Five other masts in England share this design (Belmont, Bilsdale, Mendip, Waltham and the original ill-fated structure at Emley Moor).

[3] An advantage of the tubular design is that engineers can ascend the inside of the mast and avoid adverse weather, which is a problem on frame structures.

The coverage area is for mainly Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Lancashire, Cheshire and southern Cumbria along parts of Derbyshire, Staffordshire and North Yorkshire.

The region's ITV franchisees, Granada Television (weekdays only until 1968) and ABC Weekend TV (launched in 1956), were on air much earlier than North Wales' franchisee, WWN (Teledu Cymru) which launched in 1962 (subsequently HTV Wales) giving viewers more choice than they would with the Welsh transmissions.

However, because of the terrain and the rough landscapes of North Wales, many have likely stayed with Winter Hill, not least because small local relays only broadcast a limited range of multiplexes with a reduced number of channels.

Only Lancaster, Pendle Forest, Saddleworth and Storeton carry all the main 6 multiplexes and have done so since 1998 when Winter Hill also started broadcasting these channels.

† Broadcasts from a directional aerial to cover flintshire North Wales (Rhyl, Prestatyn, Llanrwst, Llandudno and surrounding areas).

‡ Broadcasts from a directional aerial to cover central Lancashire (Wigan, Preston, Southport, Blackpool and surrounding areas).

On 27 February 1958, a Silver City Bristol 170 Freighter (G-AICS) travelling from the Isle of Man to Manchester crashed into Winter Hill (also known as Rivington Moor) several hundred yards away from the mast.