hackHull? - Rediffusion: Introduction

Introduction

You've probably heard of Rediffusion television and radios. They're one of, if not the earliest cable television providers. Hull has had a cable TV system since around 1938, when the area didn't have a television transmitter nearby. Thus a large receiver was built which piped BBC and IBA programmes along a cable into homes in the Hull area. There were two systems; the original system was not widespread and consisted of a one-channel service operating 405-line VHF black & white only, and the newer system consisted of a four-channel 625-line VHF transmission.

Rediffusion operated their UK operation from a large building on Beverley Road, opposite the Beverley Road wing of the hospital (near Aldi supermarket and the Ringside Pub). After this the place was for a while a car lot. Since then it has caught fire several times and been badly vandalised. At the time of writing it has apparently been sold to a company who are going to knock it down and turn it into a hotel (so if you're going to go trashing for docs, do it now!).

All the cables around Hull still exist, and are now owned by a cable TV company called MultiChannel Cable, who pipe Sky One, Sky Sports, Sky Movies and The Movie Channel across its cables.

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Disclaimer: All the info given here is incomplete, there's always something missing. This is basically to cover our own backs, but for someone with a bit of sense it shouldn't be too hard to fill in the blanks. The authors of this page and the carriers do not take any responsibility whatsoever for any action you may carry out as a result of you reading or using this information. Any documentation provided is given for research purposes only.