On November 5th, viewers will have to retune their TVs to continue receiving all the channels on Digital Terrestrial Television, which will now start showing broadcasts in ultra high definition.
In order to broadcasts ultra high definition (UHD) in Spain, several channels will need to be reorganised and incorporated into a new free-to-air channel called La Séptima.
This means a new search will be required recover some channels and access new broadcasts, although the regular programming will still be available in high definition (HD).
According to details from the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Administration, you should retune your TV starting from 8am on Thursday, November 5th. There’s no point switch before then as the reorganisation won’t have happened yet.
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A television only knows the channels it found the last time it searched for them. If a channel changes frequency or location, it will not know about them until it performs a new search.
You can retune your TV yourself, very simply using your remote control. All you have to do is press on the settings menu, and select automatic channel search. The process takes a few minutes, and you may need to rescan the channels, although some devices update automatically.
If you have an external decoder, the process is the same from the installation menu.
Those who don’t retune will still be able to watch most of the normal programming, but some channels may disappear from your list until you perform a new search.
Clan (RTVE), DKISS (RadioBlanca), Atreseries (Atresmedia), BeMad, and Boing (Mediaset) are the five channels the Ministry says will be affected by the changes.
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This does not mean they will disappear from your TV, but will change location instead, and you will need to retune your TV to access them.
Households with televisions that are not compatible with the new technology will be able to continue watching their usual HD programming and will not need to buy a new TV.
The ministry assures that there is no need to change the antenna, touch the communal installation, or call any installer, and warns that no one should charge to “adapt it to 4K”.
The installers’ association Fenitel states that first you must rescan the channels and if they are still missing in the whole building, consult your housing association president, because the inspection of a collective installation is paid for via community fees.
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In order to access the new UHD broadcasts, however, with sharper images and a better resolution, you will need a television compatible with the DVB-T2 system. This technology has been included in many recent models.
If you receive TV channels through Movistar Plus+, Orange TV, or Vodafone TV for example, you will not need to retune your TV to continue watching the channels distributed by these platforms.
This is the first phase of the modernisation of digital terrestrial television, which will progressively extend new technology to all state, regional, and local channels. There is still no set date for completing the full process, however.
