Changes to Winterhill Television Transmitter 20 February 2020

Published On:Tuesday, February 11, 2020

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 being carried out between now and mid-2020.

On 20 February, engineering work will take place at the Winter Hill transmitter in the early hours and Freeview channels will be subject to disruption until 10am. After this, any viewers receiving their TV signal from here who find they are missing channels, including BBC One on button 1, can retune.

Other channels including ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 will move to new airwaves on 22 April. Services from some small local relays will also be subject to disruption until late afternoon on this date. Satellite and cable TV are not affected.

Around 2.7m homes are served by the affected transmitters and some Isle of Man homes will be tuned into Winterhill. Freeview will be running an information campaign to prepare people for the change, including advertising and on-screen messages.

The work follows the successful completion of previous updates at Winter Hill in 2018 and 2019.

Retuning should be straightforward and some TV equipment will retune automatically. 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 visit the Freeview website at www.freeview.co.uk/tvchanges or contact the Freeview Advice Line free on 0808 100 0288.

Further information is available online at www.freeview.co.uk/tvchanges