Analogue terrestrial television in the United Kingdom
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Analogue terrestrial television in the United Kingdom was originally the method by which the significant majority of viewers in the UK, the
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and the
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received television. Analogue terrestrial television broadcasts have fully ceased in the UK with
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
being the last region to have ceased transmission analogue terrestrial television broadcasts.
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
switched off the last analogue television signals, making all of the United Kingdom only capable of receiving digital television, in the early hours of 24 October, 2012. It has been completely replaced by
digital terrestrial television Digital terrestrial television (DTTV or DTT, or DTTB with "broadcasting") is a technology for terrestrial television in which land-based (terrestrial) television stations broadcast television content by radio waves to televisions in consumers' ...
and other non-terrestrial means as of the end of 2012.


Channels available

The following channels, all of which are
free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscripti ...
, were available on a national basis and continue to be available via
digital terrestrial television Digital terrestrial television (DTTV or DTT, or DTTB with "broadcasting") is a technology for terrestrial television in which land-based (terrestrial) television stations broadcast television content by radio waves to televisions in consumers' ...
: #
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
# BBC Two #
ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the Channel 3 public broadcast service across all of the United Kingdom except for t ...
(made up of a number of regional franchises) #
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
( S4C in Wales before analogue services closed there On Wednesday 31 March 2010.) # Channel 5 Prior to the cessation of analogue services, the first four services were available to 99% of households, with the more recent Channel 5 available to around 70%. There were additionally a number a smaller local channels available in particular areas, such as Channel M, which was available in
Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
and
Six TV Six TV was the sixth free to air terrestrial television channel in the United Kingdom, broadcast in Oxford and Southampton. It was the final analogue network to have been launched after BBC One, BBC Two, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5. It ope ...
available in Oxford, Southampton, Reading and Portsmouth. ITV, BBC One and BBC Two carried regional programmes, such as the local news, and continue to do so digitally. The ITV Network is made up of a number of regional operators, though a series of consolidations it all being owned by
ITV plc ITV plc is a British media company that holds 13 of the 15 regional television licences that make up the ITV network (Channel 3), the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom. ITV plc is listed on the ...
, bar two.


Additional services

All channels carried at least one
teletext A British Ceefax football index page from October 2009, showing the three-digit page numbers for a variety of football news stories Teletext, or broadcast teletext, is a standard for displaying text and rudimentary graphics on suitably equipp ...
service. This included subtitles for many programmes.


Broadcasters

The
terrestrial Terrestrial refers to things related to land or the planet Earth. Terrestrial may also refer to: * Terrestrial animal, an animal that lives on land opposed to living in water, or sometimes an animal that lives on or near the ground, as opposed to ...
analogue services themselves were in most cases unique when compared to most non-analogue broadcast services (such as those available via digital satellite), in that they are much older, contain a much more diverse range of programming, rather than centring on a specific genre (all five major stations carry news bulletins, for example) and all hold some form of
public service A public service is any service intended to address specific needs pertaining to the aggregate members of a community. Public services are available to people within a government jurisdiction as provided directly through public sector agencies ...
requirement in terms of their output.


BBC

The
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
(British Broadcasting Corporation) began a regular television service, one of the first in the world, in 1936 as the BBC Television Service, funded to this day by a yearly mandatory
licence fee A television licence or broadcast receiving licence is a payment required in many countries for the reception of television broadcasts, or the possession of a television set where some broadcasts are funded in full or in part by the licence f ...
. Since 1964 the BBC have provided two analogue television services,
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
and BBC Two. Both services carried a wide variety of content as well as
regional variation In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
s in programming and sometimes continuity. Latterly the BBC Two variations have been limited to England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. For many years, BBC One in Wales was effectively a separate service, BBC Wales, though many programmes were common to both it and BBC One proper.


ITV

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
(Independent Television) was established in 1954, providing the first commercial alternative to the BBC. Programmes would be funded through the 'selling' of air-time for the playing of
advertisements Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...
; the broadcasters, the first of which began broadcasting in 1955, would be privately owned. An
Independent Television Authority The Independent Television Authority (ITA) was an agency created by the Television Act 1954 to supervise the creation of "Independent Television" ( ITV), the first commercial television network in the United Kingdom. The ITA existed from 1954 un ...
(ITA), (superseded by the
Independent Broadcasting Authority The Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) was the regulatory body in the United Kingdom for commercial television ( ITV and Channel 4 and limited satellite television regulation – cable television was the responsibility of the Cable Author ...
(IBA),
Independent Television Commission The Independent Television Commission (ITC) licensed and regulated commercial television services in the United Kingdom (except S4C in Wales) between 1 January 1991 and 28 December 2003. History The creation of ITC, by the Broadcasting Act ...
(ITC) and latterly Ofcom) would choose the companies licensed to broadcast on a periodic basis. Each company would be (and nominally still is) afforded a 'franchise' to broadcast to a specific coverage area of the UK, with larger areas sometimes having two broadcasters 'time-sharing' a channel between weekdays and weekends. A separate nationwide 'breakfast' franchise also began in 1983. Most viewers would only receive one service (unless they happened to receive signals from two transmitters in different areas). Each regional 'franchisee' would broadcast a combination of unique regional programmes and shared 'networked' content aired nationwide; the latter practice becoming ever more commonplace throughout the network's history. Originally each company would broadcast with their own, unique station name, such as "
Yorkshire Television ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...
" or "
Associated-Rediffusion Associated-Rediffusion, later Rediffusion London, was the British ITV franchise holder for London and parts of the surrounding counties, on weekdays between 22 September 1955 and 29 July 1968. It was the first ITA franchisee to go on air, ...
"; with separate continuity announcers and on-screen presentation. It was not until the late 1980s that popular use of the name "ITV" was used as a major on-screen brand, a practice which did not become universal in the ITV plc owned regions until the early 2000s. ITV was established as a
public service broadcaster Public broadcasting involves radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing ...
with various requirements placed upon it affecting the nature of broadcast content, mandatory programming, daily limits on broadcast hours, strict controls on advertising practices and the process by which franchises were awarded. Various relaxations on these requirements and restrictions were made throughout its history, with a substantial set of deregulation taking place upon the implementation of the
Broadcasting Act 1990 The Broadcasting Act 1990 is a law of the British parliament, initiated in part due to a 1989 European Council Directive (89/552), also known as the Television Without Frontiers directive. The aim of the Act was to liberalise and deregulate the B ...
. Lifting of ownership restrictions resulting from this act and subsequent acts resulted in a single
ITV plc ITV plc is a British media company that holds 13 of the 15 regional television licences that make up the ITV network (Channel 3), the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom. ITV plc is listed on the ...
owning and operating the majority of franchises by the early 2000s, with a common identity as '
ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
'. Three exceptions remain;
STV Group plc STV Group plc (formerly known as Scottish Television plc, Scottish Media Group plc and SMG plc) is a media company based in Glasgow, Scotland. Beginning as a television broadcaster in 1957, the company expanded into newspapers, advertising and r ...
, owns two franchises in Scotland broadcasting as STV whilst UTV broadcasts to Northern Ireland under that name. Other relaxations have substantially reduced the requirement for ITV to air particular types of programmes, though requirements such as local and national news provision remain. The 1990 act formally introduced the legal title of 'Channel 3', though this has rarely been used on-screen. For many years, the ITA, IBA and the ITV companies campaigned for further frequencies on which to broadcast, though these goals were never wholly realised on analogue.


Channel 4 and S4C

After many decades of demand by the commercial broadcasters for a second commercial station or network of stations,
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
and S4C were launched in 1982. Channel 4 was originally run as a uniform national service, by the IBA through a subsidiary, the Channel Four Broadcasting Company. Channel 4 does not make the programmes it broadcasts; content is commissioned from independent, private production companies such as the ITV companies and companies not related to ITV who had previously little space to broadcast in the UK. Channel 4 was originally funded by allowing each local ITV franchisee to sell adverts during the station's airtime in their area in exchange for a guaranteed income to be paid to the IBA. The station was established with the intention to provide programmes for minority groups and cater for specialist interests and has a remit that details these obligations. Since the abolition of the IBA, which took effect in 1993, Channel 4 has been run by the publicly owned,
Channel Four Television Corporation Channel Four Television Corporation is a British state-owned media company headquartered in London. Its original and principal activity is the British national television network Channel 4. The company was founded in 1982 as the Channel Four T ...
and manages its own advertising. S4C ( cy, Sianel Pedwar Cymru; ''Channel 4 Wales'') began broadcasts the day before Channel 4 after demands for a dedicated Welsh-language service for Wales. Previously ITV and the BBC were obliged to air Welsh language programmes, though these were often shown at off-peak times. S4C broadcast in place of Channel 4 which would never be available in Wales via analogue terrestrial; consequently some Channel 4 programmes were aired during off-peak times on S4C. Digital platforms in Wales provide both services; S4C's digital variant airing Welsh-language content only. S4C is operated by the S4C Authority, independent of the IBA and latterly Ofcom and is funded through advertising and direct government funding. The BBC also airs its Welsh language programmes on the service, funded by the licence fee. S4C ceased broadcasting on analogue at the end of March 2010, when the last analogue television transmissions in Wales ended.


Channel 5

A fifth service was licensed during the 1990s and began broadcasts in 1997, called Channel 5, it has since been re-branded as Five and later back to Channel 5 in August 2010. The Channel 5 licence has one single licensee and provides a nationwide service. Compared to the other analogue broadcasters, it has relatively few public-service obligations, provision of news programming being one exception. Limited space within the analogue television bands meant Channel 5 had substantially reduced coverage compared to the other networks, at around 70% coverage.


Restricted service licences

In addition to the five national networks, a limited number of local stations were broadcast to various towns and cities under what was known as a
Restricted Service Licence A UK Restricted Service Licence (often called an RSL), is typically granted to radio stations and television stations broadcasting within the UK to serve a local community or a special event. Licences are granted by the broadcasting authority Ofc ...
. These occupied channels unused by the other broadcasters that could be used without causing interference in other regions, and were frequently broadcast at a lower power than the major channels. Their output was mainly local, and each contract for an RSL lasted four years until 2004 when media regulator Ofcom stated that each licence will be renewed up until
digital switchover The digital television transition, also called the digital switchover (DSO), the analogue switch/sign-off (ASO), the digital migration, or the analogue shutdown, is the process in which older analogue television broadcasting technology is conv ...
.


Broadcasting technology


405 line system

Television broadcasting began on an experimental basis by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
in London in 1936 on VHF Band I. Initially the service was operated using two competing systems: The earliest television broadcasts used the 240-line Baird system and the
405-line The 405-line monochrome analogue television broadcasting system was the first fully electronic television system to be used in regular broadcasting. The number of television lines influences the image resolution, or quality of the picture. It wa ...
Marconi-EMI system on alternate weeks. However, the Baird system proved too cumbersome and by early 1937 had been dropped and the Marconi-EMI system became the standard. This system was later codified by the
ITU The International Telecommunication Union is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for many matters related to information and communication technologies. It was established on 17 May 1865 as the International Telegraph Unio ...
's CCIR (now
ITU-R The ITU Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) is one of the three sectors (divisions or units) of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and is responsible for radio communications. Its role is to manage the international radio-frequency sp ...
) on an international conference in Stockholm in 1961 as System A. Different broadcast stations across the country were broadcast on different channels to avoid interference and allow for regional variations. Broadcast was suspended during the Second World War but resumed in 1946. The BBC was joined on this system in 1955 with the launch of commercial television in the form of the regional Independent Television (ITV) network, managed by the
Independent Television Authority The Independent Television Authority (ITA) was an agency created by the Television Act 1954 to supervise the creation of "Independent Television" ( ITV), the first commercial television network in the United Kingdom. The ITA existed from 1954 un ...
(ITA), which also saw the use of VHF Band III. This was the sole system in existence until the preparations for the introduction of 625-line transmission in 1964 and was put out of use at the start of 1985.


625 line system

1964 saw the launch of a third television service, known as BBC2, and with it the introduction of the 625 line service on UHF Bands IV and V. Whilst the extra lines theoretically offered better resolution and picture clarity, the fledgling network of new transmitters required to provide the service offered far inferior coverage compared with the existing VHF services and was prone to increased interference often resulting in poor picture quality. Furthermore, few people had the new sets required to receive the new service or the different type of aerial required to pick up the UHF signal.


Colour

During the late 1950s, when the decision to introduce colour television was first seriously mooted, the then two main systems for consideration were the French
SECAM SECAM, also written SÉCAM (, ''Séquentiel de couleur à mémoire'', French for ''color sequential with memory''), is an analog color television system that was used in France, some parts of Europe and Africa, and Russia. It was one of th ...
and American
NTSC The first American standard for analog television broadcast was developed by National Television System Committee (NTSC)National Television System Committee (1951–1953), Report and Reports of Panel No. 11, 11-A, 12–19, with Some supplement ...
systems, the latter generally considered superior and expected to be adopted. Throughout the 1960s a third competing system,
PAL Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a colour encoding system for analogue television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25 ...
, became available and was eventually adopted by the GPO for use on the 625 line service, to be known as System I or PAL-I. Broadcast on this system officially commenced in 1967 with BBC2's (and the UK's) launch of colour television programming, though previous years had seen many unofficial colour test films outside of official broadcasting hours, including some which trialled NTSC and SECAM. BBC2 was joined in 1969 by
BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
and the main
ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
franchises (the rest following in stages into the 1970s). Both BBC1 and ITV continued to broadcast simultaneously on the VHF system A until 1985.


NICAM-728 Digital stereo

Without affecting the definition of the "
PAL Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a colour encoding system for analogue television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25 ...
-I" system, the UK also used a digital stereo companding system on analogue terrestrial television called NICAM. Standing for Near Instantaneous Companded Audio Multiplex and used for digital stereo TV broadcasts to the public, it used the
NICAM Near Instantaneous Companded Audio Multiplex (NICAM) is an early form of lossy compression for digital audio. It was originally developed in the early 1970s for point-to-point links within broadcasting networks.Croll, M.G., Osborne, D.W. and Spi ...
digital audio system used since the early 1970s for transmitting the audio carrier signal of a broadcast between two or more regional broadcasters and sometimes to the transmitters, where it was converted back to an analogue FM audio carrier 6 MHz above the video carrier signal. Reception of the NICAM signal provided the user had a VCR or a TV capable of decoding the NICAM signal, which was broadcast on a carrier 6.552 MHz above the video carrier, and thus just 0.552 MHz above the FM mono audio carrier. The first UK NICAM stereo broadcast was made in May 1986 on BBC2, NICAM slowly being rolled out across the UK and across the broadcaster's programme schedules over the next 5 years, culminating in the official launch of NICAM on the BBC in 1991, ITV and Channel 4 having begun broadcasting NICAM in 1989 and 1990 respectively. The service was sometimes referred to by its full, official, name, NICAM-728 – the 728 denoting the datarate of the digital stereo information – the datarate was 728kbit/s, non- PCM.


Channel allocations

The 625 line system divided the spectrum into 44 channels, 21–34 and 39–68 (Bands IV and V). These channels were allocated, by the GPO, to the broadcasters to allow for four networks to operate with eventual maximum coverage and minimum cross-network interference. The two BBC channels and the ITV network were catered for, as well as space for a future fourth network, at the time expected to be a second network for the ITA. The fourth network didn't come into being until the
Broadcasting Act 1980 The Broadcasting Act 1980 (1980 c. 64) was an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom. It was repealed by the Broadcasting Act 1981, though the provisions of the Act remained in force. The most significant effect of the Act was to amend the Ind ...
created Channel 4 and S4C. This early provision meant that near complete coverage was afforded to both networks at launch, in 1982. When Channel 5 launched in 1997 it was allocated UHF channels which were in use by many domestic
VCR A videocassette recorder (VCR) or video recorder is an electromechanical device that records analog audio and analog video from broadcast television or other source on a removable, magnetic tape videocassette, and can play back the recording. ...
s, requiring a massive equipment retuning exercise to be undertaken at the broadcaster's expense. Additionally, lack of compatibility with older antennas, plus existing use of the channels by stations in France, meant that Channel 5 never acquired the level of analogue coverage enjoyed by the other broadcasters.


Digital switch-over

The government was committed to switching terrestrial television broadcasting to fully digital by 2012. The digital network features six multiplexes at each of the 80 main nodes, at other nodes there is only three multiplexes because fewer broadcasters were interested in the less densely populated regions. A company called
Digital UK Digital UK is a British television communications company owned by the BBC (1922), ITV (1955), Channel 4 (1982) and Channel 5 (1997) which supports Freeview viewers and channels. It provides information about receiving terrestrial TV and advi ...
was set up to handle the change. The switch was on a region by region basis using the ITV regions as a basis. The schedule was announced by
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport The secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport, also referred to as the culture secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for strateg ...
,
Tessa Jowell Tessa Jane Helen Douglas Jowell, Baroness Jowell, (; 18 September 1947 – 12 May 2018) was a British Labour Party politician and life peer who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Dulwich and West Norwood, previously Dulwich, from ...
on 15 September, 2005. Some concern had been raised that the London region would be switched shortly before the city hosts the
Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...
. Jowell said "''I can assure you that I did not slog for two years to bring the games here just to see Londoners reduced to huddling round the wireless to find out who won the hundred metres, I am completely confident that our timetable is a sensible one which will ensure that digital services are delivered with no disruption to the viewing public during the Games themselves.''" It was also announced that a support scheme would be put in place to ensure that no one is left behind in the switch. It provided help with equipment and installation and follow-up support for people aged 75 years and over and people with significant disabilities. The scheme was funded by the BBC through the licence fee. The final region to switch off was
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
, on 23 October, 2012. To dedicate the permanent switching-off of analogue in Northern Ireland, and, by extension, the United Kingdom, BBC One (only Northern Irish variation) and UTV together aired "The Magic Box", a programme dedicated to analogue TV: it became the last programme broadcast in analogue in the United Kingdom.


References

{{Media in the United Kingdom, television History of television in the United Kingdom 1936 establishments in the United Kingdom 2012 disestablishments in the United Kingdom 2012 disestablishments in England 2012 disestablishments in Northern Ireland 2011 disestablishments in Scotland 2010 disestablishments in Wales