Digital Television Switchover in Gloucestershire

This project has now ended but if you are still experiencing problems please do not hesitate to contact your local Village or Community Agent for help or contact the Help Scheme which is run by the BBC. 

Village and Community Agents have assisted clients across Gloucestershire in the process of preparing to receive the new, stronger, digital television signal.  Gloucestershire is covered by several different transmitter groups so it has been an on-going process since 2010.

There were some interesting issues thrown up, especially in areas where signals from different transmitter groups overlap.  Several members of a luncheon club in the Forest of Dean receive signals from both Mendip and Ridge Hill, and were therefore uncertain of exactly when they needed to be ready to switch.  Many people were reassured that they did not need to go out and buy new televisions to be able to receive digital television, including one gentleman who was relieved because his cat likes sleeping on the current one.

The Mendip transmitter, which broadcasts local programming from the south west, switched in two stages on 24th March and 7th April 2010.

Following on from the Mendip switchover, the northern part of the county covered by the Ridge Hill transmitter switched on 6th and 20th April 2011.  Once again, the Agents were called upon to assist clients with general information on the switchover, including retuning, and accessing the Help Scheme.  GRCC was also appointed by Digital Outreach Ltd to work with voluntary and community sector groups to publicise the switchover as widely as possible, and the Agents again assisted in this by encouraging groups they were aware of to apply for the grants available to hold information events on the switchover.

The final part of Gloucestershire to switch was the eastern side of the Cotswolds, which receives a signal from the Oxford transmitter, and parts of Tewkesbury which receive a signal from Sutton Coldfield.  Both transmitters switched in September 2011 but on slightly different dates: the two stages for Sutton Coldfield were the 7th and 21st September, while Oxford's two stages were 14th and 28th September.