Free satellite service from BBC/ITV

I agree Murdoch has been pain in the side of british television for long enough. Far too powerful even for the goverments' liking now it would seem. Pity they don't force somemore Ofcom regulations on the company while they are at it.

That's not much of a difference really - the card is just another piece of "equipment" that you need, and only pay for once (I think it was bundled in the £150 I paid to get the dish and box).

The biggest difference here seems to be that ITV and the Beeb are going out of their way to tell people about it - I suspect Sky have no choice in offering their Freesat option, and as such they don't tell anyone about it

David

The main difference with this service is that you will not need to buy a box from Sky to receive the Freesat service. Satellite manufacturers will be able to produce cheap free-to-air receivers aimed a wider market than has been available up until now.

No.

Sky Sports and Sky Movies are still two big draws to the service, and there will always be a wider range of channels available on a paid-for Sky service than a totally free Freesat service.

I imagine it will be a small success, because let's remember it is aimed primarily at people who can't get Freeview, and because the BBC will use it as an opportunity to further promote commercial activities on supposedly non-commercial channels. They've been warned about cross promoting Freeview and have carried on regardless; it really is quite, quite remarkable.

Anyway, if you really think Murdoch will lie down and lose out you're very wrong. Just look at what he's done with the Times -- prepared to lose hundreds of millions of pounds over a decade to get a wider audience.

But it may ( note may ) be the begining of something that potentially leads to a place where BSkyB have to face the normal commercial pressures of buisness life. The'll have company because ITV lives there as well now.

There is no reason why a free Satellite service couldn't have a viewing card - just dish them out (no pun intended - honestly!) with the boxes. I think that's better than being restricted in what can and can't be shown due to overspill into Europe.


The real benefit comes from more space for interactive channels. I think the BBC and ITV have reached their maximum number of required channels (ITV4 won't have anything that couldn't be on ITV2/3!) and though Freesat may offer dozens more free channels, most of them are things like Shopping and Gaming channels anyhow.


A couple of questions - will Freesat use the same EPG numbers as Sky - and will Freesat viewers be able to use their own box to upgrade to Sky?

The addition of any form of encryption (not to mention the administration that it requires) increases the cost of the entire project substantially, both in terms of running costs and consumer product. It probably makes it uneconomic.

Sky/NDS do not currently allow their enycryption system into any other product than a Sky Digibox. You cannot buy a satellite receiver and add a CAM to insert a Sky viewing card.

Like the one I've just bought for £39.99 from Lidl. £59.99 if you want the dish and LNB as well. Don't know if there are any left. Their special offers tend to go fast.

I'm currently using my Amstrad Sky box for Astra at 28.2E, and the new box for Astra at 19.2E - and watching a lot of EinsFestival and ZDF Theaterkanal, with a touch of BR-Alpha on Sunday evenings. Makes a very nice companion for BBC Four.

L

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Whether he'll make the money back in the long run is another matter. He's had the UK satellite market stitched up for ages, so any alternative platform has to be good news for the viewer.

So what extra channels will be on this service? I might get a dish and a reciever if it beats Freeview's well lets face it crap channels (shopping, porn, +1 channels etc).

The best part of lidl offering that is listening to people saying things like " YAY, now i can watch Sky Sports for Free!!!". oh how verry dissapointed they are going to be when they get home.

You meanie If I heard someone saying that, I'd have to step in and explain that they wouldn't even get Channel 4. To be fair, Lidl really cocked up the advertising for it - ISTR they billed it as a Sky box on the leaflet that came through our door. Unsurprisingly, when I got to the shop, there was a big notice saying that it wasn't a Sky box at all.