Film4 launches on Freeview

Film4 has launched on Freeview channel 31. The first movie shown on the new-look and subscription-free channel was Lost in Translation: from tonight, the channel will broadcast daily from 15:00 to 03:00, showing classic films in the afternoons, blockbusters in the evenings and specialist/foreign films later at night.

Switchover will start in Whitehaven

The government have revealed details of the first place in the UK to undergo digital switchover. Whitehaven in Cumbria will be the first town to see its analogue television signals switched off and replaced by digital broadcasts in Autumn 2007. The surrounding Border region will not complete its switchover until mid-2009.

Virgin Radio launches on Freeview

Virgin Radio has launched on Freeview channel 727. The station broadcasts in 128kbps stereo between 06:30 and 02:00, and 96kbps mono between 02:00 and 06:30 when it shares its capacity with YooMedia (who lease the station broadcast capacity).

FilmFour begins video testing

Promotional video testing has begun on FilmFour (Freeview channel 31) ahead of its launch on July 23. As expected, the testing has replaced the live stream from the Big Brother house (channel 305) before the reality series' conclusion.