Mast height 183 metres (600 ft) Year built 1952 | Grid reference NS8569563679 | |
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Location Salsburgh, North Lanarkshire BBC region BBC Scotland (1952-1985) | ||
The Kirk o'Shotts transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications site at The Hirst which lies just outside the village of Salsburgh which is near the town of Shotts in North Lanarkshire central Scotland. (Kirk o'Shotts means 'Church of Shotts' and takes its name from nearby Kirk O' Shott's Parish Church and Kirk O' Shotts' Primary School both located as you enter the nearby village of Salsburgh.)
The BBC 405-line television service in Scotland started from Kirk o'Shotts on 14 March 1952 using low power reserve transmitters (Marconi). Full service began on 17 August 1952 using the main high power transmitters (Vision EMI Type 5704, Sound STC Type CTS-12). The station provided a service to a potential 4.1 million viewers and operated on Channel 3 (Vision 56.75 MHz, Sound 53.25 MHz) and transmissions were vertically polarised.
It subsequently became the main national FM transmitting station for the area, although that role is now filled by the nearby site at Black Hill.
Three DAB multiplexes are broadcast from the site: BBC (12B), Digital One (12A) and Switch Scotland (11D).
It has a 183 metres (600 ft) tall guyed mast, built in 1952. The mast was originally 228.6 metres (750 ft) tall.
The station is owned by Arqiva.
Analogue television
VHF analogue television was transmitted from Kirk o'Shotts from its launch in 1952 until the nationwide shutdown of VHF signals in 1985.