Mast height 164.6 metres (540 ft) ITV region ITV Central
ITV West | BBC region BBC West Midlands | |
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The Ridge Hill transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications facility located 8.5 miles SE of Hereford in Herefordshire, and close to the border of Gloucestershire. The station transmits the full complement of digital terrestrial multiplexes and an additional ITV West Multiplex. It includes a cable stayed steel lattice mast which has a height of 164.6 metres (540 ft), which in addition to the altitude of the site gives an aerial height of 363 metres (1,191 ft) above mean sea level.
Ridge Hill supplies its signal to 17 relays which allow coverage into "fringe" areas not able to receive a good signal from the main transmitter.
All 5 analogue programme channels were broadcast plus the full 6 digital MUXES although the multiplexes were scattered across the band requiring a wideband aerial for most consumers. Digital switchover was completed on 20 April 2011 where all multiplexes are now located in the Group A antenna band.
In addition to its television output Ridge Hill transmits various radio stations including BBC Hereford and Worcester.
The station covers the south west Midlands, including Herefordshire, and parts of Worcestershire. It also covers parts of the South West, specifically northern Gloucestershire. It does not, however, transmit BBC local programmes for Gloucestershire. These are covered by the Mendip transmitter which cannot be seen from the Gloucester/Cheltenham area.
From 4 December 2006 Ridge Hill broadcast ITV1 West on UHF channel 30 (rebroadcasting the signal from Mendip) in addition to the existing ITV1 Central service on channel 25. This is known as "Ridge Hill West". This followed the restructuring of ITV Regional News and the abolition of the Central South region. As a result, the existing ITV1 Central service now carries news from the West Midlands region, with the new West service being provided for viewers in the south east of the service area in areas such as Gloucester and Cheltenham, which are editorially more closely linked to the west country. This change effectively united ITV coverage for Gloucestershire, as the southern half of the county has always been covered by Mendip and its relays. Since the digital switchover, an extra Digital 3&4 multiplex for ITV1 West has been broadcast on UHF 29.
Analogue television
Since April 2011, analogue television has not been broadcast from Ridge Hill. BBC Two was closed on 6 April and the remaining five services on the 20 April.