Freeview channel number changes to go ahead: HD, Adult move on 17 October 2012
Brian Butterworth published on UK Free TV As first reported earlier in the year, Freeview channel numbers change on September 19th 2012 , some of the channel numbers used by Freeview are being moved to make way for more 'general entertainment' numbers.
However, Sky News and an adult channel appealed, and so the renumbering was put on hold. However, today:
"Both appeals have been considered in accordance with DMOL policy. Having independently reviewed the evidence put forward, the chair of DMOL does not consider that either party has presented a sufficiently compelling case that the moves should not go ahead. The original decisions will therefore stand."
This means that on 17th October 2012, the HD an Adult channels will move, thus:
HD channels move to 101-120
The "normal" order of channels is restored to HD:
101 BBC One HD; 102 BBC HD [or BBC TWO HD]; 103 ITV1 HD or STV HD; 104 Channel 4 HD; 105S4C Cirlun.
Note that S4C Cirlun is due to close on 1st December 2012, replaced by Channel 4 HD in Wales (see Channel 4 HD will replace S4C HD in Wales on Freeview HD on 1 December 2012 ). BBC ONE HD will have regional versions for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland in late 2012. BBC TWO HD is planned to replace the BBC HD channel at some point in 2013.
Adult channels move to 171-198
The "adult" channels on Freeview move up from 92-99 to start from 171. Channel 170 and 199 will be "bookend" pages to note the presence of the adult channels for those who flick up and down the channels.
171 Television X; 172 smileTV2, 173 smileTV3, 174 Babestn, 175 PARTY, 176 Blue, 177 Babestn2, 178 Playboy.
The Children's and News channel numbers will move on the Wednesday that follows 16 weeks after LCN 65 is allocated (ie when the General Entertainment genre nears full capacity). In the event that the move date falls during a change freeze then the move would take effect on the Wednesday that follows the end of the change freeze.
News channels move to 131-150
131 BBC NEWS, 132 BBC Parliament, 133 Sky News, 134 Al Jazeera 6-8, 135 Al Jazeera Eng, 136 Russia Today, 137 Community.
Children's move to 121-130
121 CBBC; 122 CBeebies, 123 CITV.
3:45 PM
Bristol
Does this mean that for the moment I only have to retune my HD box and the other devices only need to be retuned later for the news cannels? I don't watch adult channels or children's channels and don't care whether or not I can receive them.
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Charles's: mapC's Freeview map terrainC's terrain plot wavesC's frequency data C's Freeview Detailed Coverage
9:24 PM
Sandwich
you should remove Al Jazeera 6-8 as that channel was closed down & removed over a week ago.
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David's: mapD's Freeview map terrainD's terrain plot wavesD's frequency data D's Freeview Detailed Coverage
12:01 PM
Charles Stuart: you don't have to do anything if you don't want to, I decided to not retune my TV after the 19th September and it still works with the old channels numbers!
You don't need to retune separately, as it all changes at the same time and the non-HD devices just won't pick up HD channels.
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2:37 PM
Bristol
The boxes/TVs etc. do need to be retuned if they record. I believe that I'm right in saying that if you have the old numbers and tell a machine to record a programme, it might encounter problems when recording a channel that has changed numbers. The HD box is one that can function as a recorder if I fit an external hard disk, so it's best to have all the channels in the correct place.
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Charles's: mapC's Freeview map terrainC's terrain plot wavesC's frequency data C's Freeview Detailed Coverage
9:16 AM
Will the Rothbury repeater, station fed from Chatton, finally have all the same channels as Chatton. Currently YESTERDAY and DAVE are not available in Rothbury. And if so when is this liable to happen.
How often should we retune?
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9:53 AM
Dolgellau
Why will Freeview concentrate on upgrading your relay stations first, some areas of the UK cannot receive the full allocation of channels.
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John's: mapJ's Freeview map terrainJ's terrain plot wavesJ's frequency data J's Freeview Detailed Coverage
John Humphrey Williams: The Freeview Lite relays aren't likely to be upgraded to provide all services. This is because the Commercial broadcasters (those that don't transmit from these stations) don't wish to pay for them.
The Commercial channels achieve coverage of 90% of the population from 81 of the largest transmitters (largest by viewer population). The other 8.5% of the population that can receive Freeview are served by over 1,000 small relays such as Dolgellau and the cost to the Commercial broadcasters to transmit from these is roughly the same as that for the 81 current transmitters.
Because they operate solely for profit and have no obligation imposed on them to operate in the general interest of the public, they opted not to double their cost of transmission in order to increase their viewer bases by about 10%.
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Mike: No, never.
See my reply to John Humphrey Williams above as he asked the same question of his local relay.
Unfortunately, even if you can receive from Pontop Pike, its COMs (those channels that don't broadcast from Rothbury) are co-channel (same frequencies) as the multiplexes from Rothbury.
So unless you can locate your aerial somewhere where it is screened from the Rothbury signal and where it can receive from Pontop Pike, then you won't receive the COMs.
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12:17 PM
Hi, Brian -
One thing in this post isn't clear. You say "The Children's and News channel numbers will move on the Wednesday that follows 16 weeks after LCN 65 is allocated" - when does this mean? Does it mean that the date hasn't yet been decided, and if so when will we know?
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Richard Davis: Please answer me this: how long is a piece of string?
It goes on to say "ie when the General Entertainment genre nears full capacity".
In essence, I understand that this means that when the "General Entertainment" genre gets so full that LCN 65 is allocated, then and only then will Childrens' and News channels move. This will take place on the Wednesday that follows 16 weeks after the allocation of LCN 65. There is another qualification above regarding should that date full within a freeze-period on changes.
And so, without knowledge of when LCN 65 might be allocated, it isn't possible to give an absolute date for change of Childrens' and News genres.
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