Full details:
http://www.dmol.co.uk/Consultations

DMOL says: Ten additional standard definition streams on the six Freeview multiplexes in the next two to four years...

From 19th September, #FreeviewHD channels will be allocated channels 101 to 120, beginning with BBC One HD on 101, BBC Two HD on 102 etc.

DMOL expects temporary use of 600 MHz band for more HD services to drive uptake of DVB-T2 boxes, therefore gives HD section 20 spaces.

#Freeview Adult section to be moved to channels 178-199 from 19th September

...and a hint that Al Jazeera will be with us in the mornings very soon...

I'd love to see how they can fit another 10 SD channels. Let me guess, even more bit starvation?

A new HD mux to drive up Freeview HD box sales is a great idea, it'll speed up the eventual move to DVB-T2 and AVC/HEVC. What channels will appear though? There's only 5 HD channels on Freesat and even if you add Channel 5 HD, that'd only be 6. Hopefully stuff like E4 HD and Film4 HD will appear on Freeview HD and then also appear on Freesat.

544*576 is now officially called "3/4 resolution"


Quick digest of the main points now online at http://www.a516digital.com/2012/07/1...etune-day.html

Even their table says assuming all streams have a resolution of 544x576, there can only be up to 12 per multiplex. Don't all 3 COM multiplexes already have 10-12? If so, where can there possibly be room for 10 more?

I shudder to think...

Really? I don't see it being anywhere near 15 HD services, not free ones anyway.

What a fudge up DMOL have made with regards Shopping channels. So they are not going to create a separate genre section because the shopping channels don't want one (read QVC using their influence). Let's just ignore the viewing public's view and class shopping channels as General Entertainment channels!

I also like how they say they don't want to renumber existing general entertainment services because it'll cause confusion and be unfair to those with favourable EPG slots.

Erm, isn't that what an EPG shuffle is meant to do? I doubt ITV would be too bothered about ITV2 moving from 6 to 7 to make room for local channels. Also, encrypted services could be put far up the EPG since no-one is able to "stumble across" them anyway (the general advantage for low EPG numbers).

Interesting to see in the consultation document which broadcasters were for and against shopping, pay TV and +1 splits!!

TV News, TV Stars & 303 get the chop.

Also no records can be found of the reasons why some channels were placed where they were under associated channels rules in the past.

I find that astonishing and a tacit admission that they were placed where they were by unfair means tantamount to illegallity. Now who controls DMOL? Hint (the BBC & Arqiva do).

Ridiculous that GOLD retains its placing at 17 given its availability. (or lack of!)

Bigdeal is still there and ESPN.

So Tyne Tees viewers will have to retune on three Wednesdays in a row. One has to ask why this date and not a week earlier or later in conjunction with DSO stage 1 or 2 respectively for the North East.

That DMOL for you.

Channel 5 would like a shopping genre straight away. (p60) and the BBC, Channel 4 and Freeview aren't against it.

But Arqiva & ITV (SDN) would protect their clients, making it a 50:50 vote, so it would depend on how D3&4 voted being 50% owned by ITV & Co.

Stalemate is the outcome.

So another Freeview retune, how many times are they going to do this?


I wonder if they get this crap in other countries?

30 lines was good enough for John Logie Baird, it's good enough for everyone else

A retune is not as onerous a task as you seem to want to make out. Not that you should be bothered seeing as you have given up on live tv.

All good

except decision not to reshuffle 001-050

Rediculous !!!!

Could you not just leave the box a week and get the correct number at final DSO, unless some channels are moving multiplex it's not too important.


Could some be on the DVB-T2 multiplex using the space earmarked for Channel 5 which is remaining idle?

Even the document says only 3 SD services could launch on the HD mux. Not sure where that comes from though because there'd be ~7.5 Mbps of video bit rate available, which is enough for 4 full resolution SD channels in AVC (there's no point using MPEG2 on a DVB-T2 mux).

I'm not in the Tyne Tees region (although I can pick up Bilsdale analogue), I was just commenting it seems a strange date to choose in the middle of the switchover there. Not that it really matters anyway.

Pretty pointless that they don't introduce a shopping section or re-order the channels in 1-50 to put them in order like on the Freesat EPG.