Milton Keynes has been the subject of many television programmes over the years, unfortunately some have not portrayed the New Town in the best of light. This hasn't put the people of Milton Keynes off wanting a channel they can call their own.
As a result, various incarnations of 'Milton Keynes Television' has existed but unfortunately they have not survived for one reason or another. This page is dedicated to the creation of those televisions stations and the impact they have had on Milton Keynes.
Watching TV in Milton Keynes.
When the first estates of Milton Keynes were being built, it was decided to incorporate a state of the art cable network system which allowed several channels to be transmitted into the homeowners front room. To view the channels the homeowner rented a set-top box from the service provider. This initially expensive option was made possible because the planners of Milton Keynes had set out in the master plan that they did not want to have ‘unsightly’ TV aerials and later satellite dishes ruining the sky line of the new town.
Another aspect which made the cable system more favourable is that Milton Keynes is located in a terrine shadow which reduces the strength of the signal from the nearby Sandy Heath transmitter. The Cable system was installed by British Telecom though due to a ruling by the government it was decided that BT could not be the content provider and content carrier, so instead of selling the whole network off they settled on leasing the final portion of the network up to the house to NTL (now Virgin Media). There have been rumours and confusion that the future of the cable system after the digital switch over, it all comes down to the fact the network was never built to deliver a digital signal into the homes. Those this could be resolved by upgrades to the key components on the network.
To date because of various complications these upgrades have not been carried out. In the mean time BT have upgraded their equipment at the Headend (the central location where the signals originate) located at Linford Wood some time ago so that all the Television channels used by the network are actually sourced via satellite but encoded and distributed though the analogue network. Which means if you live in a property connected to the cable network and have an analogue TV you just need to attach it to the wall socket and you will continue to receive TV after the 31st March with no additional purchases.
Channel 40 (1976 - 1979)
Originally set up by BT (British Telecom) and the Milton Keynes Development Corporation in 1976, Co-Ax Cable Communications Limited produced a public access cable TV station called 'Channel 40'. The original studios were based on the housing state of Fishermead and produced content which was available on UHF channel 40 on the cable network throughout Milton Keynes. The centre featured a complete studio, rehearsal room and offices.
Sports On Channel 40 Channel 40 featured a weekly sports programme which was transmitted on a Tuesday at 20:30 and then repeated on Wednesday. The people behind the programme where volunteers Tony Blake, Stuart McLaren and Steve Morton, who during the day were civil servants. Steve is the one who actually got in touch with HiddenMK and provided us with the newspaper cutting to the left. He also told us that most of the recordings they did were recorded using a single bulky black and white camera with a separate Sony U-Matic recorder, which had to be lugged to some quite lofty camera spots including the roof of a football stand in Wolverton and a clubhouse of the rugby club. Steve and the team also filmed a horse-riding event which involved a couple of the portable cameras and a couple of the studio cameras linked back to a van. Closure When the station closed down in 1979 due to the lack of programming and funding, it was decided to reuse the building as the home for the newly formed 'Community Radio Milton Keynes' which remained there until mid-1980s until it found itself at a temporary home at the Inter-Action Centre on Peartree Bridge. When the commercial radio station franchise for Milton Keynes was proposed in 1989, Horizon radio included that it would house the Community Radio service within its new building on Crownhill. This also coincided with Community Radio Milton Keynes becoming Cable Radio Milton Keynes. Unfortunately due to the condition of the cable network, it was proved too costly to continue providing analogue transmission so in 2008 it was decided to transmit CRMK via the Internet so it could reach areas further afield.
MKTV (2006)
With the initial concept being launched in a shower of publicity, MKTV (Milton Keynes Television LTD) promised to be a station for MK with the tag line 'Its All About Me'. Though with the state of the now much-degraded analogue cable system being so poor and the reluctance of the then leaseholders from carrying the service it was decided to launch the channel SKY TV platform on channel number 227. Just prior to the launch of the channel a large amount of production staff were taken on board to produce programmes which included initially an early morning breakfast show but this was then rescheduled to an Evening Show. Unfortunately for all those who got involved and dedicated a lot of their time and effort to making programmes for the station, it didn't end well and the station only lasted 2 months. The owner of MKTV had put this down to not being able to secure appropriate funding to sustain the ever-growing costs. Upon the closure of MKTV, the owner announced it would be off the air for a short period while it restructured and sought funding from other sources.
Though during this time it was made public that the owner had not settled large debts which had been accrued with various subcontractors prior to the launch Milton keynes Citizen Article titled 'Do Not Adjust Your Set' and that those contractors had issued him with a winding-up order. The station never produced any further Milton Keynes based programming again but instead provided airtime for text-in/phone in based programming and as well as your run of the mill Shopping TV.
As a result, various incarnations of 'Milton Keynes Television' has existed but unfortunately they have not survived for one reason or another. This page is dedicated to the creation of those televisions stations and the impact they have had on Milton Keynes.
Watching TV in Milton Keynes.
When the first estates of Milton Keynes were being built, it was decided to incorporate a state of the art cable network system which allowed several channels to be transmitted into the homeowners front room. To view the channels the homeowner rented a set-top box from the service provider. This initially expensive option was made possible because the planners of Milton Keynes had set out in the master plan that they did not want to have ‘unsightly’ TV aerials and later satellite dishes ruining the sky line of the new town.
Another aspect which made the cable system more favourable is that Milton Keynes is located in a terrine shadow which reduces the strength of the signal from the nearby Sandy Heath transmitter. The Cable system was installed by British Telecom though due to a ruling by the government it was decided that BT could not be the content provider and content carrier, so instead of selling the whole network off they settled on leasing the final portion of the network up to the house to NTL (now Virgin Media). There have been rumours and confusion that the future of the cable system after the digital switch over, it all comes down to the fact the network was never built to deliver a digital signal into the homes. Those this could be resolved by upgrades to the key components on the network.
To date because of various complications these upgrades have not been carried out. In the mean time BT have upgraded their equipment at the Headend (the central location where the signals originate) located at Linford Wood some time ago so that all the Television channels used by the network are actually sourced via satellite but encoded and distributed though the analogue network. Which means if you live in a property connected to the cable network and have an analogue TV you just need to attach it to the wall socket and you will continue to receive TV after the 31st March with no additional purchases.
Channel 40 (1976 - 1979)
Originally set up by BT (British Telecom) and the Milton Keynes Development Corporation in 1976, Co-Ax Cable Communications Limited produced a public access cable TV station called 'Channel 40'. The original studios were based on the housing state of Fishermead and produced content which was available on UHF channel 40 on the cable network throughout Milton Keynes. The centre featured a complete studio, rehearsal room and offices.
Sports On Channel 40 Channel 40 featured a weekly sports programme which was transmitted on a Tuesday at 20:30 and then repeated on Wednesday. The people behind the programme where volunteers Tony Blake, Stuart McLaren and Steve Morton, who during the day were civil servants. Steve is the one who actually got in touch with HiddenMK and provided us with the newspaper cutting to the left. He also told us that most of the recordings they did were recorded using a single bulky black and white camera with a separate Sony U-Matic recorder, which had to be lugged to some quite lofty camera spots including the roof of a football stand in Wolverton and a clubhouse of the rugby club. Steve and the team also filmed a horse-riding event which involved a couple of the portable cameras and a couple of the studio cameras linked back to a van. Closure When the station closed down in 1979 due to the lack of programming and funding, it was decided to reuse the building as the home for the newly formed 'Community Radio Milton Keynes' which remained there until mid-1980s until it found itself at a temporary home at the Inter-Action Centre on Peartree Bridge. When the commercial radio station franchise for Milton Keynes was proposed in 1989, Horizon radio included that it would house the Community Radio service within its new building on Crownhill. This also coincided with Community Radio Milton Keynes becoming Cable Radio Milton Keynes. Unfortunately due to the condition of the cable network, it was proved too costly to continue providing analogue transmission so in 2008 it was decided to transmit CRMK via the Internet so it could reach areas further afield.
MKTV (2006)
With the initial concept being launched in a shower of publicity, MKTV (Milton Keynes Television LTD) promised to be a station for MK with the tag line 'Its All About Me'. Though with the state of the now much-degraded analogue cable system being so poor and the reluctance of the then leaseholders from carrying the service it was decided to launch the channel SKY TV platform on channel number 227. Just prior to the launch of the channel a large amount of production staff were taken on board to produce programmes which included initially an early morning breakfast show but this was then rescheduled to an Evening Show. Unfortunately for all those who got involved and dedicated a lot of their time and effort to making programmes for the station, it didn't end well and the station only lasted 2 months. The owner of MKTV had put this down to not being able to secure appropriate funding to sustain the ever-growing costs. Upon the closure of MKTV, the owner announced it would be off the air for a short period while it restructured and sought funding from other sources.
Though during this time it was made public that the owner had not settled large debts which had been accrued with various subcontractors prior to the launch Milton keynes Citizen Article titled 'Do Not Adjust Your Set' and that those contractors had issued him with a winding-up order. The station never produced any further Milton Keynes based programming again but instead provided airtime for text-in/phone in based programming and as well as your run of the mill Shopping TV.