Scott – All About Digital TV

Licence Fee to Be Retained

The new Labour led UK Government has confirmed a commitement to the TV Licence providing some certainty on how the BBC will be funded going forward. There had been some debate on the best way forward for funding the state owned public service broadcaster, amid a rise to streaming services such as Netflix meaning some no longer required a TV licence.

Box Plus Network Closes Down

Satellite and cable channels The Box, 4Music, Kerrang, Kiss and Magic, all closed down at midnight on 1st July (2024), bring in an end to what had been known as The Box Plus Network. Channel 4 have axed the channels in the first move away from linear broadcasts.

DAB Change Log: Surrey & North Sussex

The following services have been added; Brit Asia Radio (32 kbps DAB+ stereo – poor audio quality), and Darbar Sahib Radio (24 kbps DAB+ stereo – very poor audio quality).

Freesat Scraps Remote Recording

Freesat has removed remote recording functionaility from its mobile apps. Remote recording allowed users to programme recordings on compatible Freesat recievers remotely via their mobile phone (when both devices were connected to the internet).

DAB Change Log: London 2

The following services have been added; Nation 80s (32 kbps DAB+ stereo – poor audio quality).

The following services have been removed (but are available elsewhere); Absolute 70s, LBC London News (moved to London 3), Planet Rock (converted to DAB+ on the SDL National multiplex), and Smooth Country (switched to DAB+ and moved to London 1).

Rewind TV Launches

Rewind TV, and independently operated TV channel dedicated to showing classic British TV shows, launched on 23rd May (2024). The channel is available free-to-air on satellite.

Plans for 2024 Part 2

Following on from my previous post, some fiddling with settings has seen improvements to the website’s reliability, and it would appear that I have fixed the technical gremlins. This means updates will now resume here in the coming days.

Plans for 2024

You may have noticed I have yet to post on this website during 2024. Personal commitments in both work and personal life have meant that much of my website activities have once again taken a back seat. Not to mention set up issues seem to prevent some updates from taking place on this website, which I have yet to get to the bottom off.

UKTV to Rebrand in 2024

UKTV, part of the commercial arm of the BBC, have announced a name to be introduced during the summer of next year (2024). The name will also roll out to its streaming service and as a prefix to its channel line up.

Further Restructure of AMC UK Lineup

AMC Networks UK has made a further restructure of their channel lineup, following a similar exercise in 2022, which has seen the end of the use of the CBS brand. No changes have been made to platform availability, with the channel remaining on Freesat, Sky, Virgin Media, and Freeview.