Freeview guide expands to meet new channel demand
April 3, 2017
Digital UK – the body that supports digital terrestrial TV in the UK – has confirmed that following an industry-wide consultation, the TV guide for DTT platform Freeview is set to be updated and expanded on Wednesday August 2nd 2017. This change is designed to increase capacity for the launch of new channels in the future and strengthen consumer protection measures to further minimise risks around minors viewing inappropriate content. Some existing channels will move to new numbers.
The main changes are:
| Genre | Current range | New range |
| General Entertainment | 1-99 | 1-99 / 140 -199 |
| HD | 101-119 | 101-139 |
| Children’s | 120-129 | 200-229 |
| News | 130-149 | 230-249 |
| Text | 200-224 | 250-259 |
| Streamed services (MHEG-ICS) | 225-299 | 260-299 |
| Interactive services | 600-620 | 600-609 |
| SD simulcast area | N/A | 610-669 |
| Adult | 170-199 | 670-699 |
Digital UK’s policy for allocating channel numbers is also being simplified to provide greater flexibility for channel providers.
Freeview viewers may need to retune on or after this date to ensure they have the latest channel line-up, where equipment does not do this automatically.