Local TV on Freeview
Brian Butterworth published on UK Free TV The following table lists the cities with over 90,000 people in the UK, by their population level.
For each city, I have also listed the BBC and ITV local news service based there.
The first column lists the transmitter with at least one Interleaved Frequency covering the city population that can be used for a local television services on Freeview using the existing Ofcom post-switchover allocations. The second "#" column lists the number of Interleaved Frequencies on the transmitter, these are called "NEW7", "NEW8" and "NEW9".
The table is biased towards urban populations and is unfair to rural and island populations.
The actual coverage of the Interleaved Frequencies however is limited, so those transmitter where it does not provide coverage for the city or town is indicated with "OK:no", see Interleaved Frequencies maps to view the maps.
| Interleaved | # | City | BBC region HQ | ITV region HQ | population | FV | VM |
| Angus | 2 | Dundee | 154,674 | good | no | ||
| Belmont | 2 | Hull | BBC Hull | 301,416 | no | no | |
| Bilsdale | 2 | Middlesbrough | 142,691 | part | yes | ||
| Bilsdale | 2 | York | 137,505 | good | yes | ||
| Black Hill | 2 | Glasgow | BBC Scotland | STV Central | 629,501 | good | yes |
| ..& Craigkelly | 2 | Edinburgh | 430,082 | poor | yes | ||
| Caldbeck | 2 | Carlisle | ITV Border | 101,000 | good | no | |
| Caradon Hill | 2 | Plymouth | BBC South West | 243,795 | no | yes | |
| Crystal Palace | 2 | London | BBC London | ITV London | 7,172,091 | good | yes |
| Crystal Palace | 2 | Southend-on-sea | 160,257 | no | yes | ||
| Crystal Palace | 2 | Slough | 126,276 | no | yes | ||
| Crystal Palace | 2 | Watford | 120,960 | no | yes | ||
| Crystal Palace | 2 | Crawley | 100,547 | no | yes | ||
| Divis | 2 | Belfast | BBC NI | UTV | 276,459 | good | yes |
| Divis | 2 | Lisburn | 110,000 | no | no | ||
| Durris | 2 | Aberdeen | STV North | 212,125 | good | no | |
| Emley Moor | 2 | Leeds | BBC North | ITV Yorkshire | 443,247 | poor | yes |
| Emley Moor | 2 | Wakefield | 316,000 | good | yes | ||
| Emley Moor | 2 | Bradford | 293,717 | no | yes | ||
| Emley Moor | 2 | Huddersfield | 146,234 | good | yes | ||
| Emley Moor | 2 | Rotherham | 117,262 | no | yes | ||
| Fenton | 2 | Stoke-on-Trent | 259,252 | good | yes | ||
| Hannington | 2 | Reading | 232,662 | no | yes | ||
| Heathfield | 2 | Eastbourne | 106,562 | no | yes | ||
| Hemel Hempstead | 2 | St. Albans | 130,000 | good | yes | ||
| Kilvey Hill | 2 | Swansea | 169,880 | good | yes | ||
| Lancaster | 2 | Lancaster | 135,000 | good | no | ||
| Leicester | 1 | Leicester | 330,574 | no | yes | ||
| Londonderry | 2 | Londonderry | 105,000 | good | yes | ||
| Bristol KW & IC | 2 | Bristol | BBC West | ITV W Country | 420,556 | good | yes |
| Mendip | 2 | Bath | 90,000 | no | yes | ||
| Nottingham | 2 | Nottingham | BBC E Midlands | 249,584 | poor | yes | |
| Nottingham | 2 | Derby | 229,407 | no | yes | ||
| Oxford | 2 | Swindon | 155,432 | no | yes | ||
| Oxford | 2 | Oxford | BBC Oxford | 143,016 | good | yes | |
| Pontop Pike | 2 | Newcastle upon Ty | BBC North East | ITV North East | 273,600 | good | yes |
| Pontop Pike | 2 | Sunderland | 177,739 | good | no | ||
| Ridge Hill | 2 | Gloucester | 123,205 | no | yes | ||
| Ridge Hill | 2 | Cheltenham | 110,320 | no | yes | ||
| Ridge Hill | 2 | Worcester | 93,000 | no | no | ||
| Rowridge | 2 | Southampton | BBC South | ITV Meridian | 234,224 | good | yes |
| Rowridge | 2 | Portsmouth | 186,000 | no | yes | ||
| Rowridge | 2 | Bournemouth | 167,527 | no | yes | ||
| Poole | * | Poole | 144,800 | no | yes | ||
| Rowridge | 2 | Chichester | 108,000 | no | yes | ||
| Rowridge | 2 | Winchester | 108,000 | no | yes | ||
| Salisbury | 2 | Salisbury | 115,000 | good | yes | ||
| Sandy Heath | 2 | Northampton | 189,474 | no | yes | ||
| Sandy Heath | 2 | Luton | 185,543 | no | yes | ||
| Sandy Heath | 2 | Milton Keynes | 184,506 | no | no | ||
| Sandy Heath | 2 | Peterborough | 136,292 | no | yes | ||
| Sandy Heath | 2 | Cambridge | BBC Cambridge | 113,442 | no | yes | |
| Sheffield | 2 | Sheffield | 439,866 | good | yes | ||
| Stockland Hill | 2 | Exeter | 106,772 | no | yes | ||
| Sudbury | 2 | Ipswich | 138,718 | no | yes | ||
| Sudbury | 2 | Colchester | 104,390 | no | yes | ||
| Sutton Coldfield | 2 | Birmingham | BBC W Midlands | ITV Central | 970,892 | part | yes |
| Sutton Coldfield | 2 | Coventry | 303,475 | no | yes | ||
| Sutton Coldfield | 2 | Wolverhampton | 251,462 | no | yes | ||
| Sutton Coldfield | 2 | Dudley | 184,619 | no | yes | ||
| Sutton Coldfield | 2 | Walsall | 170,994 | no | yes | ||
| Sutton Coldfield | 2 | West Bromwich | 136,940 | no | yes | ||
| Sutton Coldfield | 2 | Sutton Coldfield | 105,452 | good | yes | ||
| Tacolneston | 2 | Norwich | BBC East | ITV Anglia | 174,047 | part | yes |
| The Wrekin | 2 | Telford | 138,241 | good | yes | ||
| Wenvoe | 2 | Cardiff | BBC Wales | ITV Wales | 292,150 | good | yes |
| Wenvoe | 2 | Newport | 116,143 | good | yes | ||
| Whitehawk Hill | 2 | Brighton | 256,600 | good | yes | ||
| Winter Hill | 3 | Liverpool | 469,017 | good | yes | ||
| Winter Hill | 3 | Manchester | BBC North West | ITV Granada | 394,269 | good | yes |
| Winter Hill | 3 | Salford | 221,300 | good | yes | ||
| Winter Hill | 3 | Preston | 184,836 | good | yes | ||
| Winter Hill | 3 | Blackpool | 142,283 | good | yes | ||
| Winter Hill | 3 | Bolton | 139,403 | no | yes | ||
| Winter Hill | 3 | Stockport | 136,082 | no | yes | ||
| Winter Hill | 3 | Blackburn | 105,085 | no | yes | ||
| Winter Hill | 3 | Oldham | 103,544 | no | no | ||
| Winter Hill | 3 | St. Helens | 102,629 | no | yes | ||
| Winter Hill* | 5* | Chester | 118,000 | good | no |
Help with TV/radio stations?
In this section
Monday, 7 March 2011
M
Mike Dimmick3:28 PM
Reading's population on its present borough boundaries was 143,096 in 2001. It should be on this list.
As the largest borough in Hannington's coverage area, it would be the obvious first choice for a local TV service from this transmitter.
The borough boundaries, last revised in 1974, exclude a large suburban area to the south and south-east. If the surrounding areas were included, the population would be over 230,000. (Figures from List of largest United Kingdom settlements by population - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ) (RG47SH)
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Mike Dimmick: Yes, that's true.
Also Blackburn, Blackpool, Bolton, Bournemouth, Cheltenham, Colchester, Crawley, Dudley, Eastbourne, Huddersfield, Ipswich, Luton, Middlesborough, Milton Keynes, Northampton, Oldham, Poole, Rotherham, Slough, Southend, St Helens, Stockport, Sutton Coldfield, Swindon, Telford, Walsall, Watford and
West Bromwich.
I'll look into extending the list.
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Mike Dimmick: I have updated the table to include 80 cities now, including Reading.
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Tuesday, 8 March 2011
G
G A BARTLETT8:59 AM
Bridport
Can you please tell me if my area dt64bg will recieve the full freeveiw service.
Regards
G A BARTLETT
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G's: mapG's Freeview map terrainG's terrain plot wavesG's frequency data G's Freeview Detailed Coverage
G A BARTLETT: Yes, from 2012 you will get all six multiplexes.
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Wednesday, 16 March 2011
R
Robin Window1:51 PM
We currently receive Freeview from a relay ariel.
Will we ever get anymore channels than we currently receive or is the current allocation final?
Thanks.
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Thursday, 17 March 2011
Sunday, 12 April 2015
W
will calder1:46 PM
I live in Dunfermline area of Fife, when I retune my tv as and when prompted , and after it has scanned and been saved.
I the have to select -Scotland then tab down to central, then am faced with the choice of Edinburgh or Glasgow or none, can you give me any guidance as to what I should set it for ?
Thank you
WillC
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Dave Lindsay
5:26 PM
5:26 PM
will calder: The choice is actually one of which transmitter, so the answer depends on the direction of your aerial.
If it's roughly west south west then it's Black Hill which I assume is "Glasgow". If it's pointing east towards Craigkelly then "Edinburgh" is your choice.
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