With excitement growing around the launch of Freeview HD, you might be forgiven for wondering what’s happened to Freesat. The upstart satellite service launched with a whirl of publicity last year, and for a (short) period looked a viable hi-def alternative to Sky.
However, with no new HD channel announcements and a failure to deliver on interactive promises, Freesat has begun to look like yesterday’s news. Despite that, the free-to-view service has been quietly racking up viewers.
Freesat MD Emma Scott says that the service has now doubled its install base to 600,000 households over the past year. ‘To achieve this level of sales and viewing in such a short space of time is a fantastic achievement and testament to the ever-growing appeal of Freesat, both to consumers and broadcasters,’ she says. Scott also makes the point that it’s taken BT nearly three years to reach 443,000 customers with its BT Vision PVR Freeview/VOD platform. ‘We’ve had a brilliant summer and are confident that we’ll continue to report outstanding growth, especially in the run up to the World Cup.’
But can this growth spurt really continue? An introduction date for the BBC iPlayer remains AWOL, and the satellite service looks unlikely to evolve into a content-rich HD platform anytime soon. A straw poll of the HCC News Team reveals that Freeview HD, and not Freesat, will provide a logical evolutionary path for the Blu-ray recorder market in the UK.
Copyright 2006 - 2009 Future Publishing Limited
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In the latest Home Cinema Choice:
Groovy. Have got freesat.
Harold Devenish (not verified) - 17 September 2009 - 1:05pmGroovy. Have got freesat. Got it to allow for digital channels in other rooms, but also to avoid aerials. Also the HD without sub was a real draw. If only more HD channels were on.
Whilst a good format, this
Alan Smithee (not verified) - 17 September 2009 - 2:20pmWhilst a good format, this will likely only ever be a niche market when Freeview HD comes along.
If I was buying a high end
Tim Lodge (not verified) - 17 September 2009 - 5:56pmIf I was buying a high end TV Freesat would be a must have.
Freeview HD I don't care.... for years your government has said they will NOT release more space come analogue switch off and as it is it doesn't work.
I had on digital when first out just to play... the postcode finder said I would get 16 channels (less than half available).... I got everyone from all multiplexes with NO glitches ever....
Then one day it all went to pot..... I moved the Ariel from one end of the house to the other and it worked OK for 6 months then it went wrong again... I tried the other end of the house and now the signal had gone from both ends.... By some miracle I got hold of a technical guy at crystal palace (or BBC I forget) who was very upset I knew they had been messing about to the day they were playing. He claimed it was not possible that I could tell they were doing this work or having these issues.
I use sky as my normal source and that went to pot as they robbed all the bandwidth to get HD going.... Motor TV was unwatchable, then eurosport got glitchy. I got my money out and got a better LNB, all the signal strength and quality meters went from 70% to 95% it made NO difference at all. Then I was given a current spec box and all issues went away. Never a single glitch from motor TV which for 5 years had been poor. Really helpfully Sky never once offered this as a reason or saw fit to help a customer who has been with them for some 17 years including the old analogue service.
In August 2008 I got a freeview PVR cheap and started to use that without issue. Then in Dec 2008 I got a new TV with freeview built in, a week later I lost all channels for 3 days..... then it came back as though nothing had happened.
Only for one multiplex to drop all ITV and Ch4 programs I think around Easter time.... I still get all BBC, Ch5, Dave and everything off all the other multiplexes no problem. I ranted at ITV and Ch4 and a week later they came back again. Two weeks later all gone and ITV and Ch4 etc have been unwatchable ever since
No idea if any of this is true....
The story this time is france are going Digital and our broadcast for the Isle of white are messing up france so they have turned our transmitters down.
Incredible as I'm not even getting a signal from anywhere near there....
4 plus months later if the winds comes from the west ITV and Ch4 can picked up but glitchy. Wind from any other direction and signal strength 0, BBC and everyone else signal strength 9
and now they want to try and broadcast HD get out of here............