Burnhope transmitting station
Burnhope transmitting station is in Burnhope, County Durham. It was built in 1958 by BICC for the Independent Television Authority (ITA) to run the Tyne Tees television service using the old 405-line system. Test transmissions began in December 1958, about a month before Tyne Tees launched on 15 January 1959. The station sits near the BBC’s Pontop Pike transmitter.
The mast stands about 750 feet tall. Burnhope broadcast on VHF Channel 8 with a strong 100 kW signal, covering a wide area from the North Yorkshire moors and Teesside to the northern reaches of Northumberland. When UHF television started in the late 1960s, Pontop Pike carried those services for Newcastle and County Durham, so Burnhope remained a 405-line transmitter. Later, other UHF transmitters such as Bilsdale West Moor and Chatton served the region.
Burnhope later found new use as part of the commercial radio network. It carried Metro Radio on 97.0 MHz (now 97.1) as the North East’s first ILR service. After the 405-line TV service ended in January 1985, Metro Radio was the main broadcasting duty for several years, followed by new regional radio services in the 1990s.
On 1 September 1994, Burnhope began broadcasting the first new North East regional radio service, Century Network (which later became Real Radio North East and is now Heart North East). Galaxy North East (now Capital North East) followed on 1 June 1999. In March 1997, Channel 5 launched and Burnhope, along with other ITA stations, carried the new channel. When analogue TV ended during the digital switchover in September 2012, Channel 5 moved to the Pontop Pike transmitter for digital reception.
Two more analogue radio services were added: Durham FM (launched 5 December 2005; now Sun FM/Nation Radio North East) and Smooth North East (launched 8 January 2008). The transmitter also carries local DAB services (Bauer Digital) and MXR Digital regionally.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 20:52 (CET).