Loading ...Freesat have today announced the launch of the international news service CNN.
CNN International broadcasts news, politics, business and sports information in over 200 countries and territories internationally, serving a global audience of over 1 billion people.
In addition to CNN International, Rural TV and JML Home & DIY will be launching onto Freesat on 24th March 2009. Rural TV provides news and entertainment to the rural community. JML Home & DIY offers discounted deals for DIY enthusiasts.
Freesat managing director Emma Scott commented;
The launch of CNN International with its world-class reputation for global news and feature programming is an incredibly exciting addition to our line-up, we are delighted to have CNN on board.
All channels will automatically be added via viewers’ Freesat digital boxes or integrated TVs, so viewers will not need to take any action to access the services. CNN will be available on channel 207; Rural TV on channel 403 and JML Home & DIY on channel 808.
March 19th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
Can’t grumble about more content, but can’t really get too excited about these channels either…What I would love too see is a couple from Freeview, does anybody know if we are likely to get FiveUSA, Fiver, or Dave? How about Virgin 1 and Sky 3 or are they even less likely to appear? I know we get a fair few channels that don’t appear on Freeview, but it’d be nice to have the full set!
Andrew CameronQuote
March 19th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
Five US and Fiver will join as soon as Five can find space on the 2D beam. Not much chance of Dave, they are tied into contract with Sky on DSAT; it’s unlikely that they’d want to leave this arrangement as they’ll be benefiting massively from subscription revenue.
adminQuote
March 19th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
CNN is a good addition, but the service could really do with more HD, C4HD is what I’d like to see next
Lee BQuote
March 19th, 2009 at 4:09 pm
If there’s no room for the rest of the 5 family, how come they seem to find a bit of space for or the crap channels. Rural tv and DIY YAWN!
CraigQuote
March 19th, 2009 at 4:42 pm
JML will be deleted but CNN and Rural tv will be nice,lets hope that the over FIVE channels are forthcoming soon though
darnall 42Quote
March 19th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
It doesn’t work like that, all these channels are already FTA and therefore have space on their respective beams; the difference being that the main UK broadcasters must broadcast from Astra2D if you they to be ‘in the clear’. At the moment due to existing BBC/ITV line-ups, plus questionably some Sky channels that shouldn’t be there, Five’s family cannot get on despite them given clear indications that they want to.
adminQuote
March 19th, 2009 at 6:40 pm
Please note: this post is based upon a single forum post on a website. I may be wrong.
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=764709
As I reposted here http://www.joinfreesat.co.uk/index.php/channel-five-launched#comment-8059
The reason five is having difficulty changing their other channels to FTA is due to the large amount of imported programming which they don’t have licenses to show outside of the UK.
You may occasionally see a card on channel five on Freesat saying “We apologize, but this program is unavailable to Freesat viewers. We apologize for the inconvenience.” This is because the majority of channel five’s licenses are for programs to be broadcast in the UK. If they broadcast FTA, some places in Europe can pick up the signal and watch (which channel five isn’t allowed to do). Since Fiver has a large amount of American shows, and five USA is almost entirely American shows, they currently can’t broadcast this to Freesat viewers. It’s for this reason why they made a second stream for Freesat viewers alongside the encrypted Sky channel.
Please note, it’s quite possible that I’m wrong. I am basing this off that forum post.
PeterQuote
March 19th, 2009 at 6:41 pm
Is Rural TV replacing Wedding TV +1 on 403 or is it a typo?
Paul.Quote
March 19th, 2009 at 10:18 pm
Paul, Rural TV is definitely going on 403, we don’t have confirmation on what’s happen with Wedding TV +1 yet.
adminQuote
March 19th, 2009 at 10:50 pm
Any shopping channel / infomercial channel maybe just about apart from QVC is a total waste of bandwidth and no way should be allowed on to freeview, CNN ?? What for, this is meant to be for UK channels not US ones. Freeview should be about quality not quantity. Even the proposed HD ‘slots’ will be low quality ones 36Mbit space for 4 HD channels work that out – 9 each so this is only just twice the quality of SD. Again the whole setup is a mess in the UK. no order at all unlike other countries
DaveQuote
March 19th, 2009 at 11:31 pm
I think Dave’s got the wrong blog. This is Freesat not Freeview.
The CNN that will be on Freesat (and I’ve been watching on non-freesat mode) is the international variant of CNN, much like Al Jazeera English and Russia Today.
In terms of the shopping channels, they’ve been on the satellite for a long time. It’s just that now they have some money to spare so they are signing up to the Freesat EPG.
In terms of HD slots, you’ve stumped me. The HD channels are at 1080i/720p: much higher quality than SD. If you really were talking about HD on freeview, then I don’t know anything about that apart from you’re gonna have to wait till 2012 at least before complaining.
PeterQuote
March 19th, 2009 at 11:33 pm
I’m quite pleased to see CNN, the others a stocking fillers . .
It’s interesting to note that Channel 4 London is still on Astra 2A covering most of Europe . .
StevenQuote
March 20th, 2009 at 12:07 am
I’m delighted to see CNN join, its by far the best news channel.
Their coverage of both Gulf wars was absolutely outstanding and showed much footage not seen on UK news channels. UK news is far too censored. They also have a very large reporter base which seems to get them stories others can’t.
As for the other channels, can’t say I’m bothered but CNN is a real Premiership Standard catch!
Al (Original)Quote
March 20th, 2009 at 12:11 am
Agreed, it’s a big name news channel which we welcome to Freesat with open arms
adminQuote
March 20th, 2009 at 12:34 am
Why don’t they do a Wedding TV – 1 to cater for divorcees?
Andrew MorrisQuote
March 20th, 2009 at 8:46 am
CNN is the one channel I have been waiting for since I got Freesat. No more changing to non-freesat mode for me now.
I would like to see Sky news on there as well. I’m surprised they aren’t already. They can easily afford the cost and it would be good advertisement for them.
I don’t think we’re going to see 4hd this year.
peter PiperQuote
March 20th, 2009 at 9:12 am
Hi
I have read that Foxsat is slingbox compatible, will be great to use the same receiver for ip tv, isn’t it?
And may be for receive Sky Sports News….
davideQuote
March 20th, 2009 at 10:39 am
Good to see CNN, anything good quality is welcomed.
Georgey FruitQuote
March 20th, 2009 at 11:40 am
Unfortunately, although I’m sure some will welcome CNN, this isn’t really adding much to Freesat. I’d love shout and rave about this service to friends and family, but frankly, there isn’t much to rave about. I’d actually recommend people to get Freeview as I find myself still having to go into the children’s playroom to watch Virgin 1, Dave, Five US on my old Humax Freeview box. Freesat is a long way away from being a compelling alternative to Freeview and certainly not Sky. My wife and kids can’t even tell the difference between the SD and HD channels!
DavidQuote
March 20th, 2009 at 11:46 am
Bare in mind though David that whilst Freesat is obviously in competition for customer base with the other platforms, it’s main selling point (or certainly to get the project off the ground) was accessibility to areas that Freeview can’t reach, plus the availability already of high-definition programming. Through official routes with Sky you’d need to sign up to a subscription for this kind of service, and of course Freeview don’t have access to HD at all yet. They all have their pro’s and con’s.
adminQuote
March 20th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
David if it’s such a hassle to go into another room why don’t you just buy a freeview reciever to work alongside with freesat. Most tv’s have them built in but you can pick up the receivers now for next to nothing.
I don’t think even freesat from sky lets you get the Dave and Virgin channels. You only get them if you are a Sky subscriber.
Freeview and Freesat is a good combination and it only takes the press of a button to switch between the 2.
peter PiperQuote
March 20th, 2009 at 6:24 pm
What I don’t understand is that ITV HD was supposed to be exclusive to Freesat, to help push initial sales and yet I recently read that Sky viewers can now access the service through their new updated EPG’s. Surley there should have been a trade-off and Sky should have been made to give us access Channel 4 HD?
MichaelQuote
March 20th, 2009 at 8:51 pm
ITV HD isn’t on the Sky EPG. It’s available via manual tuning, and you don’t get programme info – so a bit like the ‘non freesat’ mode on FS boxes.
Nigel WhitfieldQuote
March 20th, 2009 at 9:30 pm
But at least they can get it. Why not make 4hd free to air so we can tune into it in non freesat mode.
peter PiperQuote
March 21st, 2009 at 10:33 am
Because they almost certainly can’t, due to rights issues, or an existing contract.
Nigel WhitfieldQuote
March 21st, 2009 at 11:17 am
@ David, I have to disagree. I love my Freesat box but then again I guess it depends on your taste in programming and what you watch. Dave would be good but at the bottom line, its mostly Top Gear repeats, Five US and Fiver, certainly I’d like to see, but my whole viewing world doesn’t fall apart without them.
The limited HD I get through Freesat helps to make up for the lack of the other channels for me.
ch 4 HD would be a far better catch as I believe its all HD and shows loads of films, although I’d like to see them all on there.
It would also be nice to see a BBC 1 + 1, BBC 2 +1, Itv 1 +1 Ch5 +1 to allow for recording clashes / those times when you miss the start of something.
Personally, I’d also like to see some sport. Since Al Jazeera Sports News disappeared, there isn’t a single sports channel on Freeesat.
A sports news channel and Extreme (or a homegrown BBC equivolent to cover the Extreme Sports would be nice – I’m not talking wall to wall BMX / skateboarding here which gets very boring (overdone on Extreme) but a good mix
eg loads of surfing films and some competitions, kitesurfing, a odd bit of BMX, odd bit of skateboarding, downhill or slalom freestyle snowboarding (not boring 1/2 pipe), base jumping documentaries / films, some extreme motorsport eg. where they ride motorbikes up vertical canyon walls (don’t know what the sport is called), etc). Simple resaon for the latter request is there’s no coverage of Extreme Sports on any terrestrial channel at all. Also, whereas I’m far from being a teenager or even a twenty something (think double!), it is something that also has teen appeal and given the BBC charter requires them to programme for every demographic, Freesat interestingly seems to have nothing to appeal to the teens / twenty somethings age group other than music. Perhaps the perfect justification for the BBC to spend the money in investing in their own Extreme Sports channel.
Al (Original)Quote
March 21st, 2009 at 11:45 am
Yes and who made up the contract? It was Sky wasn’t it. They could at any time let Channel 4 out of it if they wanted to.
peter PiperQuote
March 21st, 2009 at 6:50 pm
why don’t ITV just keep the HD feed going all the time?
We would then get a better quality for the rest of the programmes as well as the HD advertised ones.
I have noticed that during an HD feed all the adverts come over in HD as does a preview of ‘News at Ten’
If they are going to have an HD streaming facility they should make better use of it.
peterhbQuote
March 22nd, 2009 at 11:26 am
I don’t know about the other channels mentioned but CNN will be a great addition to freesat.
Its also great to see any new channels coming at the minute since they seem to be few and far between lately.
Kevin McMulkinQuote
March 23rd, 2009 at 2:15 pm
March 24th, 2009 at 10:51 am
March 26th, 2009 at 4:03 pm
Almost a year on and there are still no interactive or teletext services on ITV or Channel 4, how long can it take?
Channel 4 still has no mention of Freesat on any of its channels, though they do give EPG numbers for Freeview, Sky and Virgin Media. Maybe someone should remind them they are on Freesat!
Freesat’s website is not much use, it has never had any up to date news about the platform it represents and keeps displaying ‘ We’ve launched several new channels this month. Keep an eye on the website for more channel launches in the coming months. ‘ Now it has been some time ago we had several channels added. Under latest news, not even a mention of CNN joining!
As for HD, well not much happening on that front either!
We need Channel 4 HD, Fiver and Five USA, not more shopping channels!
ExpatQuote
March 26th, 2009 at 4:04 pm
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=1008939
adminQuote
March 28th, 2009 at 11:03 am
when i try to watch cnn all i get is…..new service..please wait ….and nothing happens,the other new channels are ok.
i have a goodmans hd box,just wonderin if anyone with this box is having this problem as well!
alnQuote
April 6th, 2009 at 1:40 am
I get the same as aln….
Just a message saying “new service..please wait” when trying to access CNN…
Any Ideas? I have a Bush standard box.
MichaelQuote
April 8th, 2009 at 9:48 am
I refer to the alleged police assault on the news vendor Ian Tomlinson.
The media, television in general have shown gross irresponsibility in releasing the video footage of the incident into the public domain, by doing so they have put into jeopardy the outcome of any fair trial, that might come about, should, after an investigation a police officer be charged with the assault. A defence lawyer would make great capitol from this evidence in his clients defence.
It also raises another problem and that is, human nature being as it is, the police officers involved or who witnessed the incident, now having seen the video evidence, could now indulge in collusion and collectively come up with a story in a damage limitation in an effort to avoid prosecution or punishment by their seniors.
Frank Ferri
(Newhaven Edinburgh)
FRANK FERRIQuote