The Croydon transmitting station is a broadcasting and

telecommunications Telecommunication, often used in its plural form or abbreviated as telecom, is the transmission of information over a distance using electronic means, typically through cables, radio waves, or other communication technologies. These means of ...

facility on

Beaulieu Heights Beaulieu Heights ( ) is an area of ancient woodland between South Norwood and Upper Norwood in the London Borough of Croydon, London. It is located between South Norwood Hill and Auckland Road with Auckland Rise to the north and Tummonds Gardens ...

Upper Norwood Upper Norwood is an area of south London, England, within the London Boroughs of London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, London Borough of Croydon, Croydon, London Borough of Lambeth, Lambeth and London Borough of Southwark, Southwark. It is north ...

, London, England (), in the

London Borough of Croydon The London Borough of Croydon () is a London borough, borough in South London, part of Outer London. It covers an area of and had a population of 397,741 as of mid-2023, making it the most populous London borough. It is London's southernmost ...

, owned by

Arqiva Arqiva () is a British telecommunications company which provides infrastructure, broadcast transmission and smart meter facilities in the United Kingdom. The company is headquartered at the former Independent Broadcasting Authority headquart ...

. It was established in 1955 and initially used a small lattice tower. The present tower is high and was built in 1962. It was originally used to broadcast the London ITV signal on VHF

Band III Band III is the name of the range of radio frequencies within the very high frequency (VHF) part of the electromagnetic spectrum from 174 to 240 megahertz (MHz). It is primarily used for radio and television broadcasting. It is also called h ...

. When

UHF Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter ...

broadcasting began, the nearby

Crystal Palace transmitting station The Crystal Palace transmitting station, officially known as Arqiva Crystal Palace, is a broadcasting and telecommunications site in the Crystal Palace, London, Crystal Palace area of the London Borough of Bromley, England (). It is located on ...

was used. VHF television was discontinued in 1985, and the Croydon transmitter was not used for regular TV broadcasting until 1997, when a new directional UHF antenna, designed to avoid interference with continental transmitters, was installed to carry the newly launched Channel 5 in the London area. It carried Channel 5's analogue signal, and the digital terrestrial signal is transmitted from Crystal Palace. Croydon also had reserve transmitters for BBC1, BBC2, ITV and Channel 4, but these were used only in the event of engineering works or a failure at Crystal Palace. Since the digital switchover in April 2012 no television has been broadcast from Croydon, but it is still used as a backup for Crystal Palace for the BBC A & B, Digital 3&4 and COM 4, 5 and 6 multiplexes. The site is also a maintenance base for transmitter maintenance teams and used to house one of four regional operations centres.

Channels listed by frequency

Analogue radio (FM VHF)

† Backup for

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

. ^^ Hits Radio London took over the frequency on 23rd September 2024,

Kiss A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...

is now fully digital station on DAB nationally and locally on London 1 DAB multiplex

Digital radio (DAB)

Analogue television

22 September 1955 – 3 January 1985

The past ITV franchises which originally served London were

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, ...

(weekdays) and

Associated Television ATV Network Limited, originally Associated TeleVision (ATV), was a British broadcaster, part of the ITV (TV network), ITV (Independent Television) network. It provided a service to London at weekends from 1955 to 1968, to the Midlands on week ...

(weekends) began transmitting on VHF 9 on 22 September 1955, and were the first ITV services. The transmitter's power was originally 60 kW but after the new tower was built in 1962 this was increased to 400 kW.

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broa ...

and

London Weekend Television London Weekend Television (LWT; now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV (TV network), ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00&nbs ...

took over the London franchise area in 1968. The VHF analogue service closed down, along with the rest of the UK, on 3 January 1985.

30 March 1997 – 18 April 2012

Channel 5 launched on 30 March 1997 with transmissions from Croydon and other former IBA VHF sites in the UK. Reserve senders for ITV and Channel 4 was later added in case they were not available from Crystal Palace and some time later, BBC1 and BBC2. † Backup for

Digital television

18 April 2012 – present

Since 18 April 2012, no television has been broadcast from Croydon. However, backup for the PSB1, 2 and 3 and COM4, 5 and 6 multiplexes are available should there be a problem at Crystal Palace. † Backup for

References

External links

The Transmission Gallery: Croydon Transmitter photographs and information

BBCEng.info: Story of the rivalry between the ITA and the BBC to be the first to complete their transmitting towers in south London

{{Croydon_VHF_405-line_Transmitter_Group Infrastructure in London Crystal Palace, London Transmitter sites in England Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Croydon