BBC TWO to disappear first

Brian Butterworth published on UK Free TV 10th November 2005 at 17:14

Its official - the first channel to go blank for analogue viewers will be BBC TWO.

If you live in an area that already has Freeview transmissions, you will almost certainly want to start converting your TV equipment before this happens.

For most people, this will mean buying a Freeview box for each of your television sets.

You may also have to replace your VHS video recorded with a Personal Video Recorder or, if you want to keep your recordings, a Freeview compatible DVD writer.

If you have a portable television with a set-top aerial, you may find that you need to replace this with a new wire to your rooftop aerial.

If your area does not currently have Freeview transmissions, the BBC TWO analogue signal will be replaced with the first Freeview multiplex of BBC channels: BBC ONE, BBC TWO/BBC 2W, BBC THREE, BBC NEWS 24 and CBBC.

For a period of about one month, the remaining analogue channels (BBC ONE, itv-1, Channel 4/S4C and five) will be overlaid with a scrolling message reminding you of their impending departure from analogue television.

In areas where Freeview was already broadcasting, the closure of the analogue services will allow the strength of the Freeview signals to be improved.

In areas new to Freeview, the analogue signals will be given over to a limited Freeview service. This will add the itv channels (itv-1, itv-2, itv-3, itv-4, itv childrens channel, channel 4, E4, More 4 and Quiz Call) and the remaining BBC channels (BBC FOUR, cBeebies, BBC Parliament and the interactive services).