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Following the announcement that The Bill would be in stunning high-definition on the ITV HD service, ITV seem to have failed in the first week with this evenings episode not flagging the red button prompt required to access the HD feed.

Yesterdays episode (the first part of two) was available with an improved picture over what many have been use to from this long running drama, but alas, the success was short lived.

At least if ITV HD was run as a separate channel like C4 HD (not yet available on Freesat) fans could have enjoyed an up-scaled version rather than just standard-definition.

ITV blame a technical error;

Unfortunately, last night’s episode of ‘The Bill’ did not broadcast in HD as advertised due to a technical problem at ITV. ITV are looking into the matter and apologise for any disappointment caused.

Freesat themselves must be bitterly disappointed following additional promotion carried out in the last few weeks.

Following on from our previous guest post on sales figure ratio’s, AndrewM has once again done some digging to bring us to latest figures from Q1 of 2009.

Figures for Q1 of 2009 look good compared with the expected busy period of Q4 2008, with only a small drop HD sales and no change in SD sales. Freesat have already announced sales have reached 400,000 by the anniversary in May so at this rate, 500,000 within the month of July is more than achievable and a great milestone to reach.

Here’s more detail on the sales figures:

Freesat unit sales - 2008

Q2 2008: 39,000 units (15,000 SD and 24,000 HD) (61% HD) [1]
Q3 2008: 69,000 units (20,000 SD and 49,000 HD) (71% HD) [2]
Q4 2008: 125,000 units (26,000 SD and 99,000 HD) (79% HD) [3]

Total sales for 2008: 233,000 units (61,000 SD and 172,000 HD) (74% HD) [3]

Freesat unit sales - 2009

Q1 2009: 117,000 units (26,000 SD and 91,000 HD) (78% HD) [4]

Total sales since launch

350,000 (87,000 SD and 263,000 HD) (75% HD) [4]

[1] http://www.ofcom.org.uk/research/tv/reports/dtv/dtu_2008_q2/q2_2008
[2] http://www.ofcom.org.uk/research/tv/reports/dtv/dtu_2008_03/q3_2008.pdf
[3] http://www.ofcom.org.uk/research/tv/reports/dtv/dtu_2008_04/q42008.pdf
[4] http://www.ofcom.org.uk/research/tv/reports/dtv/dtu_2009_01/q12009.pdf

On Saturday 4th July (American Independence Day), Freesat will bring viewers the prestigious BET Awards 2009 in brilliant high-definition; a UK exclusive for the subscription-free digital satellite TV service.

Held in LA (Los Angeles) on Sunday 28th June, this year’s BET Awards are hosted by Oscar winner Jamie Foxx and will feature performances from Hollywood A-listers Beyonce Knowles, Kanye West and Jay-Z.

Watching this year’s BET Awards in HD is a special bonus for Freesat HD viewers who can catch an HD simulcast of the ceremony exclusively on the BET HD channel (channel 142), on Saturday 4th July from 8.00pm. Freesat standard-definition viewers will not miss out though and can watch the awards by tuning in to the normal BET channel (Channel 140) at the same time.

The BET Awards were established in 2001 by Black Entertainment Network to celebrate the best African American talent from music, film, television and sport and previous winners include Prince, Mariah Carey, Denzel Washington, Will Smith and Halle Berry.

Viewers should look out for the special BET HD channel (142) as it appears in the Freesat EPG from Thursday 2nd July until after the event.

Freesat’s MD Emma Scott comments;

Being able to broadcast this year’s BET Awards exclusively on Freesat in HD is a real coup and we hope Freesat viewers will really enjoy watching some of the world’s biggest entertainers like Beyonce and Jay Z with amazing HD picture and sound quality.

We’re committed to bringing our viewers brilliant HD programming completely subscription-free and we hope this will be the first of many Freesat HD exclusives.

This is great news for Freesat, obtaining an exclusive such as this isn’t easy with other satellite platforms available, so lets hope it’s a massive success and the start of other such exclusives.

Click to enlarge

TechniSat have today announced the launch of the new Freesat high-definition (HD) digital box, equipped with a range of advanced features which will give viewers greater functionality and ease-of-use.

Receiving a Gold Award in a recent review by What Satellite & High Definition magazine, the TechniSat HDFS Freesat digital box comes with an extended feature set which allows the playback of movies, music and pictures from either USB memory sticks, memory cards, or from a PC using the LAN connection or a TechniSat WiFi adaptor (sold separately). The receiver is also eco-friendly, consuming just 0.25 watts in standby mode.

Cementing the partnership TechniSat and Freesat announced earlier this year, Martin Cole, TechniSat’s MD comments

We are very pleased with our relationship with Freesat which has given us the opportunity to create an award winning HD digital box, helping to position TechniSat as a premium UK brand.

Emma Scott, Freesat’s MD, added

With the arrival of their new Freesat box, TechniSat are providing viewers with yet another compelling way to access the range of channels and services available on Freesat.

The HDFS Freesat digital box comes with a three year manufacturer’s guarantee and is available now from some independent, and available within the next week or two from Currys, Comet and Maplin.

We’ll update the TechniSat product page with price comparisons as soon as they are available.

As of the 1st July 2009 The Bill will grace the high-definition stage on ITV HD twice per week. This is an additional boost for ITV who have clearly increased their HD output over the past few weeks. Fans of The Bill with a HD Ready television and Freesat HD digital box will be able to press the red button and enjoy this long running drama in crystal clear picture and sound.

Additional highlights over the next couple of weeks include Wimbledon, the 2004 hit staring Kirsten Dunst and Paul Bettany; plus drama’s such as The Royal and Kingdom. A full schedule can be found here.

Emma Scott, Managing Director of Freesat, took the top prize in the media category at last night’s First Women Awards, held at the Marriott Hotel in London.

The annual awards, founded in 2004 by the CBI and Real Business magazine, celebrate the achievements of women who are trailblazers and pioneers in business, across sectors including media, finance, business services and manufacturing. Also nominated in the media category were Yasmin Jeetha, COO of the Financial Times and Carol Stone, MD of YouGovStone. The award comes in the same week that Freesat won Best New Brand or Business at the Marketing Society Awards for Excellence.

Emma commented;

It’s important to recognise the achievements of women in business everywhere. So to receive this prestigious award is a real honour, especially when Jetha and Carole are such exceptional women. I couldn’t have won this award without the support of many great people during my career - and now thanks to our shareholders, the BBC and ITV and the fantastic team at Freesat who have worked incredibly hard to make the service such a brilliant success in only its first year.

Congratulations Emma.

Freesat has won the ‘Best New Brand or Business’ category at the Marketing Society Awards for Excellence, beating off competition which included the BBC’s iPlayer service.

The award reflects the great strides Freesat has made in only its first year, exceeding 400,000 sales and offering viewers over 140 digital television and radio channels, including the BBC and ITV HD services.

Will Abbott, Freesat’s marketing director comments;

We are delighted and proud to win this award as it highlights the impact we have made over the last 12 months - spending a fraction of the budget of our competitors - and the incredible work of the whole company. We’re already building on this success through 2009 - adding more customers, channels and launching IPTV services such as BBC iPlayer.

Freesat has used PR agency Borkowski since launch. Farm handle all advertising creative work and media is planned and bought by MPG.

Freesat press release

Taken from a post on DigitalSpy (thanks jzee!), we thought it might be a good idea publishing here to; showcase some of the many channels available on your Freesat box via the ‘non-Freesat’ mode. These channels are FTA (free-to-air) but have so far decided not to join the Freesat EPG (electronic programme guide) for full 7 day listings and an assigned channel number.

Just switch your Freesat receiver over to ‘non-Freesat’ mode, carry out a scan, and you’ll find hundreds of channels including these worth a look. Hopefully one day they will find themselves on the Freesat EPG, but that is down to the broadcaster and whether they are willing to pay the fee for inclusion.

Films/Drama

Brit Shorts - french short film & animation
11426 H, 27500 2/3

Film24 - films, classic kids progs, film previews, interviews, film festivals.
12690 V, 27500 2/3

Movies4Men+1 - if you miss something on the freesat channel (ch 304)
12524.00 H, 27500 2/3

Movies4Men2+1 - if you miss something on the freesat channel (ch 306)
11259 V, 27500 2/3

Paranormal - classic mystery, UFO and ghost stuff, old films
11488 V, 27500 2/3

World Movies - ‘highbrow’ world cinema
12643 V, 27500 2/3

Lifestyle/Travel

Horse & Country - UK countryside stuff, horse trials fishing, farming, stately homes
12560 V, 27500 2/3

Luxe HD - french channel showing premium food, fashion, travel, art, cars; in HD
12643 H, 27500 2/3

SA Direct - documentaries on southern africa, not all travel focused
11343 V, 27500 2/3

Sky Travel - travel deals shopping channel
10876 V, 22000 5/6

Thomas Cook - travel sales
11527 V, 27500 2/3

Travel Channel - travel documentaries, sales
12560 V, 27500 2/3

Travel Channel+1 - travel documentaries, sales
12690 V, 27500 2/3

Travel Deals Direct - thomson holiday sales
12560 V, 27500 2/3

News/Documentaries/Community

Channel M - Manchester news, documentaries; some sport
11527 V, 27500 2/3

Community Channel - charity activities in 3rd world and UK
12226 H, 27500 2/3

Controversial TV - political; plus supernatural/extraterrestrial/conspiracy theory
11222 H, 27500 2/3

Press TV - Iranian 24 hour news channel
12690 V, 27500 2/3

Sky News - UK 24 hour news (award winning)
12207 V, 27500 2/3

Zone Reality+1 - if you miss something on the Freesat channel (ch 136)
11261 H, 27500 2/3

Music

Bliss - mainstream pop
11642 V, 27500 2/3

Brit Asia TV - asian pop
12480 V, 27500 2/3

Channel AKA - hip hop
12690 V, 27500 2/3

Flaunt - house, trance, disco
11642 V, 27500 2/3

Flava - hip hop, R&B, garage, drum n bass
11642 V, 27500 2/3

Music India - indian pop
12643 H, 27500 2/3

NME TV - indy rock
11642 V, 27500 2/3

oMusic TV - classical
11223 V, 27500 2/3

Starz TV - youth orientated pop
11343 V, 27500 2/3

Radio

Arrow Rock
10862 H, 22000 5/6

Galaxy
10862 H, 22000 5/6

Heart
10862 H, 22000 5/6

LBC
10862 H, 22000 5/6

Magic
11623 H, 27500 2/3

Real Radio
10862 H, 22000 5/6

Smooth
10862 H, 22000 5/6

Panasonic’s range of 3 Freesat+ PVR receivers have been given a launch date of 26th June 2009. Panasonic usually stick to their launch dates and have the products in-store prior to this, so if anyone is looking forward to the release, you only have a few weeks to wait. Panasonic have a page specifically counting down to launch.

If you don’t know much about these new receivers, have a look here, here and here.

It would appear from looking at the next 2 weeks listings that ITV have dramatically increased the number of programmes on their high-definition service, available to all Freesat HD owners via the red button.

With approx. 26 hours of HD in the next 2 weeks; it is still a long way off the BBC’s standard 9 hours per day, but it is a noticeable difference we thought was worth a mention, so make sure you get your fill of HD over the next few weeks!

Have the look at the latest schedule for ITV HD