The Croydon transmitting station is a broadcasting and

telecommunications Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than tha ...

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 Bromley, Croydon, Lambeth and Southwark. It is north of Croydon and the eastern part of it is better known as the Crystal Palace area. Upper Norwood is situated ...

, London, England (), in the

London Borough of Croydon The London Borough of Croydon () is a London borough in south London, part of Outer London. It covers an area of . It is the southernmost borough of London. At its centre is the historic town of Croydon from which the borough takes its name; w ...

, owned by Arqiva. 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 Very high frequency (VHF) is the ITU designation for the range of radio frequency electromagnetic waves (radio waves) from 30 to 300 megahertz (MHz), with corresponding wavelengths of ten meters to one meter. Frequencies immediately below 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 high ...

. 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 (on ...

broadcasting began, the nearby Crystal Palace transmitting station 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.

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 Associated Television was the original name of the British broadcaster ATV, part of the Independent Television (ITV) network. It provided a service to London at weekends from 1955 to 1968, to the Midlands on weekdays from 1956 to 1968, and ...

(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 Broadcast license, franchise holder for a region of the British ITV (TV network), ITV television network serving Greater London, London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until th ...

and

London Weekend Television London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 ...

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 many other former VHF sites in the UK. Backup for ITV and Channel 4 was later added in case they were not available from Crystal Palace and some time later, BBC1 and BBC 2. † Backup for Crystal Palace.

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 Crystal Palace.

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