Why has my Freeview signal suddenly gone?

Start with what changed. If every channel went at once it is usually the aerial, the cable, the connection at the wall plate or the box, or engineering work at the transmitter. If only some channels went, it is more likely one multiplex, which points at a retune, a weak signal on that multiplex, or a transmitter that does not carry it.

Why do I get some Freeview channels but not others?

Freeview is carried on several multiplexes and each has its own frequency and its own signal strength at your aerial. A relay may not carry all of them at all, and on a main station the commercial multiplexes are often at lower power than the public service ones, so they are the first to drop out on a marginal signal.

Does weather affect Freeview?

Settled high-pressure weather can cause distant transmitters to interfere with yours, giving pixelation or loss on some channels that clears when the weather changes. Heavy rain rarely affects terrestrial TV directly, but water getting into an outdoor cable joint or the aerial's connection box does, and that fault stays.

Should I retune my Freeview box?

If channels are missing after a transmitter change or you have moved, yes. If the picture has simply broken up on channels that were fine yesterday, retuning will not fix a signal problem and can make it worse by tuning to a distant transmitter instead. Check the signal first.

How do I check Freeview signal strength?

Your TV or box has a signal or tuning information screen showing strength and quality per channel. Quality is the figure that matters: strength can be high while quality is poor. Compare the readings across the multiplexes to see whether it is one that is failing or all of them.

No Freeview signal? Check these before calling an installer

Short answer: work out what changed and whether it is all channels or some, and most faults sort themselves into one of six causes. Take ten minutes on this list before booking anyone, because the cheapest fixes are also the most common.

1. All channels, or some?

This one question does most of the diagnosis.

Everything has gone. Something between the transmitter and the screen has failed completely: the aerial has moved, a cable or connector has failed, the amplifier or splitter has lost power, or the transmitter is off for engineering work. Go to steps 3, 4 and 6.

Some channels have gone. Freeview is broadcast as several multiplexes, each on its own frequency with its own signal level at your aerial. Losing one multiplex takes out a whole block of channels together, and leaves the rest untouched. That points at a retune (step 2), a marginal signal on that multiplex (step 5), or a transmitter that does not carry it at all. Which channels went is the clue: the public service multiplexes carrying BBC and ITV reach nearly everywhere; the commercial ones reach fewer sites and are often at lower power.

2. Has the transmitter changed?

Transmitters are retuned from time to time and channel numbers move. If your box has not been retuned since, it is still listening on the old frequency. The tuning menu shows the UHF channel each service is on; compare it against the channels your transmitter currently uses, which Aerial Aligner lists for every site. Our guide on finding your transmitter shows the current channels for the main stations.

One caution. Retuning is the right fix when channels have moved. It is the wrong fix when the signal is weak, because an automatic retune can latch onto a distant transmitter it can just about hear, and then you have a different set of missing channels and a confused box. Check the signal readings (step 5) before you retune for a problem that started as pixelation.

3. Is the aerial still pointing the right way, with the rods the right way up?

Wind, a roofer, a new satellite dish bracket, a bird: aerials move. Check the direction against the bearing to your transmitter, and check the rods are horizontal for a main station, vertical for a relay. Wrong polarisation loses most of the signal on its own.

Aerial Aligner gives the bearing from your location and shows the live deviation on a compass, so you can stand under the aerial and see whether it is still on target. Our guide on which way an aerial should point covers polarisation and why the nearest transmitter is often not the right one.

While you are looking: has anything grown or been built in the line of sight? A tree in full leaf, a new extension next door, scaffolding. A directional aerial wants a clear path, and a lost path costs more than a few degrees of misalignment.

4. The cable and the connections

For a fault that took everything out at once, this is the most likely culprit and the least glamorous. Work along the run:

The plug at the TV. Coax plugs are often just pushed on. Take it off, check the centre pin is intact and not shorted to the braid, and refit it.
The wall plate, if there is one. Same check behind it.
Any splitter, amplifier or booster. Is it powered? Has its power supply been unplugged to make room for something else? Amplifiers fail, and a failed one blocks the signal rather than passing it.
Outdoor joints and the aerial’s connection box. Water gets in, corrodes the connection, and the signal drops, sometimes gradually over weeks. Look for green or white deposits, and for cable that has perished or been chewed.

A section of cable with a suspect joint is cheap to replace and often the whole fix.

5. Weak signal: strength versus quality

Your TV or box has a signal information screen. It shows two numbers per channel, strength and quality, and the second is the one that matters. Strength can read high while quality is poor, which usually means interference or a reflected signal rather than a lack of power. Low strength across every multiplex points at the aerial, cable or amplifier. Low quality on one multiplex only points at that multiplex being marginal at your location.

Marginal signals fail on the commercial multiplexes first, because on many sites those are transmitted at lower power than the public service ones. If BBC One is fine and a shopping channel is not, that is the pattern.

Two things worth knowing about weather. Settled high-pressure conditions can carry signals from distant transmitters much further than usual, and those signals interfere with yours; the effect is pixelation or dropouts on some channels that clears when the weather breaks, and there is nothing to fix. Heavy rain, by contrast, rarely affects terrestrial TV directly, but it finds any gap in an outdoor joint, and that fault does not clear when the sun comes out.

6. Engineering work

Transmitters are taken down or run at reduced power for maintenance, and a main station’s work affects every relay fed from it. Freeview’s website carries service information for planned work by postcode. If the signal readings are zero across the board and the aerial and cable look fine, check that before doing anything else.

When to call someone

Call an installer when the aerial itself needs moving or replacing, when the cable run is inaccessible, or when you have done the list above and the signal readings still make no sense. When you do, you will be able to tell them which channels are missing, what the signal readings say, which transmitter you are on and where it is, and that the cable has been checked. That conversation is shorter and cheaper than “the telly’s not working”.

Transmitter, channel and multiplex information is from Ofcom's published transmitter parameters as bundled in Aerial Aligner. The troubleshooting steps are general guidance; a professional installer's assessment of a specific installation supersedes them. Plan CD is not affiliated with Ofcom, Freeview or any broadcaster.

This guide is general information about UK standards and is not professional advice for your installation. Building regulations, manufacturer's instructions and a competent installer govern. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0 where cited.