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Why do the six Freeview "multiplexes" have twenty different names?

There are twenty names - 1, 2, A, B, C, D, PSB1, PSB2, PSB3, COM4, COM5, COM6, BBCA, BBCB, D3+4, SDN, ArqA, ArqivaA, ArqB and ArqivaB, given to the six terrestrial digital services... why?

There are twenty names - 1, 2, A, B, C, D, PSB1, PSB2, PSB3, CO
published on UK Free TV

All digital television services - from cable and satellite to terrestrial transmission - were planned and implemented to use the existing "analogue" broadcasting infrastructure.

The engineers who designed the services created digital broadcasting systems that would allow the reliable distribution of bits using the same infrastructure of cables and masts (or satellites) that already carried the analogue services to millions of homes.

Part of the design process allowed for more than one television channel to be carried by the digital system using a long-established data-processing technique called "multiplexing", a word that had, by another route, also come to mean a cinema complex where several films are shown at once on different screens.

It was back in 1996 that Parliament decided that the UK should have a six-multiplex service.

The Broadcasting Act 1996 provided that these "multiplex licences" should be issued for 12 years with a one-time right-to-renew.

Independent Television Commission: 1, 2, A, B, C and D

The regulator at the time, the ITC (Independent Television Commission) said:

The current coverage figures range from around 90 per cent of the UK population for the largest of the multiplexes down to around 70 per cent for the smallest.

Of these six multiplexes, two are wholly reserved for existing broadcasters who are guaranteed places on the multiplexes under the Broadcasting Act 1996. The first will be used by the BBC to transmit existing programmes in digital form and develop new digital services. The second is reserved for Channel 3, Channel 4 and Teletext Ltd whose existing services will be reproduced in digital form, and who can use the additional capacity available for new services. This multiplex will be licensed and regulated by the ITC.

Licences to operate the remaining four were advertised and three have now been awarded to British Digital Broadcasting plc (BDB). The fourth multiplex, the third largest in terms of UK coverage, has been awarded to S4C Digital Networks Ltd (SDN). It will carry the new Channel 5, S4C in Wales, and a certain amount of Gaelic programming during peak hours in Scotland.


The ITC named the "wholly reserved" multiplexes 1 and 2, and the others, by the level of coverage: A, B, C and D.

British Digital Broadcasting, ONdigital and ITV Digital

British Digital Broadcasting plc eventually launched their service as ONdigital on 15th November 1998, re-launched as ITV Digital on 11th July 2001 and went out of business on 1st May 2002.

ITV Digital handed back B, C and D multiplex licences to the regulator, who awarded them to the promise of a free-to-air service the BBC and Crown Castle International, a company formed by the privatization of the BBC's transmitter network.

Freeview

When Freeview started on 30th October 2002, the BBC realised that the existing broadcasting "mode" used for the digital services was causing problems for some viewers. For this reason, some multiplexes changed from "mode 1" to "mode 2" (see the diagram at the end of the article), which provided a more stable signal, but with the loss of some channel capacity. See Freeview modes - a simplified explanation for a longer discussion about this.

This was not a problem for the BBC with six full-time television channels to fit onto two whole multiplexes. So, multiplexes 1, B, C and D changed to the robust mode, but 2 and A did not.

Ofcom plans PSBs and COMs

During the planning for the digital switchover, where the existing analogue channels are turned off over several years, Ofcom, now the regulator used the names PSB1, PSB2, COM4, PSB3, COM5 and COM6 to refer to the six multiplexes.

PSB refers to the "public service broadcasters" (BBC, Channel 3 licence holders - ITV plc, STV and UTV, Channel 4 Corporation, S4C - Sianel Pedwar Cymru, Channel 5 and the "public teletext service".

The PSB multiplexes have almost total coverage of UK homes - 98.5%, and are broadcast from all television masts in the UK, including 1,036 smaller ones that only carry the PSB services.

COM is an abbreviation of "commercial", referring to the two multiplexes held by Arqiva, the company that owns and operates all of the UK television transmitters, and SDN, a company owned by ITV plc.

The COM multiplexes have coverage of around 90%, and are broadcast from the main 81 transmitters.

Because this planning required that all multiplexes move to "mode 3" the post-switchover multiplexes these new descriptions have been widely used to represent the "final" multiplexes, even though legally they are named 1, 2, A, B, C and D - see Ofcom - Multiplex licensees.

The introduction of Freeview HD has seen the BBC change the use of the BBC multiplex to "DVB-T2" mode, and in addition, during 2012 the commercial multiplexes have changed to "mode 8 configuration", which has increased their capacity by another 12.5% - see Changes to commercial multiplex capacity - 2012 timetable .

Eight more names

Digital UK now refers to the multiplex by the name of the ower, usually four letters, but sometimes the written in full, so we now have:

Multiplex 1 is also known as PSB1 and also BBCA


BBCA denotes the first BBC multiplex when in "mode 3", with all the services from "mode 2" multiplexes 1 and B. This multiplex has many regional versions to supply BBC regional news on BBC One.


Multiplex 2 is also known as PSB2 and also D3+4


The legal owner is "Digital 3 and 4 Ltd", which is half-owned by the Channel 3 licensee, and half-owned by the Channel 4 Corporation. This multiplex has more than 20 regional versions to supply regional news on ITV 1/STV/UTV, plus advert regions for that station, Channel 4, Channel 5 and the channels 3 and 4 "plus one" services.


Multiplex A is also known as COM4 and also SDN


SDN, originally "S4C Digital Networks" was sold to ITV plc in April 2005 for £134m. The SDN multiplex has two versions, one for Wales, where it carries E4 and one for the rest of the UK.


Multiplex B is also known as PSB3 and also BBCB


BBCB denotes the first BBC multiplex when in "mode 6" which is used to carry, by arrangement with ITV/STV/UTV, Channel 4/S4C, the Freeview HD service.


Multiplex C is also known as COM5 and also ArqA (or ArqivaA)


The "mode 3" (now "mode 8") post-switchover ArqA/COM5 multiplex carries all the services on "mode 1" Multiplex C, with space for couple of extra TV channels.


Multiplex D is also known as COM6 and also ArqB (or ArqivaB)


The "mode 3" (now "mode 8") post-switchover ArqA/COM5 multiplex carries all the services on "mode 1" Multiplex D, with space for couple of extra TV channels, which include 4seven and two subscription channels, Sky Sports 1 and 2.


Freeview standard transmission "modes"

UK Freeview modes

The above diagram illustrates the capacity of different ONdigital/ITV digital/Freeview transmissions over the years. The longer the bar, the more bits are transmitted per second. Mode 2 is 16QAM, mode 7 is QSPK, the DVB-T2 modes are 256QAM, the rest 64QAM.

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Comments
Tuesday, 15 May 2012
L
lee
4:15 PM

The update worked ! It is a Digihome DTRO202. Thanks. I'm well pleased.

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lee's 1 post GB flag
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

6:07 PM

lee: Good news then! although I would have liked the serial number associated with your model of box so that I could tag it as being from a serial number onwards that the update works on, as subtle changes to a devices circuitry always takes place during long batch runs, and with this in many cases being why an update will work on some models but not others even although the model to all intents is the same.

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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
Friday, 24 April 2015
I
Ian
1:25 PM

Hi I am trying to connect a cctv system so I can view from my tv .I have a spare channel (50 ) do I have to change the audio frequency to 706 MHz for the blackhill transmitter ?

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Ian's 1 post GB flag
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

5:25 PM

Ian: If your CCTV system is of the type that sends the image picked up by the camera to the TV via its aerial input socket? then this signal is from the control units "analogue" RF modulator, therefore in order to view the signal on your TV you will have to set the TV's "input select" button (on remote control) to "analogue", followed by carrying out a scan to pick up the signal sent out by the control units modulator, which its assumed is on C50 on your device, that is unless the analogue modulator offers the choice of more than one output channel.

Many CCTV devices do to avoid the possibly of the signal clashing with a channel used for Freeview reception, although C50 is OK in your particular case "if" you are receiving Freeview from Blackhill.

However, if on the other hand your CCTV device is of the "movement sensor" variety that couples into your TV via a scart lead connected into the TV's AV1 input? then that said with regards to analogue does not apply, in other words you do not require to alter anything on the TV, because as soon as movement is detected the control unit sends a signal (via scart lead) into the TV that switches it over to the CCTV device no matter what programme you happen to be viewing.

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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
Thursday, 24 September 2015
J
JohnD
7:20 AM

We keep losing COM5 ( Sky News) and have to rescan to receive, sometimes it works, sometimes not. Any idea of cause - and cure?

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JohnD's 1 post GB flag
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

11:00 AM

JohnD: As it's a reception issue, knowledge of location, preferably in the form of postcode or that of a nearby property such as a shop is imperative.

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Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
Saturday, 7 April 2018
R
roger
11:59 AM

What changes were made to the Midhurst transmitter that required usesr to retune their sets. Having retuned my set I lost com6 ARQb. After wiping out all previous data another retune has returned ARQb com6.but these channels have become unreliable due to breakup. Before the original retune in March 2018 Com6 ARQb worked perfectly. I can only surmise that the quality of the signal from Midhurst has reduced due a lower signal strength or slight realignment. At present all I see is a deterioration of the signal from Midhurst because of the retune so again why was it necessary?



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roger's 2 posts GB flag
S
StevensOnln1
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

2:43 PM

roger: COM6 changed frequency at Midhurst on 21st March and can now be found on UHF channel 33. If you are getting a weak signal you are probably using a Group C/D aerial which was not designed to receive the lower frequency now in use. If you don't have satellite or cable you should be eligible to have a replacement wideband aerial fitted free of charge, which can be arranged by contacting the Freeview Advice Line (see link below).

Important changes to Freeview TV signals | Freeview

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StevensOnln1's 3,606 posts GB flag
Monday, 1 July 2019
Y
Yvonne Watts
11:46 AM

Last week I lost HD Channels from 106 to 203. I have retuned my BT HD Box a couple of times but still no channels. Have these been removed from this transmitter? There is no facility to manually tune the box.

link to this comment
Yvonne Watts's 1 post GB flag
S
StevensOnln1
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

1:47 PM

Yvonne Watts: We don't know which transmitter you're using, so it's impossible to say if any channels have been removed.

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StevensOnln1's 3,606 posts GB flag
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