Help Receiving BBC TV and Radio

Analogue TV – Picture and sound problems

If there's something wrong with your TV picture or sound, it may be because of a fault with your TV or your aerial, or work going on at your local transmitter, or some kind of interference. To try to work out what's wrong, go through this checklist.

Checklist

Do you have a poor quality picture? See which of the images below looks most like what you can see on your TV and follow the link for more information.
Have you lost reception completely? Check today's transmitter work to see if there's a fault or maintenance work at your local transmitter.
Digital switchover - the project to switch the whole of the UK to digital TV between now and 2012 - means a lot of engineering work at transmitters. Check Digital UK's (External) Planned Engineering Works for news about your local transmitter.
Is it only your TV that's affected? If possible, check with neighbours or another TV connected to a different aerial. If only your TV is affected, the problem is likely to be in your TV or aerial.
Check your TV. Are the leads at the back - to the mains, the aerial, the video or DVD player or recorder, etc - properly connected? Are the plugs secure?
Could your aerial or the cable from it be broken or loose? Could they have been affected by heavy rain or strong winds? Can you see whether the aerial is out of alignment? Go to TV aerials .
Is the weather fine and warm, with high air pressure? This could be affecting your reception. See The effects of weather .
Do you notice a problem only when equipment such as your boiler or washing-machine is operating? See Electrical interference .
Do you know of an outside source of interference such as an illegal broadcaster (pirate radio)? See Radio interference .

Which image is most like your TV picture?

Weak signal

Snowy or fuzzy picture, distorted sound, jumbled Ceefax text, no picture or sound: see Weak signal

Ghosting

Ghosting: see Delayed signal

Electrical interference

Patterns, dots, flashes, loss of colour, buzzing, clicks: see Electrical interference

Radio interference

Wavy or herringbone pattern: see Radio interference

Co-channel interference

Smooth, evenly spaced horizontal bars - a 'Venetian blind' effect: see The effects of weather

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