Freeview viewers in Wigan may need to retune their TV soon

Freeview channels are moving to new airwaves to allow for the future development of new mobile broadband services.

Following a decision by the Government, transmitters are being updated region by region as part of a major engineering programme being carried out between now and mid-2020 and could affect services in Liverpool, Manchester, Lancashire, Cheshire and North Staffordshire.

The final required changes in the region will take place in two stages on February 20 and April 22.

On February 20, engineering work will take place at the Winter Hill transmitter, near Blackrod, in the early hours, and Freeview channels will be subject to disruption until 10am. After this, any viewers receiving their TV signal from here who find they are missing channels, including BBC One on button 1, can retune.

Other channels including ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 will move to new airwaves on 22 April. Services from some small local relays will also be subject to disruption until late afternoon on this date. Satellite and cable TV are not affected.

Around 2.7m homes are served by the affected transmitters. Freeview will be running an information campaign to prepare people for the change, including advertising and on-screen messages.

The work follows the successful completion of previous updates at Winter Hill in 2018 and 2019.

Retuning should be straightforward and some TV equipment will retune automatically. Some older aerials may need to be replaced to continue receiving all channels. Viewers may be eligible for free in-home support, including aerial work if needed.

Kate Macefield, Project Director, said: "Retuning usually only takes a few minutes but if anyone is unsure of what to do there’ll be plenty of help available on our website and from our advice line team."

Anyone who needs advice, or who are still missing services after retuning, can visit the Freeview website at www.freeview.co.uk/tvchanges or contact the advice line free on 0808 100 0288.