Ofcom wants BBC Four to move up in the EPG, therefore causing a ripple effect nationwide. 4Seven would be on channel... 48!!??!?
...and that's for viewers in Scotland.
For those that are unaware, channel 68 is the home of BBC Four in Scotland, and so must remain empty elsewhere. This arrangement would change to channel 24. That's if BBC Four is still around and without factoring any return of BBC Three (which I can't see happening anytime soon, as Ofcom may well trigger Market Impact Assessments or other consultations whenever the BBC formally sends the proposals to the regulator).
Ofcom wants BBC Four to move up in the EPG, therefore causing a ripple effect nationwide. 4Seven would be on channel... 48!!??!?
...and that's for viewers in Scotland.
For those that are unaware, channel 68 is the home of BBC Four in Scotland, and so must remain empty elsewhere. This arrangement would change to channel 24. That's if BBC Four is still around and without factoring any return of BBC Three (which I can't see happening anytime soon, as Ofcom may well trigger Market Impact Assessments or other consultations whenever the BBC formally sends the proposals to the regulator).
Does Scotland really need three local channels? Wales and Northern Ireland don't have three, do they? Since That's TV is broadcasting CBS Reality for most of the day, take their licence away and give BBC Scotland it's channel number, allowing Four to go back to channel 9. Problem solved.
Or just clear 6-9 for the whole UK, local TV for each region goes there, with at least 1 reserved slot if more launch, and the normal EPG from ITV 2 onwards now starts at 10. Every channel in the country then has the same EPG number no matter where you live and local TV gets the prominence that it seems to deserve...
This would again though be a short sighted move by Freeview - could mean anytime the BBC decides to launch a new service in the next few years (i.e. if BBC3 is revived) that all other channels end up being knocked down. Would be much better to genre split the general area now.
BBC Four being on 24 isn't much better than it being on 68 - still randomly mixed in among channels, and all due to the BBC's own faults. I don't see why considering it's Scotland only it couldn't have gone on 51, which is used for TG4 in NI. It may have a low slot on the SD EPG, but it is prominent amongst the HD channels.
Talking Pictures TV has just been featured in a report on the BBC News at 6, talking about the success it has been getting during lockdown (viewing figures of nearly 6 million at the peak of lockdown).
