Digital TV Guides

Freeview coverage - When will I switch?

Updated: Wednesday 4 April, 2012

By Editorial

Want to get a digital TV package without any costly monthly subscriptions or fees? Switching to Freeview may be the answer - but do you live in an area covered by Freeview?

Freeview (www.freeview.co.uk) is the subscription-free TV service being rolled out across the UK, helping the country to switch to digital.

The existing analogue TV signal is gradually being switched off around the UK and replaced with a new, stronger digital TV signal. This means that Freeview services (digital TV through a rooftop aerial) will be available to everyone in the country.

With Freeview, as well as the five analogue channels (BBC1, BBC2, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5) you’ll get up to 80 digital TV and radio stations.

If you haven’t already, you will need to convert all your TVs to digital by the time your area starts to switch. When you switch will depend on where you live and when your TV transmitter group is scheduled to switch - whether you’re in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland, we have all the information you need to get Freeview in your home.

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Freeview in England

There are 10 different TV regions in England. These are:

1. Border region - Covering towns including Carlisle, Berwick, Dumfries and the Isle of Man
2. Tyne and Tees region - Covering towns including Newcastle, Middlesbrough, Durham and Northumberland
3. Granada region - Covering towns including Lancaster, Preston, Manchester and Liverpool
4. Yorkshire region - Covering towns including Sheffield, Scarborough, Leeds and Hull
5. Central region - Covering towns including Nottingham, Birmingham and Stratford
6. Anglia region - Covering towns including Norwich, Ipswich, Northampton and Cambridge
7. London region - Covering the city of London and the area of Greater London
8. West region - Covering towns including Plymouth, Torbay, Exeter and the Isles of Scilly
9. West Country region - Covering towns including Penzance, Bude and Yeovil
10. Meridian region - Covering towns including Bournemouth, Reading, Maidstone, Portsmouth and Oxford.

The Border, Granada, West and West Country regions have already switched to digital, and all homes in these areas will now be able to get Freeview services through their rooftop aerials (providing their TV’s are connected to a Freeview set-top box). The other six areas will be switching over the next two years, with the digital switchover due to be completed in 2012.

Tyne and Tees - The three transmitter groups in the Tyne and Tees region will switch in 2012. Take a look at the table below to work out which group your home will receive its digital signal from:

Yorkshire - There are five transmitter groups in the Yorkshire region, which all switched in 2011. The table below shows you which transmitter is serving your home:

Central - There are nine transmitter groups in the Central region. They switched from analogue to digital TV at different times, starting on Wednesday 30 March 2011. The table below shows which transmitter group serves which area, and gives the dates the switchover to digital began:

Anglia - The three transmitter groups in the Anglia region were among the very first to be switched. To find out which transmitter supplies the signal to your home, have a look at the table below:

London - There is just one transmitter group in London - the Crystal Palace transmitter. This serves the entire city and some of the surrounding towns in Greater London.

It started switching to digital on 4 April 2012, in time for HD broadcasting of the Olympics.

Meridian - There are 10 transmitter groups in the Meridian region, which will all be switching to digital at different times during 2012. To find out which transmitter group supplies the TV signal to your house, take a look at the table below:

If you live in an area in England that cannot get Freeview yet, but are looking to upgrade your TV to digital, you should compare digital TV options with our online postcode checker. Subscription services, such as Sky, Virgin Media or BT Vision may be available, offering more channels and on-demand TV.

Freeview in Scotland

If you live in Scotland, there are two different TV regions:

1. STV North region - Covering towns including Inverness, Aberdeen, Angus, Dundee, Perth and Fife
2. STV Central region - Covering towns including Glasgow, Edinburgh, the Scottish West Highlands and surrounding islands.

The North region has now completed its digital switchover, and the Central region is due to switch over the next few months, after which anyone living in these areas will be able to get Freeview, providing they have the right set-top box.

STV Central - There are 5 transmitter groups in the STV Central region that were switched from analogue to digital TV at different times, finishing in June 2011. The date your home was switched would have depended on which transmitter you receive your Freeview from - look at the table below to find out when you switched to digital:

Use our Freeview postcode checker to find out which Freeview channels you’ll get when you switch to digital - the number of channels you’ll be able to receive will depend on the transmitter you get your TV service from.

If you’d like a greater choice of channels, you should consider subscribing to a service like Sky, Virgin Media or BT Vision, that offer additional channels like movies and sports.

Freeview in Wales

Wales was the first nation in the UK to fully switch to digital. All eight of its transmitter groups now provide homes in Wales with Freeview.

If you live in Wales the exact number of channels you’ll be able to watch on Freeview will depend on where you receive your TV service from. If your home receives its TV signal directly from the Kilvey Hill, Carmel, Preseli, Llanddona, Moel y Parc, Blaenplwyf, Wenvoe, Pontypool or Aberdare transmitter you will get more than 80 Freeview channels, plus text services.

However if your home receives its signal from any local relay transmitters or from Long Mountain, you’ll get around 20 of the most popular Freeview channels plus text services. If you want more, consider getting a subscription TV service.

Freeview in Northern Ireland

There is just one TV region in Northern Ireland - Ulster TV (UTV). In the UTV region there are three transmitter groups that will all switch from analogue to digital during 2012. When you switch depends on which transmitter group you receive your signal from - take a look at the table below to find out more:

More TV options?

Don’t know which digital TV service to go for? Use our online digital TV comparison tool to find out more about the digital TV providers available in your area.

If you are looking to keep your monthly TV costs at a minimum Freeview may be the best option for you. Packages from Sky or Virgin Media may suit you more however, as subscription TV deals tend to offer a wider selection of channels and programmes, so make sure you consider all your options before buying a set-top box.