New HD channels - 10 more on Freeview, 5 from the BBC

Any news on when BBC Quirke HD will be launching?

Well I don't live in the south east. Why would I be livid if I did live there?

As it is, I receive Freeview Lite from the Bath relay. Circa 2005 I saw Bath on a list of 120 then analogue-only relays as going to get all 6 MUXes on switchover. Therefore I was annoyed when it ended up getting just 3 PSB muxes. In fact I only get 2 of them: BBCA [UHF 25] and D3&4 [UHF 28] as my Panasonic DVD recorder is a SD only Freeview receiver. Bath won't be getting the two new HD muxes, and if it were, they'd be no good to me with my equipment.

Why so few transmitters getting the 2 new HD muxes? For example, why aren't Redruth and Stockland Hill getting them? In west Wales, why isn't Preseli getting them?

Lack of available frequencies and/or not economically viable. As it is both the muxes are to
use the decommissioned pre DSO transmission equipment refurbished.

In addition to the lack of services over fairly significant portions of Rural Britain, the major cause of complaint will be those who get the current HD services on DTT, who wont get the new ones because of power level constraints despite their transmitter transmitting MUXES 7 and 8.

Surely everywhere should in theory be able to receive 4 muxes as pre-DSO the whole country could get the 4 terrestrial channels, and then most of the country could get C5 too. And of course pre-DSO those areas could get at least 3 PSB muxes too.

As this is only a stop gap measure, to drive take up of DVB-T2 receivers, in preparation to migrate
the current T1 muxes to T2, (another stop gap measure) in order to <cough> optimise UHF bandwidth, so that more spectrum can be sold off to mobile phone networks.

In short Ofcom won't rest until all DTT has vanished, that's the end game here.

I wouldn't go to any effort to receive the extra muxes, it will be easier for most not
served robustly by them to invest in a Freesat box, which everyone will need long term anyway
(unless you're happy/able to watch TV via the internet)

And what about those who cannot, because of topography or local planning policies can't erect a satellite dish?

The so-called "Freeview lite" service from the bulk of relay transmitters is pretty appalling.....surely it would make more sense for them not to carry plus one channels so that ITV 3 and ITV 4 could be provided. They were there at first until one of the muxes was allocated for HD instead. It seems rural areas and pockets in larger towns and cities are regarded with disdain. The original plan for the Selkirk transmitter group was for just under half the relays to carry the full service....Peebles, Hawick, Berwick and Eyemouth. But the goalposts were moved and none of them (Berwick is now fed from Chatton) has anything other than the basic service.

^ ITV+1 has to be on that mux as it's regionalised. Not sure if C4+1 carries regional advertising like C4 does.

C4+1 does carry regional advertising.

There we go then! The Freeview Lite muxes are AFAIK the only ones that carry regional variations and therefore the two +1s have to be there.

I can understand ITV+1 needing to be regionalised, but is there any point in C4+1 being regionalised? Surely they'd get as much revenue from showing one advertising region across the UK?

Err - if that were the case why would they bother regionalising the main C4 feed?