The Menzieshill water tower has been chosen as the new site for the TV transmitter serving the Charleston area of Dundee but viewers will only get a partial Freeview service.
Arqiva, the company that runs the national transmitter network, has applied to the city council for planning permission to place three antennae on top of the prominent structure in Yarrow Terrace.
This will replace the existing equipment, officially known as the Camperdown relay, which is on top of one of the Menzieshill multis due for demolition soon.
Charleston’s location makes it difficult for TV aerials to pick up the signal from the main Angus transmitter, which lies to the north of the city, and many viewers have had to rely on the relay transmitter instead.
Digital switchover is coming next month, with the existing analogue signal being switched off in a two-stage process. Once it is complete only TVs capable of processing the digital signal will be able to pick up broadcasts.
However, an Arqiva spokesman has confirmed that Charleston viewers who have no alternative to the Camperdown relay will not get the full range of digital channels.
He said, “I can confirm that the planning application for the water tower at Menzieshill is to enable the relocation of the Camperdown TV relay. For some households this may eventually require aerials to be redirected.
“Switchover will occur in the area as normal on August 4 and 18 and viewers needing aerial work for any reason may like to consider direct reception from Angus which will carry the full range of Freeview channels at high power.
“Subject to planning approval, the Camperdown relay will be relocated a few months after switchover and, like all such relays, will carry the public-service multiplexes but not the additional commercial services.”
This will restrict viewers to around 15 channels from the BBC, STV, Channel Four and Five considerably fewer than will be available to households able to pick up the Angus signal.
The fate of the Camperdown relay has been a topic of debate on TV websites.
One local writing recently said, “The Camperdown relay has always been vital for the Charleston area of Dundee. The area is low-lying and the signal from Angus doesn’t get down into this part of Dundee.
“It’s a bit like being at the bottom of a soup bowl the edges are so steep and the houses are so close to the slope that the TV and radio signals just go right over rather than being able to bend down in time.”