The BBC has tidied up its regional, national and red button channels on Freesat following the recent upgrade to HD broadcasting.
It follows a similar move last month on Sky’s TV platforms and now means BBC regions and nations, plus Red Button are now on the same channel numbers on both Freesat and Sky. Both platforms now carry BBC One regions from channel 951.
For example, for viewers outside of Scotland, BBC One Scotland HD is now on both Sky and Freesat channel 964. Scroll down for the full list of this week’s BBC Freesat channel changes.
The BBC completed upgrading all of its channels to HD on satellite in February. It is planning to remove SD versions of its remaining channels early in 2024.
Red Button changes
The BBC Red Button service is now found on Freesat channel 970 (HD), 971 (SD), moving up ten slots up the channel list. But most newer Freesat receivers will direct viewers to the online (iPlayer) version of the Red Button, which is able to offer a wider range of choices during certain live events.
At the same time, some of the channel labels have been shortened on Freesat. “BBC ONE WMid HD” is now “BBC ONE WM HD” while “BBC ONE Lon HD” is now “BBC ONE Ln HD”. This is in aid of some Freesat receivers that were unable to display the longer/wider name.
You can find full length channel names in our list below:
▶ BBC Nations and Regions on Freesat
BBC channel changes on Freesat from Wednesday 3rd May 2023
| Old | New | Channel |
|---|---|---|
| 950 | 951 | BBC One London HD |
| 956 | 952 | BBC One North East & Cumbria HD |
| 955 | 953 | BBC One North West HD |
| 966 | 954 | BBC One Yorkshire HD |
| 967 | 955 | BBC One East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire HD |
| 963 | 956 | BBC One West Midlands HD |
| 952 | 957 | BBC One East Midlands HD |
| 953 | 958 | BBC One East HD |
| 959 | 959 | BBC One South East HD |
| 965 | 960 | BBC One West HD |
| 961 | 961 | BBC One South HD |
| 962 | 962 | BBC One South West HD |
| 951 | 963 | BBC One Channel Islands HD |
| 973 | 964 | BBC One Scotland HD |
| 976 | 965 | BBC One Wales HD |
| 978 | 966 | BBC One Northern Ireland HD |
| 949 | 967 | BBC Two HD (Network) for viewers in Northern Ireland and Wales |
| 971 | 968 | BBC Two Wales HD for viewers in England, Scotland and NI |
| 969 | 969 | BBC Two Northern Ireland HD for viewers in England, Scotland and Wales |
| 980 | 970 | BBC Red Button 1 HD (BBC RB1 HD) |
| 981 | 971 | BBC Red Button 1 SD (BBC RB1 SD) |
Marc Thornham