Croydon transmitting station

The **Croydon transmitting station** is a broadcasting and telecommunications transmitter. It is in Upper Norwood, Croydon, London, England. It is owned by Arqiva. It was built in 1955. It opened on 22 September, 1955. It originally used a small lattice tower. The tower currently used was made in 1962. The mast is 152 metres (499 ft) high.

The transmitter is also a maintenance base for transmitter maintenence teams. It also used to have one of four Regional Operations Centres.

## History

It was made by the Independent Television Authority to broadcast ITV on VHF Band III. After UHF television began, the Crystal Palace transmitting station was used. After VHF television ended in January 1985, the Croydon transmitter was not used until 1997.

In 1997, a new directional UHF antenna was given to the transmitter so it could transmit Channel 5 in London. Directional antennas were chosen so it wouldn't interfere with transmitters on continental Europe. It transmitted Channel 5's analogue signal until April 2012, when digital switchover meant that analogue signals were turned of in London. The digital Channel 5 signal was transmitted from Crystal Palace. Croydon also had backup transmitters for BBC1, BBC2, ITV and Channel 4. The backup transmitters were only used during engineering works or an issue at Crystal Palace.

After the digital switchover, no television has been transmitted from Croydon.

### Analogue (FM) Radio

|Frequency|kW|Service|
| --- | --- | --- |
|94.9 MHz|-|BBC Radio London†|
|95.8 MHz|4|Capital London|
|97.3 MHz|4|LBC|
|97.8 MHz|4|Croydon FM|
|100.0 MHz|4|Kiss|
|102.2 MHz|4|Smooth London|
|105.4 MHz|4|Magic|
|106.2 MHz|4|Heart London|
† Backup for the Crystal Palace transmitter.

### Digital (DAB) Radio

|Frequency|Block|kW|Multiplex|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|218.640 MHz|11B|2.5|DRG London|
|223.936 MHz|12A|5|Switch London|
|227.260 MHz|12C|5|London 1|

#### 22 September 1955 - 3 January 1985

The first ITV companies which served London were Associated-Rediffusion on weekdays and Associated Television (ATV) on weekends. They started transmitting on 22 September 1955. They were the first ITV franchises to go on air.
After the mast was rebuilt in 1962 the transmitter power was increased from 60 kW to 400 kW. In 1968, Thames and London Weekend Television (LWT) replaced the first two companies, with Thames replacing Rediffusion and LWT replacing ATV.
On the 3 January 1985, the VHF television service stopped.
|Frequency|VHF|kW|Service|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|194.75 MHz|9|400|Rediffusion/ATV (1955-1968) Thames/LWT(1968-1985)|

#### 30 March 1997 - 18 April 2012

Channel 5 started on 30 March 1997. It started from Croydon and other retired IBA VHF transmitters in the UK. Later on, backup transmitters for ITV and Channel 4 were added in case Crystal Palace couldn't transmit the channels. Sometime later, BBC1 and BBC2 reserve transmitters were also added.
|Frequency|UHF|kW|Service|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|487.25 MHz|23|-|ITV London†|
|543.25 MHz|30|-|Channel 4†|
|599.25 MHz|37|1000|Channel 5|
† Backups for Crystal Palace.

#### 18 April 2012 - present

Since 18 April 2012, no television has been transmitted from Croydon. The backups can still be used if any issues happen at Crystal Palace.
|Frequency|UHF|kW|Service|System|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|490.000 MHz|23|200|BBC A†|DVB-T|
|514.000 MHz|26|200|Digital 3&4†|DVB-T|
|545.833 MHz|30-|200|BBC B†|DVB-T2|
† Backups for Crystal Palace.

## Infobox (transmitter)

- **name**: Croydon
- **image**:
- **bbc**: BBC London <small>(backup)</small>
- **itv**: ITV London <small>(backup)</small>
- **localtv**: London Live (TV channel), London Live <small>(backup)</small>
- **switchover**: 18 April 2012
- **mast height**: 152 meters (499 feet)