This Wednesday, the 25th of March, some changes were made to the Rowridge transmitter, serving Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, East Dorset and West Sussex had to re-tune on Wednesday.

According to a report on the BBC website, around 8,000 people have had their TV reception affected by the change to frequencies that’s in preparation for the digital switchover.

Users in the area are required to perform a channel rescan, but it seems for many that this doesn’t work on the first go, and several attempts may be required.

If you’re served by that transmitter and a rescan hasn’t helped, the official advice is to call the Digital UK Helpline on 0845 845 0231

Need help on Freeview reception? Ask in our Freeview forum

A new version of software for Top Up TV set-top box recorders is now being transmitted. Here’s what we know.

The roll-out began over-the-air on Tuesday the 24th March 2009.

The new version for the Thomson boxes is 3.59 , and it’s a major upgrade.

Changes:

• Removal of the Favourites option (grrr… more)
• Less glitching
• Some box crashes
• Faster MHEG engine
• Faster filing system (although you need to perform a format to benefit)
• Freeview+ – we’ve implemented the Freeview 8 day EPG system (toggle from the Customise DTR menu

More on Top Up TV Anytime at www.radioandtelly.co.uk/topuptvanytime.html

Another month – another media service in trouble – this time, ITV.

In early March, we saw ITV’s pre-tax profits drop by 41% and plans to cut another 600 jobs, scale down regional operations, as well as sell off Friends Reunited.

According to a story in the Express, ITV’s only salvation may be a shift to a subscription model. This would see them vanish as a free-to-view channel, shifting to Sky and Virgin as a pay-to-view channel. The report claims that viewers would be prepared to pay £2.50 a month for ITV (compared to the £12 a month licence fee for the BBC).

Nothing’s decided yet, but it seems stations like ITV, Channel 4 and Five may have to start taking drastic steps to survive the slump.

The UK commercial radio industry is having a hard time.

As has been well reported, the national DAB platform is in bad shape – Channel 4 Radio’s plans have been shelved, and there’s not enough national stations to fill the national slots.

Now, a dire claim has been made… commercial radio could die out within 15 years.

Commercial radio’s advertising revenue has been diminishing, partly due to the credit crunch hitting the ad market generally, and party with the increases in online advertising.

In a recent article on Media Guardian, their Matt Wells talks about “the slow death” of UK commercial radio, with a quote from Enders Analysis that apart from BBC, radio would soon not be commercially viable, and would only survive in the form of “hobbyist” models like podcasting (start early by listening to the Radio & Telly podcast!)

Help may be at hand in the form of the BBC’s “Radio Plus” service – a single online portal for radio stations, similar to iPlayer, but open to both BBC and commercial stations. Initially offering a catch-up service, longer-term plans include offering live pause and series link for radio. The beeb expect the first version”Radio Plus” to be available in the next 12 months.

Smile TV 2 has now left Freeview. This channel launched in September 2008 on channel 46 (Multiplex A) offering life coaching, party girls and adult chat.

Into your telly shopping channels? We’re not, but we know there’s a few folk out there looking for a gem of a bargain.

If that’s you, then you might fancy a special 5% off code for Gems TV. Enter the code AFFS-113 at www.gemstv.co.uk for 5% off.

Code valid till 30th April 2009. “You spend, we send”, as the classic TV spoof series KYTV used to say…

We’ve no idea if any Gems TV fans are out there reading this feed… but if you buy your fancy gems online, we’ve found a special 5% off discount code. Enter the code AFFS-113 at www.gemstv.co.uk for 5% off. Code valid till 30th April 2009.

Just appeared on channel 50 of the Freeview lineup, “Partyland”.

As of 15th March 2009, the channel’s not brodcasting, but when it does, it’ll apparently be offering “Adult chat and editorial”. The channel’s backed by Five

We’re hearing reports from our site regulars that the new-look Electronic Programme Guide for Sky+ HD boxes is set to be rolled out to Sky+ HD boxes from next week.

It seems that HD boxes from Thomson will get the upgrades first, with other boxes rolled out gradually over the coming months.

The new EPG includes a picture-in-picture screen to let you browse the guide whilst still watching your selected channel. There’s also an improved search facility, and improved grouping by programme genre.

Here’s a sneak peek at the new EPG layout:

To discuss the new EPG, or let us know when your HD box has got the upgrade, please post in our Sky forum.

We’ve just released another in our series of TV and tech podcasts for your listening pleasure.

In FrequencyCast Show 37, Carl and Pete look at the latest sat nav and GPS developments. We look at the latest Digital TV news, including the recall of Sky HD boxes, the latest on Freeview HD, and the football TV rights winners. Also, your questions on radio cricket, BT Vision and MP2 recordings

Download Show 37 direct to your MP3 player, or listen online at www.frequencycast.co.uk/latest.html

Got an iPod or iPhone? Get new shows and updates first by signing up via http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=142899029

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