Freesat TV service – an unofficial guide
What is the BBC’s and ITV’s Freesat ?
Freesat offers in excess of 140 channels of digital Radio and TV without any contract or monthly charges, and there are extra channels to come. All that is necessary is the purchase of the receiving equipment. The ITV and the BBC joined together to provide this service as an alternative to Cable, Freeview, and Sky Satellite. It provides sound and pictures that are crystal clear and almost perfect. As you would expect there is also an 8 day on screen programme guide and teletext.
What equipment is necessary ?
To receive Freesat you will have to buy a set top box that is either standard or high definition for use with your existing TV. The set top boxes are also available with or without a built in PVR for recording programmes on the internal hard drive. On the other hand you can buy a TV with a Freesat receiver built in in which case you won’t require a set top box. Presently Panasonic is the only manufacturer of televisions with Freesat. The models that have Freesat built in are the following LCD TV models TX32LZD81 and TX37LZD81 and the following plasma TV models TH42PZ81B, TH46PZ81, and TH50PZ81B.
Both Freesat set top boxes and Freesat televisions require a satellite mini dish. An existing sky satellite dish will suffice if it isnt being used to receive sky. Even if it is and it has unused connections on the LNB then it can be used by your sky receiver and Freesat at the same time. You may need to get a satellite installer to upgrade your LNB to one with two or four connections if there aren’t some spare ones available, or to run a cable from it to the TV. If this isn’t possible then you will have to have an extra mini dish installed. Obviously you will require a dish installing if you don’t have an existing one, provided there aren’t any obstructions preventing its installation e.g. trees, another building etc.
What areas of the country receive Freesat ?
Around 98% of houses in the UK can receive Freesat – so almost every household can get Freesat even if they don’t receive terrestrial freeview.
What channels are available ?
Freesat has a great choice of Children’s channels, Entertainment, Special Interest, Lifestyle, Movies, Music, Dating, Regional TV, Shopping and Gaming as well as Radio. These categories cover the best channels from the BBC, ITV and others such as ITV1, ITV2, ITV3, BBC1, BBC2, BBC3, BBC4, CBeebies, CBBC, BBC News, BBC Parliament, E4, Channel 4, Zone Thriller, Zone Reality,Zone Romanitica , Aljazera, Pop, Pop Girls, Tiny Pops, KiX, CITV, Film 4, Overseas Property TV, True Movies, True Movies 2, Movies for Men, Movies 4 Men 2, Bubble Hits, B4U, Scuzz, QVC, Music, Zmusic, JML, Price-Drop Tv and countless more. With additional channels comming in the future.
Is high Definition television available on Freesat ?
If you buy a HD Freesat set top box, to use with a HD Ready tv, or a HD Freesat TV then you can benefit from a picture quality that has up to five times more resolution than ordinary Television, with deeper and more lucid images.
Currently there is limited availability of HD TV channels on Freesat with only BBC HD and . Neither of these channels offer high definition all day although the amount of time will increase in 2009.
If you own a HD Ready tv and you haven’t subscribed to Sky HD or Virgin’s HD cable service , and you don’t expect to, then Freesat represents a obvious choice otherwise the added expense of your high quality HD TV is wasted.
What are the benefits of interactive TV ?
By pressing the red button you will have access, via user friendly menus, to news headlines, lottery results, the weather, business news etc.
You can also access the benefits of video based multi-screen interactive TV services such as Wimbledon, the Olympics, the Proms, Snooker, etc. With more events to be had in the future. The red button allows you the choice of viewing events from different cameras and at different camera angles where you choose which one. So you can switch to different stages, or tennis courts, or events when you choose.
Wrapping up
Freesat offers an another offering to Freeview, Sky or Cable. If you cant currently receive freeview and dont want to pay a monthly charge to Virgin or Sky then Freesat will be ideal. Likewise with not much prospect of there being any terrestrial broadcasts of HD then Freesat is the only choice that is free of monthly subsciption. However before opting for Freesat also look at the free channel options offered from Sky, but they don’t offer free high definition channels.
Filed under: Television