The Digital Switchover for TV viewers in the BBC Points West region is now complete, and the BBC West area is now completely digital.
Following the analogue switch-off of BBC 2 at the end of March, the remaining analogue channels – BBC 1, ITV1 and Channel 4 – have now gone and the non-BBC channels have been added to the Freeview platform.
The list of channels that can be recieved from the Cirencester transmitter is now 28 (plus 3 data channels which carry the various digital teletext services). These channels are:
- BBC 1
- BBC 2
- ITV 1
- Channel 4
- Five
- ITV 2
- BBC 3
- BBC 4
- Channel 4 +1
- More 4
- E4
- ITV 2 +1
- CBBC
- CBeebies
- BBC HD*
- ITV 1 HD*
- BBC Radio 1
- BBC Radio 1Xtra
- BBC Radio 2
- BBC Radio 3
- BBC Radio 4
- BBC Radio 5 Live
- BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra
- BBC 6 Music
- BBC Radio 7
- BBC Asian Network
- BBC World Service
- Heart
*Special equipment is required in order to recieve HD channels.
This means that, for the first time, the Cirencester transmitter carries Five – a channel which I couldn’t recieve on analogue TV!
The 3 data channels which carry the various digital teletext services which I can recieve are:
- Teletext
- BBC Red Button
- Directgov
And there are 2 additional channels, which on the Digital UK channel list appear under the “Adult” category…
The exact number of channnels will vary, depending on which transmitter you’re recieving from – for example the Mendip transmitter (the main one in the region) will eventually carry more than 62 channels!
Tomorrow, Bill Taylor of Digital UK will be joining Chris Baxter on BBC Radio Gloucestershire to discuss the switchover and answer any questions you have. Tune in between 1000 and 1100 to find out more.