Lifestyle and social change channel Together TV becomes a hybrid service as a result of wider changes to Freeview this week.
Together TV’s Freeview slot is affected by the closure of one of Freeview’s seven national multiplexes to make way for more 5G services.
This affects all fans of Together TV’s programming, which include Monty Don’s My Dream Farm, Garden Rescue, Hairy Biker’s Comfort Food and Alan Titchmarsh in Britain’s Best Back Gardens.
To continue watching the channel, viewers will need to retune from around midday on Wednesday 29th June. However, to watch Together TV on a 24/7 basis through Freeview, the TV will now need to support HbbTV – hybrid broadcast broadband television. All Freeview Play TVs and boxes support HbbTV.
What’s happening?
- On 29th June at around 11:00am, Together will officially move from its current home. By midday the technical configurations will be complete, and it’s safe to retune.
- After retuning, viewers should find a new copy of the channel on Freeview 83.
- The old copy of the channel will disappear by the end of the month.
- If you don’t retune, or don’t do a ‘full retune’ or ‘first time installation’, you may find the channel has been added in the 800s in your channel list.
Availability
Together TV will be available through Freeview’s terrestrial TV network from 03:00 to 07:00 every morning.
Outside of these hours:
- If you have a compatible connected TV or box, when you select Together TV on Freeview channel 83, you’ll be directed to an HbbTV internet stream of the channel.
- If you don’t have a compatible connected TV or box, you’ll see an information slate.
About HbbTV
HbbTV is a technology that allows broadcasters to offer interactive options or online streams of channels. It also powers the Freeview Accessible TV Guide on channel 555.
You can check to see if your TV supports HbbTV by seeing if channel 555 loads or remains blank.
No subtitles
The HbbTV service won’t carry subtitles due to technical restraints.
Together TV says:
“At present there are software and engineering issues which means we are unable to carry subtitles through our workflow to users. We are in discussions with our suppliers about implementing technology solutions which will make subtitles happen.”
Non-Freeview viewers
Together TV will remain available 24/7 on Freesat, Sky and Virgin Media. The channel is also available through the Together app for Android or Apple iOS.
Technical details for installers:
Channel 83 | Together moves from multiplex COM7 to multiplex COM5/ArqA.