[Sexbomb]

What aren't these channels getting used

[DragonQ]

They are just placeholders, there are no video or audio streams to be used.

[Sue_Aitch]

302 hidden on my EPG for that very reason and I don't have 303 as I'm an SD viewer.

Hiding what you do not need or watch (http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/industry/...ost_switchover for the ful list) makes for an easier EPG to navigate.

[AngusMast]

The BBC have no capacity spare to use 302, unless they take off BBC Parliament during a parliamentary recess, but they don't want to make the mistake they made last time by removing 302 completely then making everyone retune to get it back.

It's a similar situation for 303 although the capacity is there, they don't know what's going to happen so they are hanging on to the placeholder for now.

[Fairyprincess0]

Wouldn't information tv considered a public service channel, and fall within the BBC remit?

[jj20x]

Originally Posted by Fairyprincess0

Wouldn't information tv considered a public service channel, and fall within the BBC remit?

No, why should it?

[Colin_London]

They are leftovers from the Olympics and will get removed at some stage.

I suspect 303 will disappear if/when they find a taker for the HD Mux capacity. Maybe they'll keep 302 as a placeholder for a future special event in place of BBC Parliament (an MHEG text message doesn't exactly take up much bandwidth), but in general the BBC is reducing red channel services across all platforms to a single feed (i.e. 301).

[jj20x]

I think the plan is to retain 302 for special events. Similarly, 303 could be held for a temporary service by any broadcaster without forcing everyone to retune. They will probably just assign a new LCN to the 303 stream if a new permanent HD service starts broadcasting.