Up to 18m homes will have to retune Freeview in push for HD World Cup
Broadcasting insiders fear extra mass retuning may leave viewers confused
Digital TV viewers in nearly 18m UK homes will have to manually retune their Freeview set-top boxes, as the service is rejigged to allow more football fans to watch next year's football World Cup in high definition.
The plan to reorganise digital terrestrial TV transmission signals to allow for the launch of BBC and ITV Freeview HD channels before the World Cup in South Africa has led some broadcasting industry insiders to fear that large numbers of viewers will simply be confused. Those who want to take advantage of the new Freeview HD services will also have to buy a new set top box, costing around £200.
When 500,000 people on the south coast of England had to retune their set-top boxes in March as part of preparations for digital switchover, a helpline set up by Digital UK, the body overseeing the process, received thousands of calls.
Broadcasters this week discussed a proposal for the mass national retuning of Freeview boxes and its potential pitfalls. Freeview said earlier this month that it will bring forward plans to launch HD services, including channels from the BBC, ITV and Channel 4, so that up to 50% of the UK population will have access to them before next year's football World Cup, with some expected to launch as early as the end of this year.
As part of other changes in the runup to digital switchover, the frequencies on which Channel Five and the Welsh service S4C are broadcast will also be changing, which could potentially add to the disruption and confusion.
In order for both changes to happen, the transmission frequencies for all the main TV channels will be reconfigured later this year, with viewers having to retune their set top boxes to continue receiving services.
Broadcasters have said that a plan to communicate the changes to viewers has not yet been worked out, although measures already planned include onscreen warnings, leaflets and extra information on Freeview's website.
The BBC's head of distribution technology, Graham Plumb, said: "With any channel change there is always a risk of confusion. That is why it is in broadcasters' best interest to provide as much help as they can."
Around 17.7m UK homes had access to digital TV via Freeview by the end of last year, according to the latest figures from the media regulator, Ofcom. Of these, 9.8m relied on Freeview for TV viewing on their main set. Other homes have a mix of Freeview and either digital satellite or cable TV.
The push to get HD channels on Freeview comes as the switchover from analogue to digital terrestrial TV is taking place region by region around the UK between now and 2012, with viewers already having to reset their set top boxes twice.
Switchover has already begun in Cumbria, the Scottish Borders and the west country, with Exeter yesterday becoming the largest urban area so far to go fully digital.
"There are currently active discussions about some sort of national retuning event," one senior source connected with the transmission frequency changes said. "All the conversations that are underway are based on the notion that in one or two stages, there will have to be a very large-scale retuning of boxes to accommodate the changes. There will need to be some event, over and above digital switchover, to get the Freeview platform ready for HD and to move Channel Five to one of the multiplexes that is universally available."
Another broadcasting executive added: "Everyone involved in the switchover process knows retuning is a bigger issue now. We are aware it is a bigger issue then we thought it was going to be and that it isn't necessarily straightforward, but it is something that can be dealt with if you take the appropriate steps."
The executive said that making people retune their boxes several times may be a good thing, as they would become more used to it. Boxes also need to be retuned when new channels launch on the platform.
Multiplex B, owned by the BBC, will be cleared to make way for HD services, while Five and S4C will move from the commercial Multiplex A to the public service broadcasting Multiplex 2 in order to boost the number of people who can receive them.
As part of the plan to bring forward the launch of Freeview HD services, five TV transmitters covering some of the UK's most heavily populated urban areas, including London, Birmingham, the north-west and the north-east, will have to be upgraded ahead of their planned digital switchover change.
Each television transmitter across the country has been allocated a slot for the switch to digital, with the largest, Crystal Palace – which serves nearly 5 million homes in London – set to move over in 2012, just before the Olympics.
Freeview had originally planned to introduce HD channels as each region switched from analogue to digital, but its decision to bring forward its HD plans means that the five transmitters will now be upgraded between December this year and June next year. Despite the ambitious plans for HD, there are concerns that the services will not be ready in time for the World Cup.
According to insiders, broadcasters are still waiting for their licences to be awarded by Ofcom, while ITV and Channel 4 have both admitted there are question marks over their services because of the financial downturn.
Five and Film4/S4C are also currently bidding for the remaining fourth slot, with a decision by Ofcom expected in the next few weeks, although this won't come on stream until later next year.
Leigh Holmwood
Wednesday 20 May 2009 20.22 BST
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2009
Broadcasting insiders fear extra mass retuning may leave viewers confused
Digital TV viewers in nearly 18m UK homes will have to manually retune their Freeview set-top boxes, as the service is rejigged to allow more football fans to watch next year's football World Cup in high definition.
The plan to reorganise digital terrestrial TV transmission signals to allow for the launch of BBC and ITV Freeview HD channels before the World Cup in South Africa has led some broadcasting industry insiders to fear that large numbers of viewers will simply be confused. Those who want to take advantage of the new Freeview HD services will also have to buy a new set top box, costing around £200.
When 500,000 people on the south coast of England had to retune their set-top boxes in March as part of preparations for digital switchover, a helpline set up by Digital UK, the body overseeing the process, received thousands of calls.
Broadcasters this week discussed a proposal for the mass national retuning of Freeview boxes and its potential pitfalls. Freeview said earlier this month that it will bring forward plans to launch HD services, including channels from the BBC, ITV and Channel 4, so that up to 50% of the UK population will have access to them before next year's football World Cup, with some expected to launch as early as the end of this year.
As part of other changes in the runup to digital switchover, the frequencies on which Channel Five and the Welsh service S4C are broadcast will also be changing, which could potentially add to the disruption and confusion.
In order for both changes to happen, the transmission frequencies for all the main TV channels will be reconfigured later this year, with viewers having to retune their set top boxes to continue receiving services.
Broadcasters have said that a plan to communicate the changes to viewers has not yet been worked out, although measures already planned include onscreen warnings, leaflets and extra information on Freeview's website.
The BBC's head of distribution technology, Graham Plumb, said: "With any channel change there is always a risk of confusion. That is why it is in broadcasters' best interest to provide as much help as they can."
Around 17.7m UK homes had access to digital TV via Freeview by the end of last year, according to the latest figures from the media regulator, Ofcom. Of these, 9.8m relied on Freeview for TV viewing on their main set. Other homes have a mix of Freeview and either digital satellite or cable TV.
The push to get HD channels on Freeview comes as the switchover from analogue to digital terrestrial TV is taking place region by region around the UK between now and 2012, with viewers already having to reset their set top boxes twice.
Switchover has already begun in Cumbria, the Scottish Borders and the west country, with Exeter yesterday becoming the largest urban area so far to go fully digital.
"There are currently active discussions about some sort of national retuning event," one senior source connected with the transmission frequency changes said. "All the conversations that are underway are based on the notion that in one or two stages, there will have to be a very large-scale retuning of boxes to accommodate the changes. There will need to be some event, over and above digital switchover, to get the Freeview platform ready for HD and to move Channel Five to one of the multiplexes that is universally available."
Another broadcasting executive added: "Everyone involved in the switchover process knows retuning is a bigger issue now. We are aware it is a bigger issue then we thought it was going to be and that it isn't necessarily straightforward, but it is something that can be dealt with if you take the appropriate steps."
The executive said that making people retune their boxes several times may be a good thing, as they would become more used to it. Boxes also need to be retuned when new channels launch on the platform.
Multiplex B, owned by the BBC, will be cleared to make way for HD services, while Five and S4C will move from the commercial Multiplex A to the public service broadcasting Multiplex 2 in order to boost the number of people who can receive them.
As part of the plan to bring forward the launch of Freeview HD services, five TV transmitters covering some of the UK's most heavily populated urban areas, including London, Birmingham, the north-west and the north-east, will have to be upgraded ahead of their planned digital switchover change.
Each television transmitter across the country has been allocated a slot for the switch to digital, with the largest, Crystal Palace – which serves nearly 5 million homes in London – set to move over in 2012, just before the Olympics.
Freeview had originally planned to introduce HD channels as each region switched from analogue to digital, but its decision to bring forward its HD plans means that the five transmitters will now be upgraded between December this year and June next year. Despite the ambitious plans for HD, there are concerns that the services will not be ready in time for the World Cup.
According to insiders, broadcasters are still waiting for their licences to be awarded by Ofcom, while ITV and Channel 4 have both admitted there are question marks over their services because of the financial downturn.
Five and Film4/S4C are also currently bidding for the remaining fourth slot, with a decision by Ofcom expected in the next few weeks, although this won't come on stream until later next year.
Leigh Holmwood
Wednesday 20 May 2009 20.22 BST
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2009
