Loading ...We are pleased to say that our chat went ahead with Freesat as planned, so thank you to Helen at fireflycomms for arranging, and to Janet Morrow for giving us such a large allocation of time.
Janet Morrow works for Freesat in the capacity of communications. Janet is actually employed and works for the BBC, but has been seconded to Freesat part-time to assist in ensuring accurate information is available to the public domain. Whilst the information we can give is more ‘fact’ than ‘exclusive news’, it does at least settle a few debates and was a very worthwhile conversation. Janet spent as much time going through each question as we needed, going into more detail than asked at times so we very much appreciate it.
Rather than a Q&A, we’ll just give the information as points:
Hardware
The first DTR/PVR receivers should be available in the autumn of this year. Speculation of delays meaning an end of 2008 / early 2009 release are totally unfounded. Humax are the only manufacturer of the DTR/PVR receiver, Alba Group and Panasonic are not involved (very interesting).
No other company (including Pace) are signed up to manufacture Freesat boxes at this time, but naturally if any discussions are happening, they couldn’t be discussed at this time. The question over whether Humax and Alba Group have an exclusivity agreement is being found out for us.
Channels
There is no truth in software issues being the reason for delays in the launch of regional ITV channels or additional FTA channels. Freesat want to make it very clear that because this is the first batch of channels since launch, they are taking extra care to ensure that everything goes technically smooth, as obviously this is now a live product.
All ITV regions and additional FTA channels (including but not limited to, ITV2+1, Film Four+1, E4+1 and More4+1, Zone Horror, Zone Reality, Kix and BET as well as digital radio stations including Capital Radio, Virgin Radio and XFM) will be available late July 2008.
Freesat confirmed and openly wish to make clear that an EPG slot on Freesat is £30,000 per year for TV channels and £5,000 per year for Radio channels.
We asked whether empty channels such as 109 and 110 are pre-allocated, or whether it’s a first come first serve basis. Janet was unsure and will find out, but suspects they may be pre-allocated to ensure that specific genres are placed within certain channel ranges.
Freesat still believe that close to 200 channels will be available by the end of the year. They couldn’t comment on whether any FTA channels (other than those mentioned above) are signed up already, only that discussions are taking place.
It’s not Freesat’s intention to mirror Freeview’s channels in any way. They treat digital terrestrial and digital satellite as two very different platforms as different regulations and agreements are in place. They know that gaining existing subscription channels like Dave, UK History etc will be almost impossible due to the way in which they are funded.
Freesat’s official statement on channel FIVE being available on the platform is “definatly in 2008″. Whilst Freesat didn’t comment, FIVE has said that FIVER and FIVE US won’t be.
Freesat have no indication of if/when C4 HD will be available on the platform. Given that they’ve made it clear that FIVE will be on Freesat this year, it would suggest that C4 HD hasn’t been agreed, or won’t happen this year. They couldn’t comment on C4 HD’s existing Sky contract or the reasons why C4 HD have not created a duplicate channel in the same way as C4. They do however see C4 HD as an important addition to the Freesat platform, as the more HD content the better.
We really needed to speak to the broadcasters directly, but Freesat’s understanding of the further production of HD content from BBC HD and ITV HD is ongoing. BBC HD will have 300 hours of Olympics this summer, as well as Wimbledon. ITV HD have said they will start with major sporting events (i.e. Euro 2008), followed within 2008 by premium movies and premium dramas.
Alba Group’s lack of ‘add channel’ functionality is not the responsibility of Freesat, nor was it requested as part of Freesat’s original tech spec. They are however working closely with Alba Group to ensure that this is implemented within the next few weeks. Both parties are aware of the EU regulations to provide, and are working to resolve.
We asked when ITV HD will be available in Northern Ireland and Scotland. Freesat say soon, but must stress that the decision to incorporate ITV HD was given to all ITV companies, of which both NI and Scotland chose not to accept.
Whilst Freesat wouldn’t say never, they did say that ITV HD must remain an interactive service, not a full channel. The official statement given to Freesat by ITV was that regulations mean that ITV HD as an individual channel is not commercially viable. Freesat are going to find out more on this, as they were only provided a single line statement. Freesat are adamant that ITV HD has launched as an interactive service for this very reason, and not to offer Freesat a HD advantage over Sky to encourage its early day uptake.
General
Freesat will continue to allow Sky to use the word “freesat” in their promotions of their own free service. They do not believe that both platforms using the name will cause any confusion (this is a point we may need to blog separately about at a later date once Freesat has been in the market for 6 months or so).
Freesat do not see their service as overtaking or replacing Freeview, nor as a competitor to Sky; they see it as a choice for the general consumer.
No official figures on the uptake of Freesat are available. Any indications given on the web are pure guess work.
Freesat are not aware of an issue with emailing visitors to their old site who wanted updates on the release. We explained that there must be thousands who didn’t receive and only a handful that did. They are going to find out for us.
Another burning question we and many of you wanted to know was what advertising is in place, or will be in place to promote Freesat to the masses. The answer in no uncertain terms was not very much. However, Janet did explain the reasons why. Freesat have a very small marketing budget which doesn’t allow them enough funds to promote the service in its own right via television media. They are promoting on radio and in national press, but are relying on associated companies like retailers etc to put the brand name across. Freesat made particular mention to Panasonic and their efforts to promote not only their new plasma’s, but the Freesat service associated with them. Its Freesat’s intention with the small budget they have to focus on areas where Freeview (terrestrial digital) signal is not available, which is why recent promotions in Wales have taken place, including 10% discounts at Comet etc. Anglia is next for promotional work. ITV television advertising is too expensive, and BBC is unable to promote the Freesat brand due to their unbiased policy. Whilst BBC mention Freesat as part of their recent BBC HD advertisement campaign, they must also mention all other available platforms fairly. Freesat wanted to make clear that Sky’s recent Sky+ campaign likely cost more to advertise than Freesat’s entire annual budget…for everything.
Whilst no breaking news, at least a few points have been clarified which should ease doubts and concerns. Janet was keen to point out that they are working hard to develop the service, and whilst it seems like a long time, it’s only been 6 weeks since launch and its very early days.
Again, we’d like to thank Janet for the time spent talking to us.
Could we just ask that if you mention any of the above on other sites, forums etc that you make reference to joinfreesat.co.uk, so the appropriate recognition is given. Thanks.
June 20th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
Good feedback for all those existing Freesat users. As stated many times, it has only been six weeks since the launch, so give it some more months and I’m sure things will improve. One thing that I have learned and that is not to jump in too early on new products, but to wait and let any problems iron themselves out. That’s exactly what I am doing.
June 20th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
Nice to see some feedback at last, fingers crossed they keep updating you/the freesat website. Looking forward to an interesting few months for freesat, lets hope not too many growing pains!.
I hope Pace do get a Freesat PVR contract, I think Humax need some competition to keep them on their toes.
June 20th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
Good to get some feedback from Freesat. But in the midst of anticipating regional services and new channels coming to Freesat, why have some ITV1 regions suddenly become encrypted (i.e. no longer free-to-air)? What impact will this have on Freesat?
June 20th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Nice to have some news, well done guys. People should be more patient, it’s only been 6 weeks, things are getting better and better and we are not being over charged by a broadcasting company owned by an american billionaire…
I still wonder will I be patient enough for the Freesat PVR. Besides as Lee B just said, we could use some competition from Pace to see the prices go down, the first to come out with a PVR has a great chance to win…
June 20th, 2008 at 2:24 pm
Must admit I would rather lose the ITV regions in order for extra bandwidth to be available to improve the resolution/bit rate for the ITV channels. I do find ITV to have the worst picture on freesat.
Also extra money might then be available for better programing/more original material.
June 20th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
I was lucky to get my hands on the Humax HD box early and am enjoying what HD content there is. I can’t remember when I last watched so much football and I’m sure my sceptical and techophobe wife will nevertheless enjoy Wimbledon in HD.
Even the upscaled SD is a big improvement to picture quality compared to freesatfromsky, if that is a fair comparison.
I look forward to the gradual increase in HD content and channels, but I can understand that Freesat cannot go fully mainstream until it can show at least the main five ‘terrestrial’ channels, let alone in HD.
It is particularly frustrating that C4, a Public Broadcaster partly funded by my licence fee, is thought to be more tightly bound to its current contract than Christiano seems to be to MU!
I also look forward to HD recording, but I wonder if demand for such machines might wane if iPlayer etc come on strong. What picture quality will iPlayer offer, anyone know?
June 20th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
sounds a lot better!
was there any mention of the iplayer coming to freesat?
June 20th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
People ARE confused about Freesat vs Freesat From Sky! How could they not be when so many don’t even understand the difference between ‘free to air’ and ‘free to view’?
June 20th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
adrian - We didn’t want to force too many questions on Freesat, and admittadly the iPlayer question somehow got missed. Suspect the answer might have been to ask BBC though, as its their service technically, but we’ll ask Freesat anyway, they have stated that they are happy to answer what they can.
June 20th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
Re FREESAT (from Sky) and Freesat (from BBC/ITV) sounds like a case of not wanting to upset the mighty Sky, I’m sure Sky would let the BBC use their registered names…..maybe call the new Freesat PVR’s “Sky+”
June 20th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Alba group STB firmware does contain PVR code!
June 20th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
According to Davei some ITV regions are encrypted. Which ITV regions are encrypted? AFAIK I can receive them all on my FSFS box!
June 20th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
I replaced my Pace DS430N after my dish got struck by lightning three weeks ago, when the Sky box went up in smoke. I went for the Humax Freesat HD box, as I am in France and to get a Sky HD box to work in France is very difficult (it has to come back to UK regularly for updates via phone line). I am delighted with the picture quality and sound quality is OK, if not quite as good as the Pace /Sky for BBC R3 via a Meridian HiFi system. I am disappointed that Freesat and Channel 5 could not get their act together a bit better and have given us C5 from the outset. Channel 5 is a public UK non-subscription channel and should have been included on the UK free satellite service from the start.
Wilson
June 20th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
Hi Howard,
If you remove the card from your FSFS box you’ll lose the ITV regions which have been encrypted. Re why (@ Davei), think ITV are just doing some transponder shuffling, the conspiracy theorists will tell you this is prior to a launch of a FTA ITV HD but I can’t see that happening just yet so it must be something else. They will eventually become FTA again, so there will be little long-term impact on Freesat,
Rich
June 20th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
Maybe I’m being cynical, but with a June/July forecast for HD PVR and availability now slipping to “autumn” plus joinfreesat’s straw poll suggesting 70% of peeps are waiting for the HD PVR (me included), it strikes me that the delay is more to do with the rate of take-up of their stand alone HD box than anything else. How many people are now going to buy the HD box for the summer sports rather than miss out on it…and then go on to upgrade to the HD PVR box?
Regards,
John.
June 20th, 2008 at 8:54 pm
Thanks for prompt and well explained reply. Was thinking of purchasing Freesat box for second TV but will hold back until interactive is sorted out and all regions are on board.
June 21st, 2008 at 9:03 am
Hello D. Howard Gilpin
I think I may have spoken too soon about some ITV regions becoming encrypted (these encrypted regions included certain variants of Anglia, Central, Tyne Tees and maybe one or two others). Anyway, it seems that this was just a temporary thing. It appears that the channels were moved from one satellite (Astra 2D) to another with a wider beam (encryption being needed to prevent viewing outside the UK); apparently this was to enable some reorganisation on the narrow beam sat Astra 2D , but these channels are now moving back to 2D.
There’s a full discussion of this at _http://www.techwatch.co.uk/forums/35562-itv-regional-no-longer-fta.html.
June 21st, 2008 at 6:55 pm
Speaking of ITV - slightly off-topic - but is anyone else having problems getting the red button HD option to work on the football tonight (Sat) ? No red button option for me.
June 21st, 2008 at 7:21 pm
same here.. no HD option for me either.. and no explanation from ITV .. they should inform viewers if they have problems with their HD broadcasts..
June 21st, 2008 at 7:22 pm
same here no hd wheres it gone?
anyone else?
June 21st, 2008 at 7:28 pm
hi there has anyone got the holland game on hd there no red button coming up
June 21st, 2008 at 7:30 pm
obviously an itv thing good start eh!
Hd high def or………..huge dissapointment
June 21st, 2008 at 7:31 pm
Agreed - they often have one of the announcers mention the HD option so it would have been good to just mention it.
Thank god for this place and you guys or I would still be punching different post codes in and re-tuning the box lol
June 21st, 2008 at 7:56 pm
At last !!! It’s back on now - HD working on ITV.
June 21st, 2008 at 9:49 pm
ooh a bonus.. boxing on HD too !
June 22nd, 2008 at 12:37 am
No ITV HD in Scotland and Ireland! Just change your region.. BINGO!
ALL ITV and BBC regions are available everywhere, why ‘limit’ the freesat receiver? I suppose 30k a year isn’t too bad to be in the EPG is it? That’s £6,000,000 just for 200 TV channels, not including radio. Use your receiver in non-freesat mode or buy a FTA receiver from Maplin. All you need then is a copy of the Radio Times.
June 23rd, 2008 at 8:35 am
One thought about the availablity of ITV HD as an interractive service only and possible future PVR. We assume that if you set a program to record and it’s available in HD, you’ll get the HD version recorded?
Maybe I’m just worrying over nothing…. Interractive services don’t work on recorded programs, that’s all.
June 23rd, 2008 at 10:28 pm
No mention of a card to fit a PC for watching Freesat. Is there a card available or will current cards do the job? Any comments would be welcome.
June 24th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
As it seems like everyone else, I’m waiting for the Freesat PVR to become available, but I have the same concerns as TomQ about how to record ITV Hd. If it’s interactive (having to press the red button), how can you set the PVR to record a ITV Hd program that’s interactive???
June 24th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Chris - It unfortunatly seems you can’t!!! We will try and find out from Freesat, but suspect it might be a ITV question.
June 24th, 2008 at 9:51 pm
I have purchased a Fortec Passion HD Satellite receiver = I have reset my dish to Astra 2a and receiving over 66% signal quality but am getting the message “No video or audio”. I am not and haven’t been a sky subscriber.
Do I need to obtain a CI card to receive the “freesat” channels - I can receive other scanned channels - ie Arte, Erste etc.
Regards
Paul Whiteley
June 26th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
Can I use my current dish which I use for SKY and would want to keep for one reciever?
June 26th, 2008 at 11:56 pm
Benji - of course, you may want to read up on the FAQ’s, these kind of questions are covered, http://www.joinfreesat.co.uk/index.php/faqs
June 29th, 2008 at 8:24 am
Has anyone tried to get Dutch or French TV channels? Or are our receivers (mine’s a Humax) set-up to receive UK channels only?
I’ve no luck with receiving ITV HD either.
June 29th, 2008 at 9:07 am
So many of us have been waiting for the commencement of Freesat & now it’s here it is like a “best kept secret”.
One of the most significant advances in TV technology since the advent of colour and it’s like pulling hares teeth to get information unless one is savvy enough to find a website like this one.
I read here there is virtually no marketing budget to promote awareness, but come on our 3 main channel providers in the U.K. are behind this one & they find enough marketing spend for other useless ends.
Ask the average Joe in the street about Freesat & I guarantee blank looks or
” Oh yeah - that’s Sky innit”, the odd reference to HD on Freesat appears on BBC1/2 from time to time, surely it should be shouted from the rooftops.
June 29th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Do I have to have a satellitte receiver marketed as a “freesat” receiver to be able to access the “freesat” channels - the freesat channels on my Fortec Passion HD satellite receiver are all highlighted with a “star” .
Does this mean that they are scrambled?
July 6th, 2008 at 12:19 am
Whilst I welcome the replies, I find some of them very disappointing:
1. “Humax are the only manufacturer of the DTR/PVR receiver”
- Why? Whatever happened to choice. Given the current reported problems with the Foxsat HD box and allegedly less than perfect SD picture / SD & HD sound, I’d be reluctant to commit to buying a Humax PVR combo.
2. “It’s not Freesat’s intention to mirror Freeview’s channels in any way. They treat digital terrestrial and digital satellite as two very different platforms as different regulations and agreements are in place. They know that gaining existing subscription channels like Dave, UK History etc will be almost impossible due to the way in which they are funded”.
- Whereas I’m not bothered about total mirroring especially of the shopping channels, I do think that all the major channels need to be mirrored, otherwise Freesat doesn’t become a viable option.
3. “Whilst Freesat didn’t comment, FIVE has said that FIVER and FIVE US won’t be.”
- Building on my comment in 2., this has to be a big mistake as these are headline channels.
4. “Freesat will continue to allow Sky to use the word “freesat” in their promotions of their own free service.”
- this is sheer stupidity. There have already been people on other forums who’ve bought the Sky Freesat Package thinking they were getting the BBC Freesat package.
5. “Freesat do not see their service as overtaking or replacing Freeview, nor as a competitor to Sky; they see it as a choice for the general consumer.”
- Again sheer stupidity. We already know that Freeview has insufficient bandwidth for an across the board HD service. HD is the future and Freesat needs to be used to embrace that. Freeview should be promoted as the SD solution and Freesat as the HD future.
If Freesat is to prosper, it needs to provide the consumer with a direct competitor to Sky.
People are not going to buy into another choice that offers nothing more than they have already. What the people of this country really want, is a service that can rival many of Sky’s offerings but without the subscription price.
There’s no attraction to just another mediocre public service.
6. “Freesat have a very small marketing budget which doesn’t allow them enough funds to promote the service in its own right via television media.”
- Then they need to go back to the BBC trust and ask for funding to allow for a proper advertising budget.
7. “ITV television advertising is too expensive, and BBC is unable to promote the Freesat brand due to their unbiased policy.”
- Total bullsh*t in my opinion.
ITV are partners in the service so why should ITV advertising cost a penny? By dropping 1 programme a day from their schedule (which would actually save them money in production costs), they could free up air time for Freesat adverts without any loss of existing commercial advertising revenue time. Result savings on production costs and free advertsing space for Freesat. Everyone’s a winner.
As for the BBC being unable to promote Freesat due to its unbiased policy.
What is biased about advertising your own product / service?
To present news stories etc in an unbiased way is one thing, but to say that you can’t advertise what you do for fear of actually competing with rivals is another…and don’t the BBC do this already? Surely by this standard when they advertise Doctor Who as they have done recently isn’t this bias as they advertising a premium programme that their rivals don’t have?
Some one needs to sort out the loony left at the BBC as they’re taking political correctness way too far in my opinion.
July 6th, 2008 at 12:28 am
To follow on from my comments on above, I still haven’t bought a Freesat box and definately won’t do so until:
1. Freesat is promoted and set up as a direct competitor to Sky HD and Freeview
2. All major Freeview channels are mirrored
3. There’s a choice of high quality PVR combos
4. Its promoted and advertised properly
5. It offers a quality of service in both content and technical (picture / sound) content that rivals and all other broadcast competitors
6. It promises a full HD service across all channels, all day (not just previews and selected programs) (obviously this will be a promise for the future as I would expect a gradual roll out, but I would expect a not too distant completion date)
August 5th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
Help I rang Sky and asked to switch to freesat they said no need for a card they would switch me over This has happened but whilst I have lost some sky channels I dont seem to have gained any freesat ones do I have to re tune if so how we have a very old Pace receiver
August 5th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
Anne - This is a Freesat (BBC/ITV joint venture) site, not a Sky site so all you will ever receive is Sky’s free service, not Freesat’s. However, Sky have all but ITV HD available, so what channels are you missing?