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We ARE going to get BBC Local Radio on Freeview ... today!

OK, only a year after I speculated about it, the service has now started. You can now enjoy 10 BBC Local Radio stations.

Yes, you can enjoy local radio today!  Photograph:
Yes, you can enjoy local radio today! Photograph:
published on UK Free TV

You might recall that last year I asked Are we going to get BBC local radio on Freeview in England?

I am pleased to report that Radio Today says A number of BBC local radio stations have officially started on Freeview today, occupying four channels between them.

BBC London721London
BBC Radio Bristol719West
BBC Radio Cambridge722East
BBC Radio Devon720South West
BBC Radio Kent719South East
BBC Radio Leeds719Yorkshire
BBC Radio Manchester719North West
BBC Radio Newcastle719North East and Cumbria
BBC Radio Norfolk719East
BBC Radio Nottingham720East Midlands
BBC Radio Solent719South
BBC WM722West Midlands

 

Let me know if you can get them.

Note about overlap areas

As these radio stations share the same LCN ("logical channel numbers") as (720) R n Gaidheal, Radio Cymru, Radio Foyle and (719) R Scotland, Radio Ulster and Radio Wales you may find the Freeview overlap issues occur.

Freeview HD boxes will ASK you about overlaps, and you pick a region and you will find the numbers as you expect. Older boxes will just allocate the channels on the multiplex broadcast on the lowest frequency.

All is not lost, however, the box will always put the channels somewhere in the 800-899 range. This is often the original channel number, with an "8" in front - so 819, 820, 821 and 822. But this is down the software in the TV or box. You might have to have a long look!

Speculation....
719720721722
WestBristolSomersetGloucestershireWiltshire
South WestCornwallDevonSolent(West Dorset)
SouthSolentBerkshireSussex
London London
West MidlandsStokeShropshire WM
East MidlandsDerby NottinghamLeicester
East NorfolkSuffolkEssex
North WestManchesterLancashireMerseyside
North East and CumbriaNewcastleCumbriaTees
YorkshireLeedsSheffield York
South (Oxford)Oxford
South EastKentSurreySussex
CambridgeNorthamptonThree CountiesCambridge
Channel IslandsGuernseyJersey
East Yorkshire and LincolnshireHumbersideLincolnshire
West Midlands - extra for Hereford & Worcester and Coventry & Warwickshire?


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Comments
Tuesday, 3 March 2015
A
AndyG
4:57 PM
Axbridge

Have just returned and Radio Bristol is available on Freeview Ch 719 from the Mendip transmitter. I'm in BS26 2BZ, on the south side of the Mendips.

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AndyG's 1 post GB flag
AndyG's: mapA's Freeview map terrainA's terrain plot wavesA's frequency data A's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Briantist
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

8:28 PM

AndyG: Thanks for that. I have updated this page, and also all of UK Free TV to show these new radio stations.For example Mendip (Somerset, England) Full Freeview transmitter shows1 BBC One West, 2 BBC Two England, 7 BBC Three, 9 BBC Four, 120 CBBC, 121 CBeebies, 130 BBC News, 131 BBC Parliament, 601 BBC Red Button 1, 200 BBC Red Button, 700 BBC Radio 1, 701 BBC Radio 1Xtra, 702 BBC Radio 2, 703 BBC Radio 3, 704 BBC Radio 4, 705 BBC Radio 5 Live, 706 BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra, 707 BBC Radio 6 Music, 708 BBC Radio 4 Extra, 709 BBC Asian Network, 710 BBC World Service, 719 BBC Radio Bristol (BBC local radio)now.

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Briantist's 38,915 posts US flag
E
Ethan Walton
10:23 PM

I can get Radio London on 721 in Didcot

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Ethan Walton's 5 posts GB flag
A
alan mapp
10:32 PM

Ref local radio :-
I live in on the dorset / somerset border (sherborne)but get my tv from the stockland hill transmitter in devon. Guess what ? BBC RADIO DEVON load and clear here in DORSET. No sign of BBC Somerset or BBC solent. Ah well

Alan Mapp. Sherborne. Dorset

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alan mapp's 5 posts GB flag
Wednesday, 4 March 2015
J
js
sentiment_satisfiedGold

3:56 AM

BBC ONE N West MHEG file sid.cf appears to be a list of all BBC DTT Service IDs, including LR

sid.cf - Pastebin.com

sid.cf may be interpreted to give -

BBC ONE
1041, EN, 0, W, 0 : +7C0 BBC Radio Bristol, +800 BBC Radio Gloucestershire, +840 BBC Wiltshire, +880 BBC Somerset, 4
1042, EN, 1, SW, 1 : +7C0 BBC Radio Cornwall, +800 BBC Radio Devon, 2
1043, EN, 2, S, 2 : +7C0 BBC Radio Solent, +800 BBC Radio Solent in West Dorset, +840 BBC Radio Berkshire, 3
1044, EN, 3, LDN, 3 : +7C0 BBC London 94.9, 1
1045, EN, 4, MD, 4 : +7C0 BBC WM 95.6, +800 BBC Radio Stoke, +880 BBC Radio Shropshire, 3
1046, EN, 5, EM, 5 : +7C0 BBC Radio Nottingham, +800 BBC Radio Derby, +840 BBC Radio Leicester, 3
1047, EN, 6, E, 6 : +7C0 BBC Radio Norfolk, +800 BBC Radio Suffolk, +840 BBC Essex, 3
1048, EN, 7, NW, 7 : +7C0 BBC Radio Manchester, +800 BBC Radio Lancashire, +840 BBC Radio Merseyside, 3
1049, EN, 8, NE, 8 : +7C0 BBC Newcastle, +800 BBC Radio Cumbria, +840 BBC Tees, 3
104a, EN, 9, N, 9 : +7C0 BBC Radio Leeds, +800 BBC Radio Sheffield, +840 BBC Radio York, 3
104b, EN, 10, S, 10 : +7C0 BBC Radio Oxford, 1
104c, EN, 11, SE, 11 : +7C0 BBC Radio Kent, +800 BBC Sussex, +840 BBC Surrey, 3
104d, EN, 12, E, 12 : +7C0 BBC Three Counties Radio, +800 BBC Radio Northampton, +840 BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, 3
104e, EN, 13, SW, 13 : +7C0 BBC Radio Guernsey, +800 BBC Radio Jersey, 2
104f, EN, 14, NE, 14 : +7C0 BBC Radio Lincolnshire, +800 BBC Radio Humberside, 2

...

sid.txt - Pastebin.com

where the BBC ONE SID + (7C0 + n * 40) hex offset gives the LR SID.

(BBC ONE SID = TSID of BBC A)

BBC Hereford & Worcester and BBC Coventry & Warwickshire are not completely defined in sid.cf but if included would give five streams for MD :

1045, EN, 4, MD, 4 : +7C0 BBC WM 95.6, +800 BBC Radio Stoke, +840 BBC Hereford & Worcester, +880 BBC Radio Shropshire, +8C0 BBC Coventry & Warwickshire, 5


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js's 822 posts GB flag
Briantist
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

7:52 AM

js: Thanks for the dump. I've updated the Speculation list at the end of the article to match.I'm really pleased it matches Are we going to get BBC local radio on Freeview in England? so closely.It's a bit odd that they have put Surrey on the South East Mux when it mostly covered by the London transmitter area, and they didn't dupliate Sussex onto the South East one as Brighton and Hove and all of East Sussex is in the BBC One South East area.


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Briantist's 38,915 posts US flag
T
Trevor Ley
8:45 AM

Just tried to get radio Devon on 720 in the Lynton area and a Welsh station is being received.

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Trevor Ley's 6 posts GB flag
Briantist
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

8:55 AM

Trevor Ley: You might want to check the channels in the 800 range. If you can also get signals from transmitters in Wales, Radio Devon would get bumped to 820 perhaps - look between 800 and 899.

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Briantist's 38,915 posts GB flag
T
Trevor Ley
9:07 AM

Briantist: No luck on any of the 700/799 channels.

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Trevor Ley's 6 posts GB flag
Briantist
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

9:09 AM

Trevor Ley: Just to repeat myself... the channels will be "bumped" into the special range of 800-899, not within the "radio range" of 700-799.

I've added a bit of text about this to the article.

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Briantist's 38,915 posts GB flag
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