Freeview users may find that they have fewer things to watch next month with another channel that confirms that it turns off the lights forever. Forces TV, which includes a number of popular shows from the 70’s and 80’s, along with special content for the military, will close its service on June 30, leaving fans unable to watch content such as Brittas Empire, CHiPs, Haggard and Sorry! .
Posting a message on Twitter, the team behind the channel said: “@Forces_TV says goodbye to you on June 30. We loved to present you all your favorite classics.”
The closure is due to the fact that one of the signals used to transmit Freeview, called the COM7 multiplex, was turned off to make way for 5G mobile technology. EE has won the rights to use this service, which will pave the way for faster downloads when its customers are away from a fixed broadband connection.
Forces TV, which will also close Sky and Virgin Media, said that due to the wider changes taking place in Freeview, the options to continue broadcasting the channel are no longer financially viable.
COM7 is currently used by a number of channels to broadcast their content in millions of homes in the UK, and the shutdown does not only affect Forces TV.
The BBC also recently confirmed that the change to COM7 will mean that Freeview users will no longer be able to watch its news channel live in ultra-sharp HD.
Confirming the news, the BBC said: “As a result of the closure of COM7, Freeview’s BBC News will only be available on SD from the end of June 2022. However, you can still watch it in BBC iPlayer’s HD.”
Other channels currently using COM7 include FreeSports, Now 70s, More4 +1, PBS, QVC Beauty HD and Quest HD. It is unclear what will happen to these services after June 30, and Freeview is expected to announce full details soon.
Speaking to Express.co.uk, a Freeview spokesman said: “Ofcom’s COM7 mulitplex license expires in late June following an Ofcom tender to make more room for 5G mobile services. We are currently in touch with the channels that are in this multiplex to confirm the next steps. Additional updates to the service will be provided to viewers in a timely manner. “
So why is all this happening and who will be affected?
Last year, the UK’s EE network won the tender to use the COM7 frequency to help boost its new 5G data network.
5G is the future of mobile devices as it offers much faster download speeds and a more reliable signal, which means more people can connect to it at once.
While this is great news for mobile users, it all means that at the end of June 2022, Freeview’s COM7 multiplex will be closed. As a result, there will be less available broadcasting capacity and a number of channels transmitted via COM7 will either have to be closed or redistributed to other multiplexes.
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