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We ARE going to get BBC Local Radio on Freeview ... today!

OK, only a year after I speculated about it, the service has now started. You can now enjoy 10 BBC Local Radio stations.

Yes, you can enjoy local radio today!  Photograph:
Yes, you can enjoy local radio today! Photograph:
published on UK Free TV

You might recall that last year I asked Are we going to get BBC local radio on Freeview in England?

I am pleased to report that Radio Today says A number of BBC local radio stations have officially started on Freeview today, occupying four channels between them.

BBC London721London
BBC Radio Bristol719West
BBC Radio Cambridge722East
BBC Radio Devon720South West
BBC Radio Kent719South East
BBC Radio Leeds719Yorkshire
BBC Radio Manchester719North West
BBC Radio Newcastle719North East and Cumbria
BBC Radio Norfolk719East
BBC Radio Nottingham720East Midlands
BBC Radio Solent719South
BBC WM722West Midlands

 

Let me know if you can get them.

Note about overlap areas

As these radio stations share the same LCN ("logical channel numbers") as (720) R n Gaidheal, Radio Cymru, Radio Foyle and (719) R Scotland, Radio Ulster and Radio Wales you may find the Freeview overlap issues occur.

Freeview HD boxes will ASK you about overlaps, and you pick a region and you will find the numbers as you expect. Older boxes will just allocate the channels on the multiplex broadcast on the lowest frequency.

All is not lost, however, the box will always put the channels somewhere in the 800-899 range. This is often the original channel number, with an "8" in front - so 819, 820, 821 and 822. But this is down the software in the TV or box. You might have to have a long look!

Speculation....
719720721722
WestBristolSomersetGloucestershireWiltshire
South WestCornwallDevonSolent(West Dorset)
SouthSolentBerkshireSussex
London London
West MidlandsStokeShropshire WM
East MidlandsDerby NottinghamLeicester
East NorfolkSuffolkEssex
North WestManchesterLancashireMerseyside
North East and CumbriaNewcastleCumbriaTees
YorkshireLeedsSheffield York
South (Oxford)Oxford
South EastKentSurreySussex
CambridgeNorthamptonThree CountiesCambridge
Channel IslandsGuernseyJersey
East Yorkshire and LincolnshireHumbersideLincolnshire
West Midlands - extra for Hereford & Worcester and Coventry & Warwickshire?


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Comments
Wednesday, 4 March 2015
Briantist
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

9:09 AM

Trevor Ley: Just to repeat myself... the channels will be "bumped" into the special range of 800-899, not within the "radio range" of 700-799.

I've added a bit of text about this to the article.

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Briantist's 38,915 posts GB flag
T
Trevor Ley
9:45 AM

Briantist: Nothing on the 800/899 range.

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Trevor Ley's 6 posts GB flag
Briantist
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

10:29 AM

Trevor Ley: Do you see 101 BBC 1 South West though?

link to this comment
Briantist's 38,915 posts US flag
T
Trevor Ley
10:58 AM

Briantist: Yes,that is our normal BBC channel.Have checked all the channels on the EPG guide and can find no mention of Radio Devon.

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Trevor Ley's 6 posts GB flag
N
Nigel
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

8:47 PM
Malton

On my BT youview box with Bilsdale and Olivers Mount aerials teed togerther I have two stations on EPG 719 Radio Leeds and Radio Newcastle !

link to this comment
Nigel's 59 posts GB flag
Nigel's: mapN's Freeview map terrainN's terrain plot wavesN's frequency data N's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

9:07 PM

Nigel: It looks like you have the best of both worlds with all the channels, including COM7, and a choice of Yorkshire or Tyne Tees.

link to this comment
Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
Thursday, 5 March 2015
T
trevorjharrris
sentiment_satisfiedGold

12:37 PM

The test transmission was 96kb/s mp2 so very poor audio quality and most local stations are in mono.

The BBC are now transmitting the local radio stations at 320kb/s AAC (HLS) on the internet. Mind these streams are not compatable with internet radios but can be received on PCs and smartphones.


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trevorjharrris's 367 posts GB flag
Saturday, 7 March 2015
R
Rob
sentiment_satisfiedSilver

8:15 AM

I am on Hannington Transmitter in Reading.... I get BBC Solent not BBC Berkshire... strange.

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Rob's 171 posts GB flag
Briantist
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

4:49 PM

Rob: Hannington is part of the BBC South region (you get Sally Taylor and South Today at 6:30pm) and so you get Solent at the moment. Berkshire and Sussex are to follow (see the "speculation" in the article).

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Briantist's 38,915 posts US flag
Monday, 9 March 2015
R
Richard Wood
9:16 AM
Northampton

Here in central Cambridge (CB1) I have 719 BBC Radio Norfolk; 722 BBC Radio Cambridgeshire from the Sandy Heath transmitter BBC East (W) ITV Anglia (W) sub-region.

The Sandy Heath transmitter signal covers substantial parts of east Suffolk, north Essex, north Herts, Beds, Bucks, Northants, south-east Leicestershire and south Lincs, in addition to Cambs and east Norfolk.

I'm wondering why none of BBC Radio Suffolk, BBC Radio Lincolnshire, BBC Essex, BBC Three Counties Radio, BBC Radio Northampton, BBC Radio Lincolnshire, BBC Radio Leicester have Freeview slots on this transmitter.

Or might they arrive in the fullness of time?

link to this comment
Richard Wood's 11 posts GB flag
Richard's: mapR's Freeview map terrainR's terrain plot wavesR's frequency data R's Freeview Detailed Coverage
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