BBC "Delivering Quality First" changes to transmissions
Brian Butterworth published on UK Free TV Here is a quick overview of the services that are going to be cut back.
BBC TWO England HD to replace BBC HD channel
The BBC proposals say:Closing the BBC HD channel and replacing it with a single version of BBC Two in high definition.
We will continue to invest in high-definition broadcasting, including through the replacement of BBC HD with a single version of BBC Two HD. The variants of BBC One in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland would be broadcast in HD from 2012.
Launch a single version, with no variations in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, of BBC Two in HD in 2012 to replace the current BBC HD channel. Nations variations would continue in SD
Some BBC One regions to be culled from satellite
The BBC proposals say:We are reviewing the number of regional variants in England we carry on digital satellite and intend to reduce this to enable savings in distribution costs, though these programmes would continue to be transmitted on Freeview
Red button to be cut to single screen on satellite and cable after Olypmics
The BBC proposals say:Reduce the number of video streams available on satellite and cable from nine to one to provide a more consistent service across all TV platforms. This would take place towards the end of 2012, after the Olympic Games
Close the news multiscreen service
Medium Wave and Long Wave to close
The BBC proposals say:Reductions to Medium Wave transmissions for local radio in England in places where coverage duplicates FM
No re-investment in Long Wave once the current infrastructure ÂÂwhich relies on technology that is no longer being manufactured has reached the end of its life. In the long term, this will result in the end of Radio 4 on LW, although we do not expect the transmitters to fail in the current Charter period. If they do fail suddenly, we are committed to safeguarding the programming on Radio 4 LW and will use our analogue services to provide continued coverage.
Help with Which system?
In this section
Friday, 14 October 2011
M
michael9:24 AM
Mark: and BBC Radio Derby is one of the local radio stations that has yet to find a home on DAD as there is no local radio multiplex operating in Derbyshire.(Briantist,13.10.11)
BBC Radio Devon is in the same category, but MW is not included in the "safe" list, so is due to be switched off. Bereft of Freeview and DAB reception, some will be left with no BBC local radio and no BBC regional television news. Hmmm...
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michael: To be fair to "government level" there is an offical emergency communication system, it's TETRA.
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Tracy
9:02 PM
Ipswich
9:02 PM
Ipswich
It would be interesting to see if regional BBC does gets shunted from digital satellite, as Freeview is not avaliable to all homes in UK due to locations of transmitters and the ability of the roof ariels to pick up signals due to hills, etc.
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Tracy's: mapT's Freeview map terrainT's terrain plot wavesT's frequency data T's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Saturday, 15 October 2011
Tracy: I agree, it is very hard to choose which regions you would disconnect without annoying huge numbers of viewers.
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Tuesday, 18 October 2011
D
Des Collier6:08 PM
Briantist:-you do have apoint there,i was thinking of what they used to do before 24hr broadcasting.do you agree with me that local radio is an area where savings could be made?
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K
KMJ,Derby7:01 PM
Des Collier: Many people listened to radio Luxembourg through the night. Mind you it was totally different 50 years ago, children had bed times, pubs closed at 10.30pm, even the street lights went off at midnight. It was only night workers that didn't go to bed at least before 1am.
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Des Collier: The problem with saying "yes, cut local radio" is that it is easy to pick the thing that you personally don't use.
I don't think I have ever listened to a moment of BBC Radio Sussex down here.
However, as I recall, BBC Radio Derby was quite popular in Derbyshire because there isn't much in the way of local commercial radio.
From what I understand BBC local radio is mainly used by older people (those who get free TV Licences).
I personally liked the idea of using BBC Radio 5 Live as a feeder for BBC local radio, with structured opt-outs for the provision of local news.
This would have given Radio 5 Live an overnight national FM network, and put the costs on a reasonable basis.
It may then have been sensible to keep the extra local components in markets where there were no proper commercial local radio stations (Cumbria, Derby etc).
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Wednesday, 19 October 2011
K
KMJ,Derby1:06 AM
Briantist: Most BBC local stations finish "local" broadcasting at 7pm (unless there is a football match or other event to cover), a regional service takes over until 1am when 5 Live takes over until 5am. The idea that afternoon programming should be shared is not new as there used to be Afternoon Special, a very popular program which linked Derby, Nottingham, Leicester and Lincoln. I remember when Radio Derby started to do local broadcasting in that slot many listeners switched to Radio Nottingham, some even had FM aerials installed pointing to Nottingham in order to continue receiving the service! Personally I think Radio Derby, BBC East Midlands TV and commercial free Radio 1 are excellent value for money at less than £3 per week. As for local commercial radio, the rot set in when the regulators insisted on different outputs on FM and medium wave. The public service element from the original IBA model was put onto GEM AM which proved very popular, which I suspect was to the annoyance of the radio station owners who really wanted the flagship FM service to be popular. GEM then became part of Classic Gold, the local team of presenters moved to Saga 106.6 where the good work continued until Saga was bought by GMG who changed it to Smooth Radio and ended local broadcasting except for traffic news during drive time.
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KMJ,Derby: The only "local radio" I hear is the bloody awful Heart Sussex which is forced on me in the gym every morning.
I'm not quite sure how it really counts as a "local radio" station, but I suspect that it that the prattle they play between the playlist tracks might come from a studio somewhere local. Perhaps.
I can't think of an event in the area that has ever happened that I would think "I must listen to BBC local radio to find out what's going on", but it probably happens in places less well served than Brighton and Hove, as we have a good Internet news source in The Argus - News, Sport, Brighton and Hove Albion and Entertainment for Brighton, Hove and Sussex .
Perhaps Mr Hunt's local television stations will provide a better service?
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A
Andrew5:12 PM
"We hear nothing of provision for a national emergency"
My understanding has always been that Radio 4 longwave had a backup role in the event of a National Emergency.
Surely the point about R4 L.W is that only 1 transmitter @ Droitwich needs to be kept running to provide a signal that can be received across Europe.
Reliance on Mobile phones and freeview is all well and good but these services require a large network of transmitters which could be difficult to secure.
In this day and age anybody out to cause maximum disruption is going to target the mobile phone network (this could be done with a computer virus).
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