Smile TV launches on Freeview

Smile TV has launched on Freeview channel 37. Broadcasting between 01:00 and 05:00 daily, the channel broadcasts using capacity leased from UKTV History.

ITV Play launches on Freeview

ITV Play has launched on Freeview channel 35. The 24-hour phone-in quiz and puzzle channel has replaced Men & Motors, much to the annoyance of many viewers. Unfortunately, ITV stand to make considerable profits from the station, which are more important to the company's shareholders than providing a greater choice of programming.

ITV Play to replace Men & Motors

The listings for Men & Motors indicate the channel will cease broadcasting on Tuesday, April 11. The channel will then be replaced by ITV Play when it launches at midday on April 19.

UK leads the world in digital take-up

There is now a higher proportion of households with at least one TV receiving digital TV services in the UK than in any other country in the world. 70% of households now receive digital television via digital cable, satellite or Freeview. In Wales, this figure rises to 80%. No other European nation has a take-up level greater than 50%. The popularity of Freeview is largely responsible: 7 out of every 10 new digital conversions are to the DTT service.

Top Up Active appears

Top Up Active has appeared on channel 107, but is currently not broadcasting. In other news, the channel name for Sky Three has finally been updated – it had still read "Sky Travel".

CITV Channel launches on Freeview

The CITV Channel has launched on Freeview channel 75. Broadcasting from 06:00 to 18:00 daily, the new children's channel timeshares broadcast capacity with ITV4.

ITV Play to launch on Freeview

ITV have announced the launch of a new 24-hour phone-in quiz channel on Freeview, "ITV Play". The decision to launch a dedicated channel follows very successful (read: very profitable) programming broadcast overnight on ITV1 and ITV2. The channel will launch on April 19: it is not yet known where the capacity to broadcast the channel will come from: it could replace Men & Motors.

FilmFour to launch on Freeview

FilmFour is to launch on Freeview in July, and will also be available free to all Sky and cable customers. The channel will join E4 and More4 on Freeview, broadcasting between 15:00 and 03:00 daily. To compensate for lost subscriptions, films will be interrupted by commercial breaks, but the channel will not have a "DOG" (on-screen logo). In other news, BBC Parliament has moved from channel 85 to 81.

Freeview box sparks air-sea rescue mission

A faulty Freeview receiver in Portsmouth somehow managed to broadcast a distress signal resulting in a £20,000 helicopter air-sea rescue mission. After a few hours the rescue team traced the "distress call" to someone's house on dry land. The box has been taken from its owner for tests by communications regulator Ofcom. Amazingly, the rogue signal was detected from RAF Kinross in Scotland who then alerted the rescue team in Hampshire.

Setanta appears nationwide

A placeholder for Setanta Sports' pay-per-view service has appeared on the EPG across the UK on channel 34. The service, previously only available in the Scottish and Grampian regions, is broadcast on multiplex 2 and borrows broadcast capacity from ITV.

ITV News Channel closed

The ITV News Channel has closed. Launched on August 1, 2000 (as ITN), the channel broadcast its last programme today at 17:30 with Alistair Stewart presenting a look back at the channel's history.

ITV News Channel to close this week

Following a consultation with staff, the ITV News Channel will close on Friday, December 23. Understandably, the doomed-channel's employees were not prepared to work over Christmas in the knowledge that a) their jobs were at risk and b) no-one would be watching anyway.

ITV News Channel to close

The ITV News Channel is expected to close at the end of next month. Recently forced to broadcast for only 12 hours a day on Freeview to make room for ITV4, the channel was facing no carriage on Freeview at all from February when ITV plan to launch their new kids channel. The channel has also had to contend with being off-air for much of last year in various regions across the country and low ratings compared with BBC News 24 and the recently-relaunched Sky News.

More4+1 launches on Freeview

A little later than expected, More4+1 has launched on Freeview channel 31. Viewers will need to rescan their boxes to receive the channel; meanwhile, Men & Motors has moved from channel 38 to 35.
Story: DTT Boxes

More4+1 to launch on Freeview

More4's timeshifted sister channel More4+1 is to launch on Freeview. A temporary measure until Channel 4 think of something else to do with their newly-acquired slot, the channel is set to launch "later this month".
Story: DTT Boxes

Finally - ITV News returns to Border region

Over a year after being taken off-air, the ITV News Channel has finally returned to the Border region, along with the first appearance of ITV4, which it timeshares with.
Story: DTT Boxes

BBC to launch HD Freeview trial

The BBC is to begin trials of a High Definition television service, which will include a simulcast of peak-time BBC One, next year. Satellite and cable will be used for the trials but the BBC will also be applying to Ofcom for use of an unused frequency in London for a digital terrestrial trial of the service. Specialist HD-compatible equipment will be required to view any such service.

ITV4 launches on Freeview

ITV4 has launched on Freeview channel 30. The channel, which timeshares with the ITV News Channel is available in all regions except Border, which still hasn't had the necessary engineering work completed for the channel to launch. The work in the Westcountry region was only completed today. Programmes are, however, being simulcast on Men & Motors to allow these viewers to see the Champions League football.
Story: DTT Boxes

ITV News Channel hours cut

The ITV News Channel has had its broadcast hours reduced on Freeview to make way for ITV4. The News channel will now boadcast between 06:00 and 18:00 daily, on a timeshare basis with ITV4, which launches tomorrow. The News Channel is expected to be removed entirely early next year when ITV launch a new children's channel.
Story: DTT Boxes

Sky Three launches on Freeview

Sky Three has launched on Freeview channel 11, replacing Sky Travel. Programmes are broadcast in widescreen.
Story: DTT Boxes

BT reveal hybrid Freeview/Broadband box

BT have revealed their new set-top box capable of receiving Freeview and accessing a library of on-demand content via broadband. Manufactured by Philips, the box will store up to 80 hours of recorded programmes. Trials of BT's on-demand service are expected to start in the Spring with a full launch later in 2006.

Sky News relaunches in widescreen

Sky News has relaunched from new studios and in widescreen. Broadcasting on Freeview channel 82, it's the first Sky channel to broadcast in 16:9 on Freeview, although it is expected that Sky Three will follow suit when it launches on DTT.
Story: DTT Boxes

Top Up TV ads breached regulations

The on-screen messages which appeared on Five advertising the Top Up TV subscription service breached broadcast regulations according to Ofcom. The regulator ruled that the broadcaster must draw a line between banners that inform of changes to the DTT service, such as EPG updates and new channels, and one which is being used to promote paid-for services in future.

EPG re-shuffle

As expected, a major overhaul of the EPG has taken place this afternoon. Children's channels have been moved to the 70s, News channels to the 80s, Adult channels to the late-90s, Text services to the 100s, "hidden" services to the 300s and Radio stations to the 700s. In the "general entertainment" section, ITV3 has moved to channel 10, replacing BBC Four which moves up to channel 9; ITV4 has appeared on channel 30; More4 has moved to channel 13 in Wales, replacing S4C 2 which has moved to the News section.