ITV is continuing to rearrange its services on satellite following the launch of most regions in HD.
The broadcaster is adjusting the load across each of its transponders following the closure of some services earlier this month.
UTV SD and ITV3 SD are testing on Astra 2E, transponder 53 (10891 H, SID 10132-UTV, 10163-ITV3). The two channels are using some of the capacity made available by closing ITVBe+1 and some ITV SD regions on satellite.
Over on transponder 54 (10906 V), the current home of UTV SD and ITV 3 SD, ITV4+1 is testing (SID 10245) taking up capacity vacated by the closure of UTV+1.
ITV4+1 is currently broadcast on Astra 2E transponder 44.
Test transmissions are typically the first step of a transponder move.
The changes mean each of the three satellite transponders used by ITV’s standard definition channels will be loaded with a similar number of services and will free up capacity for other services.
Will this directly affect viewers?
For Sky UK and Freesat users, changes to ITV’s services will be automatically applied to receivers in the future. No action is normally required. A small number of receivers may need rebooting or resetting to restore channels. This is the exception rather than the norm.
Sky Ireland viewers who have added ITV services manually to their receiver may need to re-add affected services to their Other Channels list once the services have completed their transition to their new transponder slots.
During test transmissions, services and parameters may change at little or no notice. Therefore, no action should be taken until all the changes are completed by ITV.