Upcoming changes to Freeview TV services in the North West

Upcoming changes to Freeview TV services in the North West

This note is to inform you of an upcoming change to Freeview TV services in the North West of England, which may some of our residents.

Some Freeview channels are moving to new airwaves to allow for the future development of new mobile broadband services.

Following a decision by the UK Government, transmitters are being updated region by region as part of a major engineering programme which began in 2017 and is due to complete in mid-2020.

The final stages of required engineering work at the Winter Hill transmitter group, serving households across Liverpool, Manchester, Lancashire, Cheshire and north Staffordshire, will take place on 20 February and 22 April 2020.

On both dates, residents who watch Freeview will need to retune their TV equipment if they find they are missing channels.
Those using other services based on terrestrial TV, such as YouView, BT TV or TalkTalk, will also be affected.

Satellite and cable TV services are not affected.

Similar retunes have already been successfully completed at Winter Hill over the last two years.
These final stages include updates to main BBC services, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5, plus some other commercial channels.

A local information campaign will prepare people for the changes, including advertising and on-screen messages.

For the majority of viewers, retuning should be straightforward and will restore TV services to normal.

Some older aerials may need to be replaced to continue receiving all channels.
Viewers may be eligible for free in-home support, including aerial work if needed.

Anyone who needs advice, or who finds they are still missing services after retuning, can be directed to the Freeview Advice Line team for support on freephone 0808 100 0288.

Information is also available on the Freeview website at www.freeview.co.uk/tvchanges

Kate Macefield
Director, 700MHz Clearance Programme
Digital UK