If your BBC channels aren’t working properly, then you’re in the right place. Although you might have issues with other channels available on your TV from time to time, it’s much less likely that you’re going to have problems with the major channels, like the BBC and Channel 4. People still tend to have problems with ITV Hub.
However, although it’s pretty unlikely, this can still happen. And with your BBC channels not working, you might not have much else to watch on your television.
The good news is that even if your BBC channels are down, this usually isn’t the biggest problem in the world. And, there are typically a few different things that you can do to try and resolve the problem. Let’s look at how you can get your main TV channels back up and working properly.
BBC Channels not working properly? Try this
The main reason that this has been happening is that there’s usually a big update with the frequency that Freeview are using to send their broadcasting. This is pretty common, and there were a lot of changes throughout 2020 which meant that there was a need for users across the UK to retune their Freeview box.
Outside of just Freeview, this can happen amongst different set top boxes on occasion – it’s pretty normal. It could be something to do with your aerial, but most of the time, it’s easy to fix with a simple retune.
A simple retune
If you have a Freeview box, then the channels going down on your box should be pretty easy to resolve. In the majority of cases, you’ll be able to get all of your channels back by simply retuning your Freeview box.
You can do this quite simply on the majority of Freeview boxes out there. All you need to do is go to Set Up, then into Installation. You should have an option here like Install for the First Time, or Factory Reset. Doing this will take you to the retuning function, which should get your BBC channels back and working for you.
I should probably mention that this is the case for those using a Freeview box, but it can also be the case for other set top boxes as well. This is true if you have a Youview box, Now TV, or you’re with BT, EE or TalkTalk, then you might be able to simply retune your box to get your channels back.
BBC Channels not working on Sky
Now, if you’re using Sky then you can pretty much disregard any of the regular advice that you’ll typically find online about this problem. This is mainly targeted at those using a TV aerial, which you’ll probably know isn’t the case if you use Sky (which uses a satellite).
And whilst it’s rare for this kind of problem to happen with a Sky box, it is definitely possible. There are reports of Sky users who have had their main channels go down (BBC & ITV), whilst the rest of the channels on their box have stayed perfectly fine.
If this is the case for you, then the first thing that you’ll want to check is the leads at the back of the Sky box and your TV. Make sure that everything is connected up properly, at this could be the cause of your problem. You can also try resetting your Sky box to fix the problem too.
Aside from this, the issue actually may lie with your satellite itself. What could be causing the issue is your LNB, or Low Noise Block downconverter, which is what pulls in your signal. Switching this out for a new LNB could fix your issue if it’s pretty old.
My BBC channels aren’t getting good reception
Sometimes, it might not be the case that your BBC channels are not working at all – you might just be getting them shown with a poor quality. Of course, you’re going to want to try and improve your reception.
There are a couple of things that may be causing this problem that should only take you a few minutes to fix.
Conclusion
In conclusion, although it’s not very common for your BBC channels alone to not be working, it can happen whether you’re watching via Freeview, Sky or another format. Sometimes, it may just be weak TV signal strength.
For the most part, there’s a very easy fix to the problem, and it shouldn’t take you long to figure out the solution. Getting your BBC channels back up and running is pretty straightforward for the most part, as you can simply retune the Freeview channels to get them back.
