Digital Switchover Information - Sedgemoor in Somerset

Most of the Sedgemoor area is served by the Mendip transmitter in the West TV region, and this transmitter switches to digital in 2 stages on 24th March 2010 and 7th April 2010. Many of the Freeview TV channels, radio and text services are already available in Sedgemoor but after switchover viewers in this area should be able to receive 62 channels at time of writing, but this is rising all the time. Equipment will need to be retuned after each of the switchover dates above and then again at some point in 2011 and in 2012 but in most cases this just involves following some on-screen instructions on your Freeview box or TV with built-in Freeview tuner - more information on that here.

As a focus we looked at two random postcodes in the area, one in Bridgwater and one in Highbridge and when we tried these in the Digital UK postcode checker we found the same result for each - the methods of reception for a one off payment are Freeview, Freesat and Freesat from Sky and available subscription services are Top Up TV, BT Vision and Sky.

Freeview

Freeview TV is received through your regular TV aerial (in certain cases an upgrade will be required but generally not) and some kind of Freeview tuner - this could be a standalone box from around £15 upwards to a TV or hard disc recorder with a Freeview tuner (or two) built in. If you're going to use Freeview on its own rather than in conjunction with Sky, Virgin or BT then you need to consider having two tuners or you won't be able to record one programme and watch another.

After switchover the two postcodes we checked will have the following Freeview channels available with more new channels being added all the time...

There are also adult channels and subscription channels available via Freeview.

These are the results we got using the Sky, Virgin Media and BT postcode checkers.

Sky

For both test postcdes we got "Great news, Sky Broadband is currently available in your area. Based on the postcode you have entered there is a good indication you are in a Sky Broadband network area, where Sky Broadband Base, Mid, and Max are currently available. In order to join Sky Broadband you will need an active BT compatible phone line."
What does this mean? All of the services offered by Sky are available to you. Some areas of the country can only get Sky Broadband Connect, which means you can't get the regular Sky broadband services but you can receive the 8MB Connect service down the phone line, but in all of our postcode areas there's a full Sky service available.

Virgin Media

Both the Bridgwater and the Highbridge postcodes got this message;
"You're not in a fibre optic area, but can still get our brilliant broadband down your phone line. With Virgin Broadband you can get the fastest broadband we can deliver down your phone line, up to 20Mb. Then, you can simply add any extras you want, including home phone."
What does this mean? You can get Virgin Media broadband down your phone line but no cable Virgin TV packages - they offer a Freeview box for £40 but this is not connected to the broadband (the way it would be with BT Vision), it's just a Freeview box like any other you would get from a shop. Because Virgin Media relies on each street being cabled there are large variations in availability, so it's always worth checcking your own postcode by clicking on the logo above.

BT

BT broadband is available for both of our test postcodes, the difference being the speed - for Bridgwater we got;
"Your exchange is ADSL enabled, and our initial check on your postcode indicates that your line should be able to have an ADSL broadband service that provides a fixed line rate up to 2Mbps. Our check also indicates that your line currently supports a potential ADSL Max broadband line rate of 5Mbps or greater. Our check also indicates that your line currently supports a potential ADSL2+ broadband line rate of 6Mbps or greater. The actual stable ADSL line rate supportable will be determined during the first 10 days of use. This rate may change over time, to ensure line stability is maintained. If you decide to place an order, a further test will be performed to confirm if your line is suitable for the service you wish to purchase."
What does this mean? BT broadband is available to you and should be fast enough to be able to use BT Vision - you need a broadband speed that averages at least 2Mbps to use BT Vision so all of these postcodes should be fine but it's advisable to check your own postcode to get your own particular line speed.

The result for the postcode in Highbridge was the same but the fixed line rate was only 1Mbps and both ADSL rates 2Mbps, so you would need to check with BT that it was fast enough to support BT Vision