BBC One will be gone from your set-top box – find out when it affects your region

BBC One will soon be gone forever from some set-top boxes because they’re too old.

The broadcaster closes SD (standard definition) channels on satellite and switches them to only HD (high definition) instead.

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That means people can finally see their local news on the main channel in HD.

However, outdated Freesat and Sky satellite set-top boxes, which can only handle SD channels, will not be able to tune in once the changes are made.

The BBC is switching regional and national variants of BBC One and Two from now until February.

By early 2024, the broadcaster will cease all SD broadcasts via satellite, so those affected will now need to upgrade their set-top boxes.

The switch began this week with BBC One South, BBC One Northern Ireland and BBC Two Northern Ireland.

Below are the dates when your local channels will be transitioning.

January 23 (Freesat) / January 24 (Sky)

• BBC One South
• BBC One Northern Ireland
• BBC Two Northern Ireland

January 30 (Freesat) / January 31 (Sky)

• BBC One East
• BBC One East Midlands

February 6 (Freesat) / February 7 (Sky)

• BBC ALBA
• BBC One West Midlands
• BBC One East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire
• BBC One Wales
• BBC Two Wales

February 13 (Freesat) / February 14 (Sky)

• BBC Red Button (RB1)
• BBC One West
• BBC One South West
• BBC One Channel Islands
• BBC One London

February 20 (Freesat) / February 21 (Sky)

• BBC Parliament
• BBC One North East and Cumbria
• BBC One North West
• BBC One Yorkshire
• BBC One Scotland

February 22 (Freesat) / February 23 (Sky)

If you are unsure if you are affected, there is a dedicated channel on Freesat that allows you to check.

It runs on channel 799.

If your set-top box is OK, it will display “Good news!” Message.

But if it says “Sorry, your satellite set-top box isn’t capable of receiving HD services” you’ll need to get a replacement to continue receiving BBC channels in the future.

Old Sky SD only sets can check this by going to channel 105.

If you see “Channel 5 HD” everything is fine, but if it’s only “Channel 5” you can only receive SD channels.

Those on Freeview don’t need to make any changes.

Local versions of BBC One HD will soon appear on Channel 101 and an SD version will continue on Channel 1.

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