which stations to tune - mine goes for the strongest signal, so I get some Bristol, some Cardiff channels on the usual numbers and the alternatives are 800-821. But it's the only way I can think of that'll get you the Derby regional variations and not cost you any existing commercial stations.

By thewelshbrummie on 12 Oct 2009