Freeview TV is very popular in the UK as it gives its users access to the nation’s favourite channels such as BBC One, ITV Channel, and ITV Channel 4, and many more for absolutely no cost. However, since we are now in the age of wireless where everything is signal-dependent, there will be times where we will experience problems on our TV reception. Sometimes, you may wake up and find that some of your freeview channels disappeared overnight. There are a lot of factors that may have caused such problems.
In this guide, we will show you steps that you can try to recover your missing channels. But before we proceed to the guide, we listed the possible reasons why your freeview channels disappeared overnight. It is essential to know these factors, so you’ll know what step you need to take to recover these channels.
Possible Reasons for Your Missing Channels
You Are Using Freeview Lite/Freeview Light
First of all, if for some reason you switched to the Freeview Light transmitter instead of the actual Freeview, you will certainly lose some of the popular channels such as Viva or Dave. Freeview Lite or Freeview Light is a reduced version of Freeview that transmits only a limited number of channels to your TV. Freeview Light only carries half the amount of channels a standard Freeview can.
Changes on Your Local TV Transmitter
Another possible reason why some people lose access to some Freeview channels is the changes to the TV transmitters across the UK. There will be times when the hundreds of transmitters all over the UK will need to be re-engineered to allow for a big change. In fact, this 2020, the 700 MHz spectrum will be auctioned off to provide a boost for 4G and 5G mobile signals. Consequently, TV transmitters need to be altered to allow for this change and make the transition as smooth as possible.
Changes to Freeview
Freeview allows you to get over 70 channels and 15 HD channels, including your favourite channels such as BBC One, ITV Channel, and ITV Channel 4. You can get the full list of channels available on their website.
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Freeview TV often makes updates and changes which affects customers’ accessibility to some channels on Freeview. You will get a notification from Freeview if there is a change in your area. You should get an on-screen message about the update or you can check if there’s a change here.
Similar to the big change for TV transmitters this 2020, Freeview will have to adapt and make some changes in their system. Specifically, some airwaves used by Freeview are being relocated to allow for boost for 4G and 5G signals and other new mobile broadband services. For some areas, aerial adjustment may be necessary to adapt with the changes. You may need to contact the Freeview Advice Line for help, or you may contact professional aerial engineers from Aerialforce if you need support.
Changes in Your Area’s Coverage
Coverage, or the number of free view channels, varies depending on your location. Some channels are not available in some areas because the signals and frequencies can’t reach them. If you moved to a new flat, there is a chance that some of the channels that you could access before in your old house are no longer accessible in your new house.
Poor TV Signal Reception
Some TV channels have strong signals while some don’t. If you have poor TV signal reception, you may easily lose access to some channels with weak signals. People who live in a low-signal area install a high quality TV aerial to improve their signal reception. If you think this is your problem, you can contact Aerialforce to help you get the best TV aerial for your location.
TV Signal Interference in Your Area
Aside from the location, TV signal interference may significantly affect your signal reception. Interference happens when other signals in the air get mixed up with your Freeview signals. When your TV aerial receives the signal affected by interference, you may encounter problems such as TV pixelation, noise, or even loss of some channels.
Faulty or Broken TV Aerial
Of course, if you have a faulty TV aerial, your TV signal reception is affected. Additionally, due to the possibility of TV transmitters being re-engineered, your TV aerial may need to be updated or realigned to continue getting all the channels you had before.
What Can You Do To Recover Your Missing Channels
Now that you know the possible reasons for your missing channels, we listed below some steps that you can follow to recover them.
Check if the Channel is Available in Your Area
First of all, check if the channel is available in your area. Enter your postcode in an availability checker. If the channel is available, proceed to the other steps. If you can’t see the channel in the list, the channel may no longer be available in your area. This issue could be due to changes in the transmitter or some updates from Freeview. We recommend you to contact Freeview Advice Line to assist you with your problem.
Check for Transmitter Faults
You can check for faults in your area using the transmitter checker tool. Just enter your postcode and it will check for problems in your location. Again, if there seems to be a problem on the transmitter, you may contact Freeview Advice Line to help you with the issue. If there is no problem in your local transmitter, then the problem may be in your TV system. Proceed to the next steps.
Check All Cable Connections
Check the back of your Freeview Box if the aerial cable is securely connected to the Aerial In/Antenna In port. Check also if the same cable is connected to the aerial itself. If your aerial is a powered indoor aerial, check if the aerial is connected to the power supply. Make sure that the aerial is turned on.
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Check Your Signal
If you can get signals from your TV aerial but can’t access some channels, try checking the signal as it might not be strong enough. You can check the signal quality by selecting Setting from the Main Menu. From the Signal & Connection, select signal quality.
If the signal quality is below 50%, you may encounter problems such as picture pixelation. If the channel you’re looking for has a weak signal, your aerial might not be receiving the frequencies of that channel. We recommend you to read our article on how to improve your tv reception.
Check for Signal Interference
Sometimes, your poor TV signal reception may be caused by a TV signal interference. There are a lot of signals that may affect your signal reception. This may be caused by an interference via 4G, interference via neighbouring transmitters, or interference via impulse noise.
TV interruptions may also be caused by external factors such as weather changes and technical issues, which may be out of your control. If you want to know more about this, read our article about Freeview TV Interference.
Check Your TV Aerial
If you have a faulty TV aerial, you may have a problem receiving TV signals. Try checking your TV aerial, or if you are not sure about the problem of your aerial, get a professional aerial engineer.
Try also considering if you are using the right aerial for your location. If you are living in an area where the signal reception is weak, you might want to consider getting a better TV aerial.
Retune Your TV
Now that you have checked all other factors, it is possible that your TV just needs to be retuned. You can retune your TV by going to the Settings from the Main Menu, then select Signal & Connection. Afterwards, select TV Channels and choose Retune Channels.
Retuning your TV may take a couple of minutes. Once it is done, try checking the missing channel using your remote. If the channel is still not there, try doing a manual retune. Manual retune allows you to input the correct channel numbers or frequencies one by one and store them in the memory of your box.
If you tried all the steps, but the issue still persists, you may be dealing with a bigger problem. It is best to leave such problems to the experts. Aerialforce can help you solve any issue regarding your TV aerials and signal reception. Avail Aerialforce’s same-day services, and our professional aerial engineers will be there to help you asap.
