Freeview: Where are the public service (Freeview Light) transmitters? | Digital switchover
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Where are the public service (Freeview Light) transmitters?

Whilst 8.5% of the population of the UK will have only the public services after switchover, this ranges from 6% in England to 34% in Wales.

Whilst 8.5% of the population of the UK will have only the publ
Published on by on UK Free TV

There are many TV transmitters in the UK, but only 81 of them carry all the services including the three commercial multiplexes. The other 1,036 transmitters will only carry the three public service transmitters, sometimes called www.ukfree.tv link icon Freeview Lite.

The commercial operators, SDN (originally S4C Digital Networks, now part of ITV plc) and Arqiva (originally as Crown Castle International, the privatized BBC Engineering) declined the invitation from Ofcom to extend their transmission network, see www.ukfree.tv link icon  No new full Freeview transmitters.

As the transmitters can cover millions of homes down to less than 100, this means that:

In England, there are 54 full service transmitters and 583 public service transmitters, but the three-multiplex transmitters only serve 7% of the population.



The main reason for the commercial operators not extending their networks is the uneconomic nature of these sites. It is not simply a question of being allocated frequencies by Ofcom (these were freely available to the operators) - the cost of installing the three antennas on each mast, the considerable capital expense of providing the transmission equipment and the ongoing network, power and monitoring costs.

In Scotland, the 14 main transmitters cover 85% of the population with full Freeview, but those in the mountains and islands are again uneconomic. Indeed, the Black Hill transmitter alone covers 40% of Scots.



Looking to Northern Ireland, the Divis transmitter provides services to 67% of the population, with two other full service transmitters providing the next 13%. However, again 20% of the population are provided by the other 43 and these will provides just the public services.



TV viewers in Wales stand the most chance - one in three - of being short of channels. Nine main transmitters cover 66% of the population, and in the mountains and valleys the other 196 transmitters cover very small populations each.



Map showing public service only areas in England, Wales, NI and Scotland.

www.ukfree.tv link icon 







Your comments: most recent posts are at the bottom

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Briantist
Wednesday 19 May 2010 5:57PM
Dean Lavender: I've changed the illustration, I hope this one is OK for you.
Briantist
Thursday 20 May 2010 2:38PM
Iain Davies: I do understand how people would be disappointed with two +1 channels when you only have a limited choice, and even Freeview HD only gets you the same channels again.
J
Jordy
Friday 21 May 2010 11:29AM
Brian - In regard to the original 120 site provision for COM operators... Yes it did exist, I have it here... Granted it was an early version and means close to nothing now.

In early versions of the frequency plan, an additional 120 stations were assigned to the 3 COM multiplexes (of which 10 were in Northern Ireland), if the COM operators were interested. The COM operators turned down the opportunity to use these additional sites...
J
Jordy
Friday 21 May 2010 11:43AM
Channel 48 - Was also in the UK GE-06 plan for use by COM services at Londonderry and Stranraer. If COM operators decided to go to these sites an alternative frequency would be required.

Channel 51 - This channel has been identified and co-ordinated for use at Londonderry and Cambret Hill as a COM channel. Therefore, if the COM operators were to renew interest in going to Londonderry and Cambret Hill, an alternative frequency may need to be found for either site.
A
Aerialman
Friday 21 May 2010 12:15PM
Jordy,thank you for confirming the existence of the list you describe above,i've never subscribed to well intentioned 'guess work',thankyou.
On another matter,of interest.Field strength signals of Digital services from Sutton coldfield,taken in Bridgnorth,approx 30 miles west.
Mux 1 51dB
Mux 2 49dB
Mux A 47dB
Mux B 46dB
Mux C 49dB
Mux D 38dB
Lichfield HD Mux channel 34 = 45dB.
These readings were taken in a good Sutton Coldfield service area of the town,but i am findig that the HD Mux holds up very well,in some spots more robustly than the S C Digital muxes.Remember the Lichfield Mux is only running at 4kw.
Am i right in thinking this was a temporary service just for the Birmingham and surrounding area?
A
Aerialman
Friday 21 May 2010 12:17PM
Obviously good news,particularly for all World Cup fans!
Briantist
Saturday 22 May 2010 7:36AM
Jordy: I think I now understand what "the list" is, it was the one prepared by the frequency allocation people at Ofcom just prior to the GE-06 negotiations.

As I recall it, these were just assumptions based on the ability of the Ofcom model to predict what would be required if the commercial operators ever asked for them.

However, my conversations with Ofcom at the time lead me to understand that SDN and NGW (as they were at the time) had never shown any interest in new transmissions.

As far as Arqiva is concerned, they are already broadcasting from uneconomic masts.
Briantist
Saturday 22 May 2010 7:39AM
Aerialman: As I recall, I didn't say that the list was your guesswork, but it was speculation on the part of Ofcom.

There was never, and I think this was the heart of the matter, any indication from NGW/SDN/Arqiva/Macquire that they would extend the terrestrial commercial multiplexes.
Briantist
Saturday 22 May 2010 7:41AM
Jordy: I wonder what the circumstances would be for SDN/Arqiva to "renew interest" in these broadcasts. As far as I understood it they have clearly indicated to Ofcom that they do not wish to do this.
I
Iain Davies
Sunday 23 May 2010 10:09PM
Would people be happy with Freeview Lite with the following line up?
BBC1,BBC2,BBC3,BBC4,BBC News,CBBC,Cbeebies,ITV1,ITV2,ITV3,ITV4,CITV,R1,R2,R3,R4,R5 as a basis and then anything else there may be space for, they could try!
Mark A.
Monday 24 May 2010 9:39PM Haywards Heath
Davies, Would also like Channel 5 to be added to the list.
Radio 1 to 5 (and also the World Service) we can get on FM, LW, MW or short wave.
So don't need radio repeated here, using up the TV signal array.
We could have a part time ITV4 shared with cITV as it was before ITV4 went 24 hours.
K
KMJ,Derby
Monday 24 May 2010 10:38PM
Iain Davies: I think most viewers would like the existing freeview light service to have the +1 channels replaced by ITV3 and ITV4 (with or without CITV) It is worth remembering that the SDN mux used to carry regional content so the +1 channels could have been housed on that mux.
M
Mark Collins
Tuesday 25 May 2010 10:53PM
Freeview Lite is atrocious and the way it has worked with freeview is phenomenally bad by design. A cachement area of say 5k people can get full freeview yet say Merthyr with a probably 50k+ cannot. I know Briantist the reasons, but it should have been a governmental thing from the outset - if that was the case everybody within reason could get full freeview.

However, I have ordered a usb dvb-t device that works on win 7 64bit from ebay so it will do for the World Cup I say!!! That at least can be received by everybody wahey! So my complaining is over yippee doo!
I
Iain Davies
Wednesday 26 May 2010 1:34AM
M.A. sorry I missed out CH4,E4,Film4,Five,Fiver,FiverUS but you get the idea!
Briantist
Wednesday 26 May 2010 9:13AM
KMJ,Derby: There has never been a "regional" version of the SDN multiplex, only a Wales- and Not-Wales- version.

Only multiplex 2/PSB2 carries all the 50+ ITV advertising regions - www.juliehuntadvertising.com link icon Julie Hunt Advertising - ITV Yorkshire TV Advertising for the map.
Briantist
Wednesday 26 May 2010 7:04PM
Mark A.: The BBC radio stations are on the BBC multiplex - the one that carries BBC services.

Radio takes up very little bandwidth, you would have to remove 20+ radio stations to get another TV channel.

FIVE is a public service channel and is on the public service multiplex for that reason.
D
David Miles
Wednesday 16 June 2010 3:34PM
I have a flat in Totland Bay IOWight.
The Block of 21 flats are served from a Yagi type aerial & feed each flat via a common amplifier to a cabled socket in each lounge.Cables are located in the roof space & drop vertically to each flat independently.
After switchover to digital will the main i.e BBC,ITV Channels 4&5 & freeview still operate from this system or do we have to install a common Dish & rewire the whole block?I understand that satellite eg sky etc must have a dish
K
KMJ,Derby
Wednesday 16 June 2010 4:25PM
David Miles: If you receive good analogue and freeview signals at present there should be no problem after switchover receiving the freeview signals that replace them.
A
Andy
Friday 25 June 2010 5:59PM
of the 8.5 % that recieve television from a small relay (no freeview transmitter), around 5 % will find that if they erect a new aerial or twist there old one around to the distant main transmitter, they will recieve a full freeview service.
Briantist
Friday 25 June 2010 6:01PM
Andy: No, that's not right. The 8.5% figure is for homes ONLY serviced by a public service relay.
B
bex cambridge
Tuesday 13 July 2010 2:40PM
People who with expensive HD TV's are not going to be happy with just a handful of other channels available with freeview lite and will use satellite or cable to take full advantage of HD equipment. I think HD should come off the PSB transmitters to be replaced by channels like itv 3, itv 4, sky 3 etc. as PSB transmitters are fine for those who just want basic services instead of hi tech stuff..
Briantist
Tuesday 20 July 2010 1:06PM
bex cambridge: Ofcom doesn't agree with you. You can get all those channels on Freesat, if you want.
P
Peter Henderson
Tuesday 20 July 2010 11:22PM
"You can get all those channels on Freesat, if you want."

Not quite true Brian.

There are a number of channels on Freeview that aren't available on Freesat, as you no doubt know fine well. Most notably Dave, Fiver and Five USA, Sky 3, and Sky News (available in non Freesat mode) and currently Sky Sports News (set to disappear later this year ). Fiver and Five USA are available on Freesat from Sky (but not quite completely free).

Still, Freesat also has a lot of channels that aren't on Freeview so I suppose it's horses for courses. Personally, if I lived in a Freeview Lite area I'd choose Freesat, despite the extra cost of the receiver and dish.

Who knows. There may eventually be more HD channels on Freesat than either Freeview or Freeview LITE.
P
Peter Henderson
Tuesday 20 July 2010 11:28PM
P.S.

I partly agree with Bex.

I think though, a far better idea would be to drop the two +1 channels i.e Channel For +1 and ITV 2+1 in favour of ITV3 and ITV4. Surely this would be a much better option ?

+1 Channels are surely a waste of time when most people now either have PVRs or access 4OD or ITV player.

I can't see why they can't do this in Freeview LLite areas.
Briantist
Wednesday 21 July 2010 7:29AM
Peter Henderson: As I have explained elsewhere, only Multiplex 2/PSB2 has the ITV regions on it, so this is the only place C4+1 and ITV1+1 can go.

ITV3 and ITV4 are national channels, and are on the COM multiplexes that do not have regional options.

P
Peter Henderson
Wednesday 21 July 2010 11:19PM
"ITV3 and ITV4 are national channels, and are on the COM multiplexes that do not have regional options"

Can Ofcom not change the rules ?

Surely there must be some way around this ? Is it technically feasible ?

Briantist
Thursday 22 July 2010 7:18AM
Peter Henderson: No, Ofcom cannot change this. Ofcom licences the multiplex operators, and the multiplex operators sell the capacity on their broadcasts.

Additionally, ITV3 and ITV4 are NOT public service channels, so Ofcom is not in a position to even suggest they go on a PSB multiplex.

Ofcom does not make the rules, it is parliament that made them in the Broadcasting Act 1996 - www.opsi.gov.uk link icon Broadcasting Act 1996 (c. 55) .
M
Markdvdman
Thursday 22 July 2010 10:51PM Merthyr Tydfil
The boradcasting Act in 1996 is a joke it is now 2010.

THAT is the fault of the government and many people pay to the short sighted GREED.

Be thankful for sites like www.tvcatchup.com

The tories are reversing things but they will not reverse this due to cost.
Briantist
Friday 23 July 2010 6:53AM
Markdvdman: If you think the law should be changed, then there is a quite usual procedure to deal with this. Otherwise the law, is the law.

It is probably worth noting that it was John Major's Conservatives that brought in the 1996 Act.
T
Terry
Sunday 22 August 2010 2:43PM Ivybridge
...blimey! What's happened to our expectations of tv services... at this point my satellite signal is now zilch [cause... rapidly growing ash trees on long hedge in SEasterly direction...] and our freeview service has just gone down via the Ivybridge transmitter but all is well according to this site? Does anyone remember Roger Shaw?!!!
Briantist
Monday 23 August 2010 5:56AM
Terry: The BBC reports that the transmitter "Ivybridge FAILURE from 12:48 yesterday to 14:52 yesterday". I hope you found your services returned 10 minutes after you posted.
M
Mike Dimmick
Friday 29 October 2010 4:25PM Reading
Briantist: the wording of Multiplex 2's licence, and the terms in the Broadcasting Act that led to it, are reasonably clear. D3&4 MUST carry:

- The appropriate Channel 3
- Channel 4
- Channel 5
- S4C
- Any other Welsh Authority channels

The remaining capacity can ONLY be used for channels run by a Channel 3 licence-holder or by Channel 4 Television Corporation, unless prior written permission is obtained from Ofcom.

Digital 3 and 4 Limited is jointly owned by ITV Network Ltd and Channel 4 Television Corporation. In turn ITV Network Ltd is an association of the 15 regional Channel 3 licensees, which each have one vote, but ITV plc operates 11 of them and therefore can outvote the other three companies. Result, ITV2 (not a public service channel) gets carried in Scotland rather than a second STV service.

Multiplex 2 was always going to be some combination of ITV companies and Channel 4, as only some agreed combination was permitted to bid for this multiplex. Similarly only S4C and Five were allowed to bid for Multiplex A.
Briantist
Friday 29 October 2010 4:50PM
Mike Dimmick: I'm really sorry, I've must have lost the thread here. I'm not sure where I have asserted otherwise.

I known all these things, I have written extensively over the years knowing the above facts, so I'm unclear as to what I've said that suggests otherwise.
M
Mike Dimmick
Friday 29 October 2010 6:09PM Reading
"Additionally, ITV3 and ITV4 are NOT public service channels, so Ofcom is not in a position to even suggest they go on a PSB multiplex."

I'm saying that ITV3 and ITV4 COULD go on Mux 2, but for example Dave and Yesterday could not without permission from Ofcom. However, Channel 4 are unlikely to agree to kick C4+1 or E4 out to a commercial mux in order to accommodate another ITV service.
Briantist
Friday 29 October 2010 6:48PM
Mike Dimmick: Indeed, I should have said "Ofcom is not in a position to insist ..."

Well yes, ITV3 and ITV4 could go on Mux 2, but given how the ratings are for the channels, it won't happen.

I think if you go back to the original ONdigital configuration, before there were any addition Channel 4 channels, there were two or three encrypted services in C4's "gifted" space.
J
James
Tuesday 15 February 2011 10:39AM
I've now got more choice on on my local Freeview Lite tx'er Calne - ITV+1 now b'casts the Welsh regional programmes instead of ITV South West. So I have the 'great' choice of seeing what's going on in the Welsh valley's and Anglesey weather from middle of Wiltshire!!
Is this just a patching cable plugged in wrong or deliberate decision??

Has anyone else got such a 'nice' choice??

Maybe in future they could change it randomly to differnet regions just to liven things up!!! Scotland next please.
Briantist
Tuesday 15 February 2011 1:05PM
James: No, it isn't - see ITV1+1 11 January 2011 (at last) | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice for details of how ITV1+1 works.
M
Mike Dimmick
Tuesday 15 February 2011 2:44PM
James: I think ITV have limited the number of actual ITV1+1 regions due to the limited number of slots available on satellite. It looks like they're using their macro advertising regions in the West, and in the East and South East. You can see the macros at www.itvmedia.co.uk link icon 
ITV Media -
. The West macro-region is made up from the old Wales, West and Westcountry regions, and they appear to have chosen the Wales region's service.

The North appears to be split east/west, though it's not clear to me exactly how they've divided it up - whether Border goes along with Granada or with Yorkshire (West). I would expect the Tyne Tees area to be getting Yorkshire West.

Some more populous/affluent regions are divided into micro-regions, each of which has its own satellite service for ITV1, but they're based on the coverage areas of the terrestrial transmitters. News service areas are built up from these micro-regions. It appears that ITV1 local news in your area was retitled 'The West Country Tonight' in their last shakeup, but it's still subdivided into 'east' (formerly HTV West) and 'west' (formerly Westcountry).

The current regional ITV1+1 lineup on satellite is:

Central West (covering Central)
London
Granada (plus Border?)
Meridian South (covering Meridian and Anglia, some sources say Meridian SE)
Wales (covers Wales, West, Westcountry - encrypted)
Yorkshire West (covers Yorkshire, Tyne Tees and maybe Border) (RG47SH)
J
James
Wednesday 16 February 2011 11:04AM
Briantist and Mike - Thanks for explainations - I think! maybe ignorance really is bliss!!

But doesn't this inability to tx the 'correct' ITV+1 into a region bring its rational further into question? People are less likely to watch an irrelavant channel (wrong wx and local news) then woun't the advert demographics fall and revenue drop.

Where as if they were to put ITV3, or better, in place of the +1, up will go the viewer figures etc -- I live in hope!! or go back to SW radio!!!!

Briantist
Wednesday 16 February 2011 1:52PM
James: ITV-1's region output is less than an hour a day, so it only a problem for that time, and for a limited number of people.

ITV1+1 must go on a multiplex - multiplex 2/PSB2 that supports the ITV regional structure.

ITV3 as a national channel goes on a multiplex which has no region support (aside from Wales as it originally belonged to S4C).
G
Gary
Thursday 17 February 2011 9:43PM Fraserburgh
Will ESPN be available from Freeview Light Transmitter through BT Vision?
Briantist
Friday 18 February 2011 6:31AM
Gary: No, it won't.
S
Steven B
Friday 18 February 2011 4:11PM
I live in Ripley,north west of SC/Lichfield transmitters. No problem with SD Mux but 2% signal quality on CH24 HD Mux. Does anyone know if and when the signal level will increase? Thanks
S
Steven B
Friday 18 February 2011 4:22PM
Oops its North East of course !!
S
Steven B
Friday 18 February 2011 4:24PM Ripley
and its channel 34...
S
Steven B
Friday 18 February 2011 4:24PM Ripley
apart from that what have the romans ever done for us...:)
Briantist
Friday 18 February 2011 4:37PM
Steven B: The analogue FIVE service on C34 from the Nottingham transmitter is going to be stronger at your location than the Lichfield preview Freeview HD service, so you may have problems.
C
chrisw
Thursday 1 September 2011 1:12PM Otley
Hi,
I currently receive analogue transmissions from the Wharfedale transmitter (Postcode is LS21 3PN)
I am expecting to be receiving the three PSB multiplexes after switchover (7th to 21st September)
According to your reception predictor the signal strength from Emley Moor is higher now, and after switchover than from the Wharfedale Transmitter. This seems unlikely as I have line of sight to Wharfedale, but have a steep valley side in the direction of Emley Moor & everyone around here has their aerials pointed at Wharfedale.

How accurate is your predictor? Is it worth me experimenting to discover if there is any signal available from Emley Moor? I could try buying an aerial and seeing if I can get a signal from the top bedroom window (Which faces the correct direction)
I don't really want to pay a fitter to go up on my (rather tall) 3 storey house, unless there is a reasonable chance of success.

Any comments?

Chris
M
Mike Dimmick
Thursday 1 September 2011 1:25PM
chrisw: See the Digital UK predictor. There is too much information that the broadcasters are keeping private, or requires substantial money to purchase, for a self-help site to provide an accurate prediction.

For the postcode you've given, DUK show a low probability of reliable reception from Emley Moor, using a reasonably high-gain aerial. For Wharfedale it's shown as 100%.
C
chrisw
Thursday 1 September 2011 4:38PM Otley
Thanks Mick,

I had a look & ticked the "Aerial Installer" box which I hadn't done before. It looks as if there will be some signal, but probablty not useable, as I expected. I shall stick to the Wharfedale transmitter. I may have a look with a spectrum analyser once switchover has occurred to compare the signal levels from Emeley Moor & Wharfedale.

Chris
C
chrisw
Tuesday 20 September 2011 11:41PM Otley
I decided to carry out an experiment, so ordered an aerial. It is a Maxview 25 element, CAI standard 2 wideband.
I received this today, so went up into the loft and connected it up to my old CRT TV. I was able to receive the analogue channels from Emley Moor, albeit fairly noisy.

I then took up my Grundig GUD20USB3 digital box and connected that up. (This is for a kitchen TV normally). I did a full scan and was rewarded with 42 channels.
21 from Wharfedale (off the back of the beam and wrong polarisation) and 21 from BBCA on Emley Moor.

The quality report from the Grundig box varied between 2 & 4 out of 10, and there was occasional pixelation.

I will try this again later in the week after switchover and see how the other multiplexes come in after power up.

It seems to me that with a class 2 Group B aerial properly installed (professionally I might add... ) I should be able to get a reasonably reliable signal, as it should be at least 10dB up. I would also consider adding a masthead amplifier, probably worthwhile in order to overcome the cable loss.

Chris
V
Val Davies
Thursday 20 October 2011 3:01PM Otley
I live in otley, postcode LS21 1DE and receive digital television from the Clifton mast.
On my new TV I only receive 35 channels.
Can you explain why this is please



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