The switch to digital TV could damage the regional licences held by ITV, according to the industry watchdog.

Ofcom claims that by 2012 the costs of the licences which allow the organisation to broadcast could be overshadow the benefits it offers.

It estimates that the ITV network could lose up to £64 million a year and new funding would be needed after the digital TV switchover to maintain the Channel 3 licence.

The Channel 3 regional licences allow ITV to broadcast in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland using analogue and digital signals, but have “a number of public service broadcasting obligations”.

Ofcom says: “As the digital TV roll-out gathers pace across the UK, the value [of the licence] is declining.”

Terrestrial signals were switched off permanently in south and central Wales earlier this week, as engineers worked to improve services so new Freeview channels can be received for the first time in Llanelli, Builth Wells and Rhayader.

Who is affected?

The retune will affect homes with Freeview, Top Up TV or BT Vision equipment.
Satellite, cable and analogue TV equipment is not affected.

Why is the retune necessary?

Freeview is an evolving service that requires viewers to retune their equipment from time to time to accommodate changes to the platform – for example, at both stages of digital switchover, when a new channel is launched or a channel/service moves multiplex (a multiplex is a group of channels all broadcast on the same frequency. There are six multiplexes in the UK that carry all of the digital TV channels and radio stations).

The September retune will pave the way for Five to become as widely available on Freeview as the other terrestrial channels at digital television switchover – a requirement by Parliament. For the convenience of viewers, technical changes, including preparations for the future availability of HD channels on Freeview, will also be made on 30 September.

All Freeview boxes, Freeview+ digital TV recorders and digital TVs will need to be retuned for viewers to carry on receiving all of the services available to them, including Five, ITV4 and BBC Radio stations. Without a retune on or after Wednesday 30 September, viewers will not be able to access these channels.

What is going to happen on 30 September?

From lunchtime on Wednesday 30 September, or any time afterwards, Freeview viewers will need to retune their equipment so they can continue receiving all channels and services available to them (it’s not essential to retune your equipment immediately – but you will be unable to receive certain services until you do).

A number of channels will move position on the Freeview platform and, as a result, coverage of Five will increase. More than half a million Freeview homes will be able to receive Five for the first time and these improvements will ensure that Five will be available to all Freeview homes at the point of switchover, along with BBC1, BBC2, ITV1 and Channel 4. Coverage of Five on Freeview will increase from around 90 per cent once the UK digital TV switchover is complete to 98.5 per cent, the same as BBC1, BBC2, ITV1 and Channel 4.

ITV4 will move to an alternative multiplex, meaning a small percentage of homes (those receiving their Freeview service from a relay transmitter) will no longer be able to receive ITV3 and ITV4.

Additionally, a new entertainment channel called Quest will launch on channel 38.

The changes will move some BBC Radio services in areas of the country that have already switched over to different channels to prepare for the launch of Freeview HD. People living in Freeview homes that have already gone through digital switchover and who listen to BBC Radio stations on Freeview will lose these services until they retune their Freeview equipment.

The Community Channel will no longer be available on Freeview in areas that have already gone through switchover – however, it will still be available on satellite and cable.

After retuning, the viewer will find a small number of channels in a new position on their on-screen TV guide.

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.

New channels are launched on Freeview from time to time along with other updates to the service. So it pays to retune your digital box every couple of months to make sure you are up to date. Some digital boxes automatically retune but most have to be retuned manually. The process is straightforward but varies slightly between boxes from different manufacturers.

Step 1
Press menu on your box’s remote control.

Step 2
Now select set-up, installation, update or similar option. If you’re asked for a password the default code is 1234 or 0000.

Step 3
Now select the ‘first time installation’ option (sometimes called ‘factory reset’, ‘full retune’ or ‘default settings’). Press ‘OK’ if your equipment asks if it is ok to delete existing channels. This will clear your existing settings and find the new channel line-up. If prompted then save the channels that are found.

You may find that channel favourites and scheduled recordings are also deleted so check and reset these.

If you are still encountering problems check the instructions for your product on the TVretune website:

http://www.tvretune.co.uk/productmanuals/

Currently 3/5 Stars.1 2 3 4 5