Freeview
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- This article is about the United Kingdom digital terrestrial television service. For the New Zealand digital terrestrial and satellite television service, see FreeView.
Freeview is an operator of free digital terrestrial television in the United Kingdom, using the DVB-T standard.
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[edit] Overview
Freeview was launched on 30 October 2002 at 6 am when it took over the digital terrestrial television (DTT) licence to broadcast on three multiplexes from the defunct ITV Digital (originally called ONdigital).
The Freeview consortium's founding members were the BBC, National Grid Wireless and British Sky Broadcasting. On 11 October 2005, they were joined by ITV plc and Channel 4. The Freeview service broadcasts free-to-air television channels, radio stations and interactive services from the BBC, Sky and other broadcasters.
As of March 2006, more than 10 million Freeview-enabled receivers have been sold and approximately 6.4 million homes have the service[1]. In December 2005, Ofcom estimated that in the third quarter of 2005, there were 7.2 million Freeview set top boxes, almost 1.4 million integrated digital TVs and just under 300,000 ex-ITV Digital boxes in homes across the UK [2]. The number of Freeview-only homes is set to pass the Sky-only homes during the fourth quarter of 2006.[3]
The Freeview model has been copied in a number of countries including France, Spain and Germany. A similar service will also be introduced in New Zealand at the start of 2007.
[edit] Service costs
Unlike ITV Digital, as well as the cable and satellite digital TV services, Freeview offers no premium or pay-per-view channels and no subscription channels, hence the name. To receive the Freeview services, a set-top box (typically costing between £20 and £100) or a new television with an integrated digital tuner is required. DTT reception cards for computers are also available for a similar price. Some viewers also need an aerial upgrade which can cost around £80 to £180[4]. In addition, the annual television licence must be purchased, as is required for all viewers of broadcast television in the UK irrespective of the method of reception.
In addition to Freeview, a subscription-based service, Top Up TV, launched in March 2004 using unused channel space on Multiplexes that were owned by parties, who at the time, were not members of the Freeview consortium. The Top Up TV service is not connected with the Freeview service; it simply runs alongside it on the DTT platform. However, Top Up TV can be received using selected Freeview set-top boxes or televisions equipped with a card slot or CI slot. The Digital Network Group, made up of all the multiplex owners, is responsible for co-ordination between Freeview and Top Up TV services.
[edit] Coverage and reception
Approximately 73% of households are in a location that can receive Freeview broadcasts.[5] Maximum Freeview coverage of the UK whilst analogue and digital services are running in tandem has now been reached.[6] The British government plans to switch off analogue transmitters region-by-region, starting in 2008, to allow for an increase in both Freeview coverage and transmitter power. The government estimates that the coverage level (of at least the three public service broadcasting multiplexes) will reach 98.5%, (the same as analogue television) once the digital switchover has been completed in 2013.
[edit] Full list of Freeview channels
Currently, there are 46 television channels, and 27 radio channels. A full list of digital terrestrial television channels in the UK is also available, which includes the additional Top Up TV services.
[edit] TV channels
- BBC One (regional variations)
- BBC Two (regional variations)
- ITV1, stv or UTV [7]
- Channel 4 (except Wales) or S4C Digidol² (Wales only)
- Five
- ITV2
- BBC Three
- Channel 4 (Wales only) or TeleG¹ (Scotland only)
- BBC Four
- ITV3
- Sky Three
- UKTV History
- More4
- E4
- ABC1† (not available in Wales)
- QVC (reduced hours in Wales)
- The Hits
- UKTV Bright Ideas
- Ftn
- TMF
- Ideal World
- bid tv (reduced hours in Wales)
- price-drop tv
- ITV4
- Film4
- E4+1
- ITV Play
- Film4+1
- Five US
- Five Life
- SmileTV
- CBBC Channel
- CBeebies
- CITV Channel‡
- BBC News 24
- BBC Parliament
- Sky News
- Sky Sports News
- S4C2 (Wales only)
- Community Channel†
- Teachers' TV†
[edit] Text and interactive services
[edit] Radio stations
- BBC Radio 1
- BBC 1Xtra
- BBC Radio 2
- BBC Radio 3
- BBC Radio 4 (FM version)
- BBC Radio Five Live
- BBC Five Live Sports Extra
- BBC 6 Music
- BBC 7
- BBC Asian Network
- BBC World Service (English language European version)
- The Hits Radio
- Smash Hits
- Kiss 100
- Heat
- Magic 105.4
- Q
- Oneword
- 102.2 Smooth FM
- BBC Radio Scotland (MW version; Scotland only), BBC Radio Wales¹ (Wales only) or BBC Radio Ulster¹ (Northern Ireland only)
- BBC Radio nan Gaidheal (Scotland only), BBC Radio Cymru¹ (Wales only) or BBC Radio Foyle¹ (Northern Ireland only)
- Mojo
- Kerrang!
- talkSPORT
- 3C
- Premier Christian Radio
- U105 (Northern Ireland only)
- Virgin Radio
- Heart
- Radio Music Shop
† Channel does not broadcast for its full hours on Freeview.
‡ Off-air on Freeview when PPV Scottish Premier matches are being shown on Setanta, usually for a few hours one day per week during the football season.
[edit] Former channels
- Quiz Call - Channel 4 owned Quiz channel sold to iTouch and closed on 15 November and replaced, temporarily, by Film4+1. Programming still available during certain hours on Ftn and overnight on Five.
- YooPlay Games (previously Free2Play then F2P Games) - closed 18 July 2006, space leased to SMG plc for Virgin Radio, which launched the same day.
- More4+1 - 1 hour timeshift of More4, removed on 18 May 2006, replaced by Big Brother Interactive Channel, which in turn was replaced by Film4 on 23 July 2006.
- Men & Motors - Removed in April 2006, replaced by ITV Play
- ITV News Channel - Hours reduced in November 2005 to make room for ITV4; removed and shut down a month later to provide space for CITV
- Sky Travel - Replaced on Freeview in October 2005 by new channel Sky Three
- Teletext TV Guide - TV Guide section of Teletext removed 2004 for the addition of Teletext Cars.
- TV Travel Shop - Space bought out by Top Up TV in January 2004, now hosts Top Up TV encrypted channels. Channel shut down.
- CBM - Never launched; tested in May to August 2003, before termination of contract.
- ntl - Two day TV guide removed in Summer 2003
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ Freeview confirms 10m-receiver landmark. DTG (2 March 2006). Retrieved on 2006-06-22.
- ^ Digital Television Update Q3 2005 (Adobe Acrobat - PDF). Ofcom (9 December 2005). Retrieved on 2006-06-22.
- ^ Wilkes, Neil. "Freeview 'to overtake' satellite by Christmas", Digital Spy, 20 June 2006. Retrieved on 2006-06-20.
- ^ Frequently Asked Questions. Confederation of Aerial Industries Ltd. Retrieved on 2006-06-22.
- ^ Freeview Facts: When will I be able to get Freeview?. Retrieved on 2006-12-06.
- ^ Freeview FAQ: I have no coverage, what can I do now?. Retrieved on 2006-12-06.
- ^ ITV1 is the brand name for 12 of the 15 regional ITV Network franchises for England, Wales, southern Scotland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. Each of these 12 franchises has a separate brand name used prior to local programming, see ITV1. stv is the brand name for the franchises for central and northern Scotland. UTV operates the franchise for Northern Ireland. All 15 franchises broadcast their services between 09:25 and 06:00. GMTV operates the franchise for national breakfast television and operates between 06:00 and 09:25.
