UK Radio Portal is launching on Freeview channel 277, from the Wednesday 21st September 2022 and DH One is set to join the brand-new platform available to any Freeview Internet connected Smart TV.
DH One will be available to anyone who receives the ITV Westcountry West region programmes as shown on the map below.
If channel 277 is not showing on your TV Guide from Wednesday 21st September 2022 in the above ITV Region you may need to do a retune.
UK Radio Portal (UKRP) is a ground-breaking and innovative new interactive TV service designed to bring an extensive variety of Internet delivered radio channels to the UK Digital Terrestrial TV (DTT) Freeview network via an easy-to-use interface accessible from the Freeview Electronic Programme Guide (EPG).
The service works on compatible Internet connected Smart TV’s, (such as Freeview Play), allowing consumers to access a wide variety of local, regional, national & international radio services without forcing them to leave the familiar surroundings of their main TV screen and Freeview menu.
Underpinned by a global technology harmonisation initiative called HbbTV (Hybrid broadcast broadband TV), UK Radio Portal is an innovative Hybrid TV service that uses broadcast and broadband Internet to deliver radio services to consumers through connected TVs and set‐top boxes.
Newer devices supporting Freeview Play are built on HbbTV standards, allowing consumers to access enhanced interactive features such as red or green button services.
In October 2021, Freeview announced that Freeview Play was now used in over 10 million homes. This followed sales of over 14 million devices, cementing its position as the fastest growing TV platform in the UK.
Freeview Play is built into the majority of new TVs and available to viewers for free, with no monthly fees or joining costs. The platform provides over 80 live TV channels alongside on-demand players such as BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub, All 4, My5, STV Player, BBC Sounds and more – and of course, UK Radio Portal on channel 277.
To access UK Radio Portal on Freeview channel 277, please ensure that you have the following:
- A compatible Freeview TV or set-top-box
- A broadband Internet connection of minimum 2Mbps
- A TV or set-top-box that is connected to the Internet
- A TV or set-top-box that is connected to a UK Freeview/DTT (Digital Terrestrial TV) aerial
UK Radio Portal’s channel number is not showing up on my programme guide
The UK Radio Portal service is broadcast across the UK and reaches c. 92% of all households. If you’re unable to find the UK Radio Portal in your channel listing, you may need to retune your device. The link below provides information about how to retune your TV:
https://www.freeview.co.uk/help/how-do-i-retune-my-tv
There is always a very slim chance that you may live in an area not covered by the Freeview TV signal. To check which channels are available in your area, please visit:
https://www.freeview.co.uk/freeview-channel-checker
If, for example, you can receive Quest on channel 12 or QVC on channel 16, then you should definitely be able to receive UK Radio Portal on channel 277.
The UK Radio Portal channel number will always be present irrespective of whether your TV or device is compatible or connected to the Internet.
TV screen remains black
Legacy TV’s and set-top boxes, (approx. pre-2013), and devices with no Internet connection capability are unable to support the required HbbTV standards necessary to operate interactive TV applications such as UK Radio Portal.
Prior to the HbbTV standard was a technology called MHEG-5, which was developed in the mid-90’s. This older technology is unsupported by UK Radio Portal, and unconnected/non-connectable devices of this generation will display a black screen when tuned to UK Radio Portal
Legacy MHEG-only devices with Internet connection capabilities will be presented with a more graceful message, as shown on the left, advising users that UK Radio Portal is unavailable to these TV’s or set-top-boxes. Unfortunately, the only way to overcome this issue is to invest in newer generation TV with HbbTV support.
