From the 14th of June, the Sunday afternoon chart show ‘Hit 40 UK’ will vanish from the commercial radio network.

The Sunday afternoon chart show started back in 1984 to compete against the BBC Radio 1 chart. Heard across the UK Independent Local Radio network, “The Network Chart” was originally presented by David ‘Kid’ Jenson, then Neil ‘Dr, Dr…’ Fox.

The Network Chart rebranded to “Hit 40 UK” in 2003, and currently pulls in around 1.4 million listeners on a Sunday afternoon.

Replacing the UK Top 40 will be a new show, called “The Big Top 40 Show”, going out from 4 to 7pm on Sundays. This will be broadcast on over 140 UK commercial radio stations, including the Heart network. The show will be presented by Capital FM evening jock Rich Clark and Kat Shoob, and will be strongly linked with Apple iTunes.

The new show is being billed as an interactive chart show, as listeners will be able to affect the Top 10 during the show by downloading their favourite tracks from the iTunes store. “The Big Top 40 Show” will build its chart based on digital downloads as well as commercial radio station airplay, whilst the BBC Radio 1 chart still includes physical music sales.

From the 3rd of June 2009, content from the BBC will become available on Top Up TV set-top boxes.

Shows such as Spooks, Bleak House, Life on Mars and Doctor Who will be downloaded overnight to Top Up TV Anytime boxes. To make way for the Beeb content, users will see Hallmark, Sports Xtra, Home and Living vanish.

More on our Top Up TV Anytime page.

A quick “hi” to this site’s towel-carriers. In case you weren’t aware, today, the 25th of May is “Towel Day”, a semi-official day of recognition for the late Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. May you all Share and Enjoy on this most hoopy of days.

Hitch-hiker’s fans should note that a new H2G2 novel is expected in October 2009, obviously not from the pen of the Great Douglas Adams.

As has been announced previously, it’s hoped that the upcoming Freeview HD service will hopefully be up-and-running for around 50% of the UK in time for the 2010 World Cup next June.

To support Freeview HD, existing Freeview services will have to shuffle around, to free up some space. As channel renumbering tends to catch many users out, there’s talk of a National re-tuning exercise happening, and discussion are currently going on to find ways of letting 18 million Freeview users know that they need to make a change – options under discussion include onscreen warnings and leaflets.

Expect to hear more of re-tuning as we get closer to June 2010.

With plans rushing ahead to get BBC HD in place on Freeview for next June’s World Cup, it seems that ITV and Channel 4’s plans for High Definition are in doubt as a result of the credit crunch.

According to a report in Broadcast Magazine in May, the funding crisis affecting ITV and Channel 4 may be causing the broadcasters to re-think plans for HD on Freeview.

Users will need a special box to get Freeview HD, and these are likely to start appearing in late 2009.

More on HD on our Freeview HD page

Thinking of getting Sky? You can now get a Sky+ box free. Normal price of £99 has been waived for a limited time. Get a free Sky+ box when you sign to Sky, as well as a £25 Tesco gift card and half-price installation.

We’re not sure when this offer expires, so you might want to hurry… Details at www.sky.com

Virgin 1 is now broadcasting 24 hours a day on Freeview Channel 20.

The timeshifted service, Virgin 1 +1 is now available on Channel 35 (12 hours day only, from 6pm to 6am).

You may need to perform a channel rescan to get these channels set up on your Freeview receiver.

Quest, Top Up TV, RAJAR, Tiscali… We’ve had two very busy news weeks, so the team have been working hard this evening to get a new podcast out. Our 16 minute update is now online – have a listen to catch the latest.

You can listen online or download the update on the Quest page at FrequencyCast Quest Update

Got iTunes? Download the show here: iTunes Signup

Quest TV, the free documentary channel from Discovery, was set to launch on Freeview today, the 14th of May 2009.

A message on the Quest site at 10am on launch day now announces that the launch has had to be postponed due to “commercial factors”.

Looks like the channel may not launch until towards the end of the year. More details here

UPDATE: Podcast released 14 May covering this story: Quest TV launch update

Today, 14th of May 2009, was meant to see the launch of Quest TV, a new free-to-view documentary channel from Discovery.

All was looking good for the launch – magazine listings were in the Radio Times, electronic programme guides had details of upcoming shows, and the channel was running promotions on Freeview Channel 47 right up to the planned 10am launch time this morning.

Instead of launching at 10am, eager viewers were met with “Coming soon”.

An announcement on the Quest TV website this morning, timed 10am, stated the following:

“Regrettably we have made the decision to postpone the launch of Quest.

Due to a number of commercial factors we have had to make this difficult decision.

We did not make this decision lightly and we are working towards launching Quest in the near future.

We would like to apologise wholeheartedly to any of you that have been looking forward to this launch.”

It seems Quest now won’t launch until later this year, with some commentators doubting that we’ll ever see the channel launch.

More on this when we have it.

UPDATE: Podcast released 14 May covering this story: Quest Failure to Launch Update

A small reshuffle in the 30 channel number range is complete. Here are the new channel numbers:

30 Fiver
31 Five USA
32 Smile TV
33 Smile TV2 (back after a two month absence)

You may need to perform a rescan to pick up the new numbering.

On the 1st of May 2009, Gems TV left the Freeview lineup. This enables Film 4 to start broadcasting two hours earlier, later this May.

We’ve had a number of reports that Top Up TV boxes made by Thomson have started locking up (showing an orange light) and refusing to start. It seems the problem started on the 3rd of May, over the Bank Holiday weekend.

It seems that the issue affects the Thomson DTI-6300 Top Up TV Anytime boxes. They are failing to come out of standby mode, displaying a constant amber light, or getting caught in a restart loop.

The affected Thomson DTI-6300 Top Up TV Anytime box

Top Up TV is aware of this problem and their call centre has been swamped with calls. The issue seems to relate to a faulty electronic programme guide (EPG) download on Sunday morning.

Top Up TV’s site is now providing information on a way to get affected boxes running again. The first thing to try is to disconnect the box from the mains for 20 seconds and get the box to try to start normally. If this doesn’t work – try it again. If there’s still no joy, the next step is a rather fiddly process that results in the hard drive being formatted – which will trash all of the recordings held on the box.

Obviously this is a pretty poor show, and we’re getting reports from users very unhappy at a) this happening over a Bank Holiday weekend, and b) their unwatched TV shows being zapped.

If you’re affected, for reference, here isthe procedure for formattig the box, as outlined by Top Up TV:

Procedure: Front Panel Reset (Reformat HDD)

Attention: this will unfortunately cause your recordings to be lost.

1. Remove power to the unit by removing the power cable from the back of the DTR.
2. Wait 20 seconds and restore the power cable while holding in the standby/power on button on the front panel of the DTR.
3. Release the standby button immediately you see a light ‘blip’ on the DTR front display and then immediately press the following front panel arrow buttons quickly and in the sequence Up > Down > Left > Right
4. The DTR will now show the Orange LED with the Green LED flashing until the format has been completed in about 60 seconds. The DTR will return to ON automatically.
5. If requested, perform a channel scan to complete the operation

Useful links:

• Contact Top Up TV
• Other Digital TV Options

Have your say: Add a comment, or if you want your comments heard on our next podcast, leave us a message on our podline answerphone: 0208 133 4567

We’ve just got our hands on a device called the Griffin Navigate – an add-on remote control that allows iPhone, iTouch and iPod users to listen to FM.

Mini-review and photos online now at radioandtelly.co.uk/griffinnavigate.html

A reminder that we can expect the long-awaited Quest, the documentary channel from Discovery, to appear on Freeview later this month.

Quest takes to the air on 14th May 2009 on Freeview channel 47.

Update 14 May 2009: Launch cancelled! Details: Quest Launch Postponed

Fiver and Five USA are also expected to change channel numbers on May 12th 2009.

Fiver moves to channel 30 (from channel 36), and Five USA moves to channel 31 ( from channel 35).

Our podcast team has just released another TV and Tech show. FrequencyCast Show 39 is now available, covering the following:

• A look at how to get more from Freeview. More channels without buying a dish
• Hands-on with a home security system that’s under £100
• News on iPlayer HD, Freeview changes this month, and a Tiscali update
• A quick run-down of the Nintendo DSi
• A gadget that adds FM radio to your iPhone, iTouch and iPod
• Plus we discuss Slingbox, Freeview HD and BT Openzone in our Interaction section
• You can also win a rare FrequencyCast Fridge Magnet

Download Show 39 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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