Digital UK has begun a consultation on how to reallocate BBC Three’s channel position once the service drops its linear service in February.
The body, which decides where on the EPG the various DTT/Freeview channels sit, has put forward two proposals. The first is simply to shuffle the existing public service channels in that part of the EPG up one place. The second would move BBC Alba (Scotland) and Channel 4 (Wales) up one position to 7, meaning that channel 8 could be used for local TV in Scotland and Wales, bringing the nations in line with England. At present channel 23 is used.
No suggestion of using channel 7 as a gateway to BBC Three’s online service has been put forward; the BBC will announce the precise date for linear switch off later.
BBC Three’s HD channel is not part of the consultation and would be allocated under current policy to the next available public broadcaster.
A separate consultation on the reservation of channel numbers in the General Entertainment and News genres for HD-only services, designed to make it easier to implement a possible SD/HD channel substitution in the future, has also been published.
