June 30 Update: Surprisingly, BBC Four HD and CBeebies HD have also been removed from Freeview – but only temporarily.The BBC has three channels that are currently carried on COM7: BBC Four HD, CBeebies HD and BBC News HD.īBC Four HD and CBeebies HD are set to move to the PSB3 multiplex, which the BBC operates.Īnd since COM7 always had spotty coverage, the move means more people will be able to watch these channels on Freeview – even some of those that couldn’t receive them before due to bad reception. Some of the Freeview channels that will have to make changes are Forces TV, Quest HD, FreeSport, QVC HD and others – including three BBC channels. Since several channels – especially HD channels – currently use the COM7 Multiplex – those channels will have to either find room on one of the other multiplexes or shut down. Manhattan T3-R Freeview RecorderĪt the end of June, a multiplex known as COM7 will close, since EE bought the rights the use its frequency for 5G mobile signals (the frequency was auctioned off by Ofcom last year). Several multiplexes (groups of channels) are then broadcast from the transmitter to your home – and your TV / Freeview box knows how to separate the individual channels that are grouped under the same frequency. Thanks to digital TV, several channels can be grouped into a single frequency, and that group is then known as a multiplex. In the old days, each TV channel was broadcast on a single frequency. COM7 Shutting Down: What Does It Mean For Freeview? It provides free-to-air TV channels and radio stations (via a Freeview aerial – see the ones we recommend), including more than 80 standard and HD channels. Many other Freeview channels are also expected to move, change or even shut down completely by the end of June due to the COM7 closure, with exact details set to be announced later this month.įreeview, which started its life back in 2002, is the United Kingdom’s terrestrial television platform. ![]() The changes, that were announced by the BBC this week, are due to the closure of a Freeview Multiplex (COM7) that is set to happen on June 30. Update: You can now see the full list of upcoming Freeview changes here.There’s also some good news – the HD versions of BBC Four and CBeebies will become available to wider audiences around the country, due to improved transmission coverage (though the linear versions of these same channels are set to shut down in a few years).Īll these changes will require a retune (either automatic or manual) of your Freeview box near the end of the month. The BBC News SD channel will remain available on Freeview, but viewers who want the HD version will have to find other means to watch the channel, such as on BBC iPlayer (see below for all your options). The HD version of the BBC News channel on Freeview (currently on Channel 107) is going away from the end of June 2022, following a transmission change that will also affect BBC Four HD and CBeebies HD.
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