Freeview viewers in seven regions of England are receiving advance warning messages ahead of changes to BBC One HD, now confirmed for Wednesday 26th April 2023.
The changes mark the end of the rollout of regional BBC One HD across all platforms. Viewers in affected regions will now see a warning message pop-up on Freeview channel 101.
From 11am on Wednesday 26th April, viewers in the following regions will see BBC One HD switch their local version. As a result, some viewers may need to retune their TV to restore access.
- North East & Cumbria*
- North West*
- West
- South West*
- South (including Oxford)*
- East (including Cambridge)
- South East
But only those regions marked with an asterisk will actually offer regional news in HD. In other regions, the news is still upscaled until upgrade work at regional studios is completed.
The first tranche of regions upgraded at the end of March. Regions included the East and West Midlands, East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, London, Channel Islands and Yorkshire.
The second part of the rollout on Wednesday marks the end of nearly 12 1/2 years of missing regional services on BBC One HD and the end of the red ‘switch to SD’ screen. Sky satellite and Freesat were upgraded earlier this year. Virgin Media O2 transitioned to HD-only BBC channels last year.
What happens when the new regional BBC One HD goes live?
Following the last set of changes, some viewers found their TV or set-top-box had automatically switched BBC One HD over to the new regional service. But others found their local BBC One HD popping up at the bottom of the channel list until the device was retuned.
As the technical set-up is identical for this final round of changes, the same will happen in the remaining regions.
Freeview offers free help and support on retuning via its website, where instruction videos can be streamed. Visit https://www.freeview.co.uk/help/retune.
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Viewers with older SD-only boxes aren’t affected by this particular change, but should look out for other changes taking place that may require action.
Technical change in preparation
Earlier this week, the multiplex carrying Freeview HD channels was fully regionalised in the regions getting the BBC One HD upgrade on 26th April. A separate data stream which will morph into the local BBC One HD is now being delivered alongside the national feed of BBC One HD.
Marc Thornham