New channel on Freeview PSB3 multiplex, and you'll be surprised.

[cheekyangus]

Well here's a change you'll never have predicted...
According to RXTVlog, religious channel TBN UK has said it is moving to the main Freeview HD multiplex PSB3, the one More4+1 just moved from.
https://twitter.com/RXTVlog/status/1199415207300386817

So much for the predicted CBeebiesHD/BBC4 HD. :-)

It’s a miracle!!!

[cheekyangus]

I just found a tweet from TBN UK about it.
https://twitter.com/TBNUKtv/status/1199009856897703936

[RWCable]

Originally Posted by cheekyangus

I just found a tweet from TBN UK about it.
https://twitter.com/TBNUKtv/status/1199009856897703936

I'm confused... how are they planning to reach more households (as stated in tweet) by cutting off all the viewers without Freeview HD/smart TVs? Even TVs sold just 4 years ago don't have Freeview HD capability and set-top boxes with Freeview HD are quite expensive... I imagine Freeview SD-only equipment still makes up a large portion of the total UK audience, no?

[cheekyangus]

Originally Posted by RWCable

I'm confused... how are they planning to reach more households (as stated in tweet) by cutting off all the viewers without Freeview HD/smart TVs? Even TVs sold just 4 years ago don't have Freeview HD capability and set-top boxes with Freeview HD are quite expensive... I imagine Freeview SD-only equipment still makes up a large portion of the total UK audience, no?

Well the 3 PSB multiplexes have approx 98% population coverage as opposed to 90% on the multiplex it is currently on as the PSB multiplexes are available on Relay transmitters.

My theory is that the cost of staying on their current multiplex is too high so they are cutting costs. Because PSB3 requires HD equipment even for SD streams it is cheaper despite having larger coverage.

The temporary HD multiplexes, COM7 and COM8, which only have approx 30% population coverage, are likely to close in the next few years due to 5G being given spectrum so channels on them are trying to get onto more permanent multiplexes before this happens, so this will be raising the cost as demand increases, which probably is too much for TBN UK.

---------- Post added at 22:45 ---------- Previous post was at 22:42 ----------

And for the last few years the only Freeview tuners in TVs and DTT boxes have been HD. They stopped allowing Freeview branding to be used on any non-HD boxes to encourage this.

[RWCable]

That makes sense that they will technically reach more households with 98% coverage vs 90%.

I agree it's probably mainly for cost-cutting reasons as much of the programming on TBN isn't even HD. I have it on now and the current programme is 4:3 SD but with blurred bars on each side of the screen to fill 16:9

Originally Posted by cheekyangus

And for the last few years the only Freeview tuners in TVs and DTT boxes have been HD. They stopped allowing Freeview branding to be used on any non-HD boxes to encourage this.

I guess I got my TV just before that time... My Samsung TV from Jan 2015 has no Freeview HD tuner only SD. It is however 1080p capable via HDMI but I guess that capability doesn't imply any potential capability of displaying HD from terrestrial. I assume this because it has a picture-in-picture function for showing a small Freeview PiP when source is HDMI but not vice-versa, so it's like it's 2 different parts of the system.

[cheekyangus]

Originally Posted by RWCable

I guess I got my TV just before that time... My Samsung TV from Jan 2015 has no Freeview HD tuner only SD. It is however 1080p capable via HDMI but I guess that capability doesn't imply any potential capability of displaying HD from terrestrial. I assume this because it has a picture-in-picture function for showing a small Freeview PiP when source is HDMI but not vice-versa, so it's like it's 2 different parts of the system.

My old SD Freeview tuner TV had PiP in both directions but the replacement has no PiP at all, which is a shame, I kinda liked it, though didn't use it that often.

[cheekyangus]

It just occurred to me, when I was reading something elsewhere, that the population coverage I gave for COM7/8, in a post above, was wrong. I should have said 70-75% coverage, the 30% number is (to my recollection) the power they are on. They are not on 100% power as it would interfere with other services, or something along those lines.

So sorry about that error.

[cheekyangus]

TBN UK has moved to PSB3 today.

According to RXTVlog the old version will remain in place until "early 2020" on 794.
https://www.rxtvlog.com/p/freeview-updates.html

So this means whatever channel gets their old slot on COM5 won't have it over the holidays.

However, the old version of E4+1 (ch 793) has been removed today, also from COM5, so one channel might be able to take that space in time for the holidays.

---------- Post added at 15:16 ---------- Previous post was at 15:14 ----------

Oh and I forgot. There's an new streaming channel for kids, aimed at the same demographic as CBBC I think, on 212 called Yaaas!

[RWCable]

You beat me to it! I was going to post back here as I noticed last night TBN is still available on channel 65 in SD (with onscreen MHEG message)...

In the spirit of broadcasters transitioning to DVB-T2-only muxes, does this timetable (https://ukfree.tv/article/1107052554...from_2019_onwa) mean for certain that by 2023, most ITV, C4 and C5 stations will be unavailable via SD receivers and all commercial stations will be HD-only by 2026?

[cheekyangus]

Originally Posted by RWCable

In the spirit of broadcasters transitioning to DVB-T2-only muxes, does this timetable (https://ukfree.tv/article/1107052554...from_2019_onwa) mean for certain that by 2023, most ITV, C4 and C5 stations will be unavailable via SD receivers and all commercial stations will be HD-only by 2026?

No.

Nobody has committed to anything. This is just a table of dates. Not sure where they are getting them from. I've read many (year) dates for Com7/8 closure and they don't agree and not one person can give a definitive source. They range from 2020 to 2024 for those two temporary multiplexes. They seem to be based on a guess based on 700Mhz/5G clearance data.

The article is imagining how things will work out by extrapolating information. It's nicely done, but it's mostly just opinion.

The BBC and ITV haven't got all their regional variations converted to HD. This requires equipment and studios across the country to be upgraded. They are only upgrading as money can be found or they were due to be replaced anyway. They are also wanting the penetration of HD Freeview equipment to hit a certain percentage before they set a date. That will take however long it takes the public to naturally renew their equipment. This is also the case with Digital Radio, and that isn't going to happen any time soon in that particular case.

COM4/5/6 will likely not think about switching until the Public Service Broadcasters have publicly commited to a timetable.

[RWCable]

Ahhh I see... This is inferred from various related information and no sure definitives yet. Thank you for explaining. It will be interesting to see if/how any HD-only transition plays out. I can imagine there may be cases similar to C4 abandoning some HD services on Freesat.