The Freeview Thread

Although they are only moving PSB 1, and not the other five muxes yet (the remaining five will move in 2019)

Just because some viewers' Group C/D aerials might well still work well enough on UHF Ch32, it certainly
doesn't imply that when the other muxes move to 33, 34, 35, 36 in 2019, that they will work also.
A mistake in my view, not to be moving all six muxes now. It's all an experiment to predict how much
mayhem is likely in the other Group C/D areas, notably Winter Hill, Pontop, Mendip, and Oxford.

Presumably viewers will have to foot the bill for any aerial replacements ?

There's going to be a lot more reuse of allocations at shorter geographical distances too,
so interference levels will increase, causing problems in fringe areas

Ofcom haven't published anything yet (except for Selkirk), but some of the UK plan can be viewed on this European site

http://700mhz.cept.org/countries/G/transmitters

(The last two digits of the Tx ID are the new UHF allocations)

It's just more gentle erosion for DTT as a platform, its days are numbered in my opinion.

Looks as if the BBC have finally moved to single output for CBBC, CBeebies and BBC FOUR. The HD suffix on the DOGS for each have now gone. The idea being that rather than provide two, an HD and SD version from output that a single HD version is presented and down converted to 576i for SD distribution. This was mooted years ago and finally seems to have occurred.

I've always found it rather ironic, that broadcasters feel the need for a DOG to tell you whether or not what you're watching is HD !

Easy way to sort that is to make it so small that it's illegible in SD

Actually Ofcom revealed the provisional Winter Hill frequencies at the end of March 2016 > https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0027/74277/manchester_research_report.pdf, which match the WEDDIP provisional data used on my website in the past week, based on a data source received just before Xmas.
The Cept website includes frequency allocations that the UK will formally give up when international agreements are signed; plus allocations that aren't going to be needed in full, e.g. Douglas. The provisional WEDDIP data strips all that out and shows those frequencies that Ofcom intend to use beyond clearance.


(I realise this will go over the head of a lot of readers, but basically be prepared to make lots of visits to elderly relatives to help them retune so they can continue watching their favourite TV shows.)

Well it's likely used when a channel launches but it's been a little over three years. One thing I find ridiculous is when a local station or program changes graphics or voice over but still feels the need to mention "in high definition" when they've been in HD for almost 10 years.



The links dead.

Edit : The link is fine. The comma after .pdf threw off the browser.

Indeed, though for many ( unlike DSO five+ years ago) it's not just a retune, but a possible aerial change, therefore finding them someone reputable to get on their roof, not rip them off, etc etc.

Anyway, I'm sure Sky will be there like vultures, waiting to take advantage and flog a system, and Freesat won't make any proper effort

http://www.a516digital.com/2017/02/rocks-announces-freeview-changes.html?m=1

Rocks and Co moving from COM6 to COM8; thereby reducing its coverage on the Freeview platform. Leaves part of a Freeview stream vacant on COM6.

Interesting that Channel 4 and 5 and the ITV / C4 spin-offs don't have just one HD feed and down convert that for the SD channel. Or maybe they already do, but still feel the need to have a separate DOG for SD and HD...

ITV's are all now single feed, down-converted for SD and have been for nearly 18 months. The DOGs are added separately for the digis - for ITV, it would have required additional expense for the regionality, so it reverted to a straight "ITV" DOG on SD/HD.

http://www.a516digital.com/2017/03/viacom18-obtains-licence-for-third.html?m=1

Colors HD has apparently gained a licence to broadcast on Freeview. I surmise that it may be on COM8, or the ex-BBC THREE HD bandwidth on PSB3. Not much to see here....

On the same day that Quest Red launches - CBS Action+1 is launching on LCN 90. Will of course be available on COM8.
http://www.cbsaction.tv/uk/articles.php?feature=1464

For the record, Quest+1 is moving to LCN 92. With these side effects as a result of the Quest Red launch on Wednesday, the case for a radical EPG reshuffle has never been more greater. The Children's Section has overspilled and we'll be left with just 2 LCNs in the General Entertainment section by then.