Viewers are being given plenty of warning about all free-to-air television channels changing frequencies in Warrnambool on Monday, May 12, as part of a national retune program.

The retune is freeing up the broadcasting spectrum for new services such as mobile broadband.

To maintain reception, Warrnambool city viewers will on May 12 need to retune their digital television, set-top box or digital TV recorder to lock in channels that have moved to new frequencies. 

Retuning takes place using the TV’s remote control. 

For most systems, pressing the ‘menu’ button on the control, then looking for settings such as ‘channels’ or ‘auto-tuning’ and following the prompts will complete the retune. 

A video and three-step guide to retuning is available on the retune website, http://retune.digitalready.gov.au

The federal communications department said frequencies would not change until after 3.30pm on May 12 and retuning should not be done before then.

The retune only affects viewers receiving their TV signal from the tower at Albert Park. 

Other viewers in Warrnambool will need to retune on a different date. The retune is scheduled to avoid evenings and weekends. 

The communications department said there might be some temporary disruption to all television services on retune day. 

It advised it might be useful for viewers to write down their favourite television channel, program recording and parental lock settings before retuning.

The department said the retune would not affect viewers watching TV through the Viewer Access Satellite Television (VAST) service. 

For those watching free-to-air channels via pay TV, the set-top box can be retuned by the provider. 

The department warned that  service outages on the days before and after the retune might also be necessary, due to work being carried out at the transmission site.

Because the retune simply moves free-to-air TV channels to a new location on the broadcast spectrum, it is unlikely to change TV reception or coverage.

The national retune program began in May last year and is due to be completed by December 31 this year.