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Freesat have today launched its first Freesat awards. The awards recognise the outstanding contribution that Freesat partners have made in the fantastic success of Freesat in its first year. Across all of the award categories, the judges will be looking for creativity, innovation, quality, choice and brilliant customer experience. The awards ceremony will take place on 20th May 2009.
A panel of key individuals from across the broadcast industry have been brought together to form a highly experienced and expert judging panel (our invite must be lost in the post 
). The panel includes The Guardian’s executive editor, Janine Gibson; DTG Chairman and Broadcast columnist, David Docherty; Media Commentator, Mark Borkowski and Freesat’s very own Managing Director, Emma Scott. The panel will be chaired by Mike Chandler, Managing Director of Astra. Astra GB is also the event’s main sponsor.
Freesat’s awards categories represent the whole viewer experience from products and channels through to retailers and installers. The full list is as follows:
Viewers’ Choice: Freesat Channel or Service of the Year
This award is for the best Freesat channel or service of the year, whether TV or radio, with the winner to be chosen by Freesat viewers. Voters will be asked to consider which channel or service has most enhanced their viewing; which has provided them with their best TV or radio moment of the year; which they have ‘discovered’ on Freesat; and which they would recommend to their friends.
Best Digital Channel: Daytime viewing
The panel will be looking for the Freesat digital channel which offers viewers the best daytime mix of programming – the channel that viewers would happily spend the whole day at home watching, without reaching for the remote.
Best Digital Channel: Evening viewing
The panel will be looking for the Freesat digital channel which offers viewers the best peak or evening mix of programming – the channel that sets the mood for a great night in.
Best Digital Radio Station
Our judges will be picking the winner for this award based on the radio station’s sense of personality and identity, quality of programming and presenting and the station’s overall creativity.
Best Digital News Channel
This award recognises the Freesat digital news channel which our judges would turn to when a big story breaks; a channel with a trusted viewpoint, that goes beyond just reporting the headlines.
Product of the Year
All Freesat products will automatically be entered into this category. The winner will be selected through a panel of industry experts. The panel will be basing their decision on product innovation, picture and sound quality, ease of use, design and value for money.
Multiple Retailer of the Year
The judging panel will be looking for exceptional knowledge from sales staff about the Freesat platform and products. Promotional activity will also be taken into consideration as well as the retailer’s Freesat sales figures. All Freesat multiple retailers will be automatically entered into this category.
‘Take a Town’ Independent Retailer of the Year
The judging panel will be looking for exceptional knowledge from sales staff about the Freesat platform and products. Promotional activity will also be taken into consideration as well as the retailer’s Freesat sales figures. This award is open to any independent retailer who has been featured in the Electrical Retail News ‘Take a Town’ section.
Freesat Installer of the Year
This award recognises the licensed Freesat installer who has demonstrated the best customer service. The judging panel will be looking at standards in customer service, customer feedback received, the number of installations carried out and the number of return visits needed.
Award winners will be announced at a special event in London on Wednesday 20th May in front of an invited audience. The event will be supporting The Eve Appeal – the gynaecology cancer research charity.
For more information, and your chance to submit an entry or to vote, visit www.freesat.co.uk/awards.
March 31st, 2009 at 11:13 am
mmmm, BBC, BBC, Humax, Birdsong Radio – no other options, surely !!
Rob HQuote
March 31st, 2009 at 12:25 pm
In these credit crunch/Eco times I’m not sure I agree with using a plasma/LCD/CRTV screen and a power hungry digital TV receiver to listen to the radio!.
Lee BQuote
March 31st, 2009 at 1:39 pm
Well, all I can say is because of a lack of HD channels and main stream channels like Virgin1, Dave (A NEW Red Dwarf on over Easter), Fiver and Five US, my FreeSat box is used less and less for viewing, as I now tend to watch TV on Freeview and use my PVR just to record !!!
OyodiQuote
April 1st, 2009 at 6:51 am
and the award for the most pointless award ceremony goes to (rips open evelope )The freesat self congratulatory awards 2009
(seriously when you get 4hd and the rest of the 200 channels promised on the epg then you can pat yourself on the back )
darnall 42Quote
April 1st, 2009 at 8:12 am
Surely how differcult can it be getting Dave, Fiver & Five US on freesat ? I’d say Dave must be the harder one out of the three to obtain as it must be something to do with it being a subscription channel via sky? It is suprising channels such as these are still not added to the freesat & there epg? I’d agree, why have an awards ceremony one year after launch? Freesat is a good service, but it can become a great service and something bigger & better to celebrate by simply adding more of the mainstream, free to view channels which will appeal to a wider audience. if its all about selling Freesat satellite units, add the popular, free to view mainstream channels and your volumes will come..
jimboQuote
April 1st, 2009 at 9:08 am
It’s not possible to add FTV channels as they are encrypted and only include Sky Three and Setanta Sports News.
Fiver and Five US will be available as soon as Five can find available slots on the 2D beam.
Dave/UK Gold etc are subscription based channels on the satellite platform so will be bound to contract with Sky. Until this ends, and more importantly Freesat have a larger audience, it’s unlikely these broadcasters that depend on subscription revenue would go FTA.
adminQuote
April 1st, 2009 at 1:48 pm
How come I get both Dave channels on Freeview if they are subscription and tied to Sky?
Derek BQuote
April 1st, 2009 at 2:10 pm
…because terrestrial and satellite are two completely different platforms with different arrangements.
adminQuote
April 1st, 2009 at 4:39 pm
@ Lee B
“In these credit crunch/Eco times I’m not sure I agree with using a plasma/LCD/CRTV screen and a power hungry digital TV receiver to listen to the radio!.”
I’m sure most people are like me and listen to the radio through an amp and turn the TV off.
derek500Quote
April 3rd, 2009 at 1:46 pm
“and the award for the most pointless award ceremony goes to (rips open evelope )The freesat self congratulatory awards 2009 (seriously when you get 4hd and the rest of the 200 channels promised on the epg then you can pat yourself on the back )”
I think you’ll find that Freesat isn’t congratulating itself, but those who have helped them achieve a fantastic launch this year. Freesat gives viewers the only option to view HD other than through PayTV services. A year ago you had to pay a lot of money to watch any HD at all through your HD tv set, and a lot of people thought they were watching HD when they weren’t! If you want 200 channels of HD or certain channels currently unavailable then buy a subscription! Freesat’s partners have taken risks investing in a new platform in such uncertain times and they’ve come out stronger with Freesat already having grown into one of the largest television platforms despite being only a year old. Some people seem to think that a recession should mean all doom and gloom instead of rewarding those who get off their backsides and work through it! And those of you dissing the channels are only showing your ignorance of the technology involved in a platform like this. I think they’ve done well and are right to say thanks to those who have helped them achieve it.
MarieQuote
April 5th, 2009 at 4:09 pm
“and the award for the most pointless award ceremony goes to (rips open evelope )The freesat self congratulatory awards 2009 (seriously when you get 4hd and the rest of the 200 channels promised on the epg then you can pat yourself on the back )”
+1
pedroQuote
April 8th, 2009 at 6:57 am
Has anybody tried voting yet? The freesat site says voting will start on 7 April but, even if you drill down to the Viewer’s Choice section, there still doesn’t seem to be anywhere to actually cast your vote!
KevinQuote
April 9th, 2009 at 2:48 pm