Homes in parts of the UK that rely on Freeview could lose some channels over the next few weeks. The popular telly service, which is totally free to watch, has announced that an upgraded mast is finally coming back into action after a fire caused major damage to it back in 2021.
The Bilsdale mast, which supplies TV signals to parts of the north east or North Yorkshire, was taken offline due to the serious incident with temporary technology put in place to keep UK properties connected to the terrestrial network.
Now the repairs, which have been undertaken by broadcast firm Arqiva, are in their final stages of completion which means the main mast can finally be put back into action.
Although this is good news for Freeview users there could be some disruption whilst the initial switchover takes place. In fact, Freeview is warning that some users may have their signal affected during upcoming tests.
"In the days prior to go-live the antennas will be thoroughly tested. Viewers may experience some short disruption to their TV services," Freeview said in an updated blog post. "No action needs to be taken during testing and existing services will be returned once testing is complete."
A small number of properties will also be left without HD channels for a few weeks whilst additional equipment is added to the main mast.
"Over the next few weeks Arqiva will be finalising work on the new Bilsdale mast," Freeview added. "Over 99% of households are not expected to have to take any action beyond a retune when the new mast is switched on.
"However, a small number of households may not automatically benefit from the signals from the new mast and may temporarily lose access to HD services for a few weeks while an additional antenna is installed on the new mast."
If you are losing HD services you will be informed before the switch-off takes place - so if you haven't had a letter through your door you shouldn't be affected.
However, it seems that many users will still need to give their screen a retune once the testing is over.
If you live in the north east or North Yorkshire - here is how to retune your device
HOW TO RETUNE YOUR FREEVIEW TV
Freeview has issued advice on how to retune devices and here are the steps every user needs to follow.
• Press menu on your box or TV remote control
• Select ‘set-up’, ‘installation’, ‘update’ or a similar option. If you’re asked for a password, the default code is ‘1234’ or ‘0000’.
• Select ‘first-time installation’ (sometimes called ‘factory reset’, ‘full retune’ or ‘default settings’).
•Press ‘OK’ if your equipment asks if it's OK to delete existing channels and then your retune should start automatically. If you’re prompted to, save the channels that are found.
