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CoMux Local Transmitter Network Update |
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#1 |
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Join Date: Mar 2000
Location: South Notts (Waltham TV TX)
Posts: 20,200
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CoMux Local Transmitter Network Update
Hopefully this thread will hold links to the various local tv discussions while covering some of the main points. I think everything is complete and accurate but there may be an unintentional omission.
In 2013 Ofcom awarded the licences for the local tv multiplex transmitter network to CoMux who, along with transmitter provider, Arqiva are rolling out the Local TV network across the UK - once all the licensees are on air approx 60% of the UK population will have access to two new semi-national TV channels and a local television service. This post details those stations which have been licensed, are currently on air, transmitters which are testing. National Channels The two new national channels have not yet been publicly announced, however on 20/01/2014 licences for the following services were issued by Ofcom[LIST][*]*ABC Shopping[*]*Bonanza Bonanza a general entertainment channel.[/LIST]Local TV Channels Ofcom provide lists of all the licence applicants and holders at the following URLs List of all Local TV Applicants where a licence decision has not yet been made List of all Local TV Licence Holders In England and Northern Ireland the local tv channel will broadcast on Freeview channel 8, in Wales and Scotland, it will be broadcast on Freeview channel 34. Phase 1 Licences The following transmitters (with the services listed in brackets) make up phase one of the Local TV network. In this post the "Plan" refers to the transmitter roll out plan published July 2013 - these dates refer to the transmitter air date, not the start of the local television service. Jan = Plan air date of 31/01/2014 Feb = Plan air date of 27/02/2014 Jun = Plan air date of 26/06/2014 Sep = Plan air date of 25/09/2014 Key:- *Licensed City - Transmitter Name (Channel Name) (Transmitter Due on Air in) - Notestests since means the date the multiplex started testing. Launching - date on which the local tv channel is due to start broadcasts. Local TV channel on air, test cards on 791/792 [LIST][*]*Grimsby - Belmont (Estuary TV) - entered service 26/11/2013[/LIST]Transmitters with test cards currently broadcasting on 791 and 792 [LIST][*]*Belfast - Divis (NvTv) - Testing since Jan?[*]*Glasgow - Black Hill (GTV) (Jan) - tests since 22/01/2014 [*]*London - Crystal Palace (London Live) (Feb) - tests since 09/12/2014 - Launching 31/03/2013[*]*Leeds - Emley Moor (Made in Leeds) (Feb) - tests since 21/01/2014[*]*Birmingham - Sutton Coldfield (City TV) (Jan) - tests since 28/11/2013 - Launching mid 2014[*]*Nottingham - Waltham (Notts TV) (Jan) - tests since 20/01/2014 - Launching March/April 2014[*]*Cardiff - Wenvoe (Made in Cardiff) (Jan) - tests since 20/01/2014 [/LIST]Carriers Only There are report these transmitters are on air but not carrying any services yet[LIST][*]*Bristol - Bristol Ilchester Crescent (Made in Bristol) (Jan) http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1933242[*]*Norwich - Tacolneston (Mustard TV) (Jan) http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showp...2&postcount=38 - Launching Spring 2014[/LIST] No reports of signals (transmitters due to start January) [LIST][*]*Birmingham - Brierley Hill (City TV)[*]*Brighton - Whitehawk Hill (Latest TV)[*]*Bristol - Kings' Weston (Made in Bristol)[*]*Bristol - Mendip (Made in Bristol)[*]*Glasgow - Black Hill (GTV)[*]*Newcastle - Pontop Pike (Made in Tyne and Wear)[*]*Nottingham - Nottingham (Notts TV)[/LIST]No reports of signals (transmitters due to start February) [LIST][*]*Edinburgh - Craigkelly (ETV)[*]*Edinburgh - Black Hill (ETV) - note transmitter not in July 2013 but indicated as desirable to cover Edinburgh[*]*Leeds - Beecroft Hill (Made In Leeds)[/LIST]No reports of signals (transmitters due to start June) [LIST][*]*London - Croydon (London Live)[*]*Southampton - Rowridge (That's Solent)[*]*Liverpool - Storeton (Bay TV Liverpool)[*]*Liverpool - Winter Hill (Bay TV Liverpool)[*]*Manchester - Winter Hill (Your TV Manchester)[*]*Preston and Blackpool - Winter Hill (Your TV Preston and Blackpool)[/LIST]No reports of signals (transmitters due to start September) [LIST][*]*Oxford - Oxford (That's Oxford)[*]*Sheffield - Sheffield (Sheffield Live)[/LIST]No applicants Additionally services for Plymouth and Swansea were advertised but received no applicants, these were then re-advertised during phase twoPhase 2 (first wave) Licence Awards On June 19 2013 Ofcom advertised for applications for local tv services in the following areas[LIST][*]*Bangor, Gwynedd - one applicant - Bay TV Gwynedd[*]*Cambridge - Awarded to Cambridge Presents on 31/10/2013[*]*Middlesbrough - Awarded to Made in Teesside on 27/11/2013[*]*Mold - Awarded to Bay TV Clywd on 23/01/2014[*]*Scarborough - Awarded to Yorkshire Coast TV on 31/10/2013[*]*Mold - Awarded to Bay TV Swansea on 23/01/2014[*]*York - Awarded to The York Channel on 27/11/2013[/LIST]Phase 2 (second wave) Licence Awards On September 24 2013 Ofcom advertised for applications for local tv services in the following areas[LIST][*]*Barnstaple - no applicants[*]*Basingstoke - one applicant - That’s Basingstoke[*]*Derry/Londonderry - no applicants[*]*Gloucester - no applicants[*]*Guildford - one applicant - That's Surrey[*]*Limavady - no applicants[*]*Luton - one applicant - Befordshire Television[*]*Maidstone - two applicants - KMTV, TV Kent[*]*Plymouth - no applicants[*]*Reading - one applicant - That's Reading[*]*Salisbury - one applicant - That's Salisbury[/LIST]Phase 2 (third wave) Licence Awards The following licences will be advertised during 2014[LIST][*]*Aberdeen[*]*Ayr[*]*Bromsgrove[*]*Carlisle[*]*Dundee[*]*Falkirk[*]*Inverness[*]*Kidderminster[*]*Stoke on Trent[*]*Stratford upon Avon[/LIST]Satellite Distribution The following channels have confirmed satellite distribution [LIST][*]London Live - Sky 117 in London; Not available on Freesat[*]Made in Leeds - Sky 117 in Leeds;[/LIST] Cable Distribution The following services are/will available on Virgin Media channel 159 in their licence area [LIST][*]Estuary TV[*]London Live[/LIST] |
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#2 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Beds (Sandy Heath TX)
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Quote:
In England and Northern Ireland the local tv channel will broadcast on Freeview channel 8, in Wales and Scotland, it will be broadcast on Freeview channel 34.
Should be Ch 26 for Wales/Scotland.Quote:
*Mold - Awarded to Bay TV Swansea on 23/01/2014
I take it that was a deliberate mistake? ![]() Can't argue with the rest (well, I can, but it wouldn't be constructive). Nice bit of collating. Some threads that you haven't linked to, which this new thread presumably supercedes: First 20 towns/cities for local TV announced (this is the old "main thread" for local TV) Local TV licensing: Phase 2 (a failed attempt to stop discussion of phase 2 licensing and phase 1 launches getting mixed together) Related: DTT Transmitter Timetable (transmitter upgrade timetable, post #333 onwards features the local TV mux) |
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#3 |
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Join Date: May 2008
Location: Wickford, Essex, England,UK,GB
Posts: 1,824
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London we have two channels for local channels on 791 & 792 and been testing from December but would love to know why two test channels when we only have " London Live" as a named channel ?
How many channels can they fit on the mux? |
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#4 |
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Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Hampshire
Posts: 8,079
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Quote:
London we have two channels for local channels on 791 & 792 and been testing from December but would love to know why two test channels when we only have " London Live" as a named channel ?
How many channels can they fit on the mux? nominally three SD TV services. Therefore the local muxes will carry the core local service, plus two nationally syndicated channels, to generate extra revenue |
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#5 |
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Join Date: May 2008
Location: Wickford, Essex, England,UK,GB
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thanks for the data...
So why has London not having full 3 channels? it's got viewing numbers, but that may be the reason for only 2 is there can use higher rate per channel as money with viewers number will pay for the mux quicker ? |
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#6 |
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Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Hampshire
Posts: 8,079
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Quote:
thanks for the data...
So why has London not having full 3 channels? it's got viewing numbers, but that may be the reason for only 2 is there can use higher rate per channel as money with viewers number will pay for the mux quicker ? |
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#7 |
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Join Date: May 2002
Location: Beds (Sandy Heath TX)
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Quote:
So why has London not having full 3 channels?
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#8 |
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Quote:
Norwich - Tacolneston (Mustard TV) (Jan) http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showp...2&postcount=38 - Launching Spring 2014
I missed picking up on this, but Mustard is launching March 2014. I've not seen an actual date, but it is reportedly the next to go on air, so it'll be before 31st March.
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#9 |
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Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Norwich, Tacolneston tx
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Quote:
I missed picking up on this, but Mustard is launching March 2014. I've not seen an actual date, but it is reportedly the next to go on air, so it'll be before 31st March.
I am beginning to wonder whether the end of Januuary date for some of these transmitters to come into service might have slipped a bit. |
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#10 |
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Join Date: May 2002
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Quote:
I am beginning to wonder whether the end of Januuary date for some of these transmitters to come into service might have slipped a bit. |
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#11 |
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Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: East Midlands
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@Kev. Mendip has been carrying local TV tests since at least the beginning of December. Of course hardly anyone in Bristol can actually receive a signal from Mendip, even more so in the Comux case, given its very restrictive beam so as not to interfere with Wenvoe. See http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showp...7&postcount=29 and subsequent posts.
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#12 |
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Quote:
Should be Ch 26 for Wales/Scotland.
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#13 |
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Join Date: Sep 2002
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Quote:
It's a shame that GTV/ETV won't be on a single-digit LCN. Would have made more sense to bump BBC Alba (which I imagine relies less on 'passing traffic') to 26 IMO.
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#14 |
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Quote:
People with Gaelic as their primary language might not agree. An alternative plan would have been to enable LCN 0 to allow speakers of minority languages to have their primary language channel at the top of the EPG. S4C would probably have to become S0C.
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#15 |
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Join Date: Sep 2002
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Quote:
LCN 0 isn't assignable. A better approach would have been to shove ITV2 out of the way to free up LCN 6 for local TV then swap 7 and 8. But ITV wouldn't go for that...
Having said that, I don't actually expect them to change their policy any more than I expect them to create a genre for shopping channels. It was only suggested as a simple way of getting around the problem. I wouldn't expect DigitalUK to come up with a logical, organised LCN sequence judging by their track record. |
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#16 |
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DigitalUK have stated that they won't allocate LCN 0 in their policy document. That's not quite the same as not being assignable, they could change the policy. Creating an additional "out of range" LCN for Scotland and Wales is the only realistic way to achieve this without creating EPG gaps in England and Northern Ireland.
Having said that, I don't actually expect them to change their policy any more than I expect them to create a genre for shopping channels. It was only suggested as a simple way of getting around the problem. I wouldn't expect DigitalUK to come up with a logical, organised LCN sequence judging by their track record. |
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#17 |
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There is also the matter of the Channel Zero (now defunct) boxes which used LCN 0 to access it. That is still how I access iPlayer on my Technika box.
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#18 |
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Quote:
The bigger question is would any box allow you to store a channel on 0 or would it throw it in the 800s / hide it? I've not come across a single set which allows you to store a channel on "0" when in digital mode (was rather handy for VCRs back in the day on analogue mode!)
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#19 |
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Quote:
There is also the matter of the Channel Zero (now defunct) boxes which used LCN 0 to access it. That is still how I access iPlayer on my Technika box.
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#20 |
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Quote:
Strictly speaking that's not LCN 0 but the box firmware using 0 on the remote to access an internal feature.
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#21 |
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I don't doubt that, but it would probably make accessing a genuine LCN 0 from these boxes impossible.
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#22 |
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Indeed but using a channel number to access an internal feature is poor coding, typical of low budget development.
Anyway, regardless of the technical limitations, the traditional PSBs wouldn't be happy about being leapfrogged. |
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#23 |
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It might be genuinely assigned to LCN 0, I forget if pressing 0 immediately switches to Trove, or allows typing of 001 etc. I'd also expect most boxes to interpret an LCN of 0 as being the same as "unassigned". I'd also not expect them to do anything else if it's not in the spec.
Quote:
Anyway, regardless of the technical limitations, the traditional PSBs wouldn't be happy about being leapfrogged.
Of course not but giving minority languages priority would be a legitimate reason for doing that. I doubt that the broadcasters would be overly concerned as the bulk of their audience wouldn't understand the minority languages. It would have little impact on their reach.
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#24 |
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Quote:
To be "genuinely" assigned to "LCN" 0, the LCN would have to appear as a descriptor in the NIT tables
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#25 |
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Quote:
I mean code-wise, internally it might be linked to LCN 0 same as any other channel (well, not exactly the same). Anyway, as it isn't in the spec it's fair game for receiver use, just like the 900 range.
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