Channel 1 (North American TV) - Other Reassigned Channels

Other Reassigned Channels

Channel 1 is not the only "missing" channel. In most countries, no stations are assigned to UHF Channel 37 (608 to 614 MHz), which is reserved for radio astronomy. It remains on TV sets and tuners. There are a few Channel 37 stations operating in countries such as the Dominican Republic and Trinidad & Tobago.

Other channels have been removed and reassigned as well, but only from the higher UHF bands. Channels 14 to 83 (sans 37), from 470 to 890 MHz, were originally added by the FCC in 1952 for the rapidly-expanding TV service in the United States. In 1983, channels 70 to 83 (806 to 890 MHz) were removed for AMPS mobile phone services (leading to one side of some conversations being heard on older TV sets on those channels). On June 12, 2009, channels 52 to 69 (698 to 806 MHz) were removed and will be reallocated for other uses. These same channels were reallocated in Canada on August 31, 2011. In South Korea and the Philippines, Channels 60 to 69 are no longer used. In Brazil, these channels are used only for linking (it will be phased out in the future or government-based networks.

In Europe, other recently abandoned TV channels are being used for DAB digital radio, in VHF band III.