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Freesat is a British

free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscripti ...

satellite television Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location. The signals are received via an outdoor parabolic antenna comm ...

service, first formed as a joint venture between the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

and

ITV plc ITV plc is a British media company that holds 13 of the 15 regional television licences that make up the ITV network (Channel 3), the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom. ITV plc is listed on the ...

and now owned by

Digital UK Digital UK is a British television communications company owned by the BBC (1922), ITV (1955), Channel 4 (1982) and Channel 5 (1997) which supports Freeview viewers and channels. It provides information about receiving terrestrial TV and advi ...

. The service was formed as a memorandum in 2007 and has been marketed since 6 May 2008. Freesat offers a satellite alternative to the

Freeview Freeview may refer to: * Freeview (Australia), the marketing name for the digital terrestrial television platform in Australia * Freeview (New Zealand), a digital satellite and digital terrestrial television platform in New Zealand *Freeview (UK), ...

service on

digital terrestrial television Digital terrestrial television (DTTV or DTT, or DTTB with "broadcasting") is a technology for terrestrial television in which land-based (terrestrial) television stations broadcast television content by radio waves to televisions in consumers' ...

, with a broadly similar selection of channels available without subscription for users purchasing a receiver. The service also makes use of the additional capacity available on satellite broadcasting to offer a selection of 24 () high-definition channels from broadcasters including BBC, ITV, Channel 5,

Arirang TV Arirang International Broadcasting is a South Korean-based broadcasting company operated by the International Broadcasting Exchange Foundation. It began as a cable TV service in South Korea on February 3, 1997, and opened Korea's first overseas ...

Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to: People * Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer * Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian * Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician and m ...

, Daystar,

FreeSports Viaplay Xtra is a British free-to-air sports television channel operated and owned by Viaplay Group. History Viaplay Xtra launched as FreeSports on 31 August 2017, with the aim to provide free-to-air sports coverage and become a top three ded ...

Discovery Networks Discovery, Inc. was an American multinational mass media factual television conglomerate based in New York City. Established in 1985, the company operated a group of factual and lifestyle television brands, such as the namesake Discovery Channe ...

France 24 France 24 ( in French) is a French state-owned international news television network based in Paris. Its channels broadcast in French, English, Arabic, and Spanish and are aimed at the overseas market. Based in the Paris suburb of Issy-les-Mo ...

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...

RT UK RT UK, also known as Russia Today, was a free-to-air television news channel based in the United Kingdom. It was part of the RT network, a Russian state-controlled international television network funded by the federal tax budget of the Russia ...

and

TRT World TRT World is a Turkish public broadcaster international news channel which broadcasts in English 24 hours a day, operated by the TRT and based in Taksim Square, Istıklal Avenue, Beyoğlu, Istanbul. It provides worldwide news and current affai ...

. Freesat's main competitors are

and

Virgin Media Virgin Media is a British telecommunications company which provides telephone, television and internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, England. It is owned by Virgin Media O2, a 50:50 joint ventu ...

, and a combination of

IPTV Internet Protocol television (IPTV) is the delivery of television content over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. This is in contrast to delivery through traditional terrestrial, satellite, and cable television formats. Unlike downloaded med ...

and

services offered by BT,

Plusnet Plusnet plc is a British triple play internet service provider (ISP); providing broadband, landline and mobile services. The company was founded in 1997 in Sheffield, England, and became a public limited company (plc) in July 2004 when it was f ...

and TalkTalk, using

YouView YouView is a hybrid television platform in the United Kingdom developed by YouView TV Ltd., a partnership of four broadcasters, the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5; and three telecommunications operators, Arqiva, BT Group and TalkTalk Gro ...

. In February 2021, it was announced that, subject to regulatory approval, Freesat was to merge its operation with

, the joint venture of BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5, which manages the broadcast, streaming and EPG of Freeview. In July 2021 Digital UK acquired Freesat from its two shareholders, the BBC and ITV and the merger was completed.

History

Background

The BBC and ITV, the two biggest free-to-air broadcasters in the UK, make their services available digitally through three routes: free-to-air via digital terrestrial and digital satellite, and subscription-only via digital cable. On

digital terrestrial Digital terrestrial television (DTTV or DTT, or DTTB with "broadcasting") is a technology for terrestrial television in which land-based (terrestrial) television stations broadcast television content by radio waves to televisions in consumers' ...

, the channels have always been available

with the appropriate equipment. In 2007 Freeview was available to only 73% of the population. After analogue TV services were replaced in the

digital switchover The digital television transition, also called the digital switchover (DSO), the analogue switch/sign-off (ASO), the digital migration, or the analogue shutdown, is the process in which older analogue television broadcasting technology is conv ...

, this increased to 98.5% for the public service channels and 90% for the full 'Freeview' service. To provide more widespread coverage and a larger number of channels, a digital satellite alternative was felt necessary. Initially, both the BBC's and ITV's channels were encrypted since the original

Astra satellites Astra may refer to: People * Astra (name) Places * Astra, Chubut, a village in Argentina * Astra (Isauria), a town of ancient Isauria, now in Turkey * Astra, one suggested name for a hypothetical fifth planet that became the asteroid belt En ...

used for Sky broadcast to most of Europe but the broadcasters' rights for premium content such as films and sports typically covered the UK only. The use of encryption meant that anyone wishing to view the channels had to purchase equipment from Sky and pay for a

free-to-view Free-to-view (FTV) is a term used for audiovisual transmissions that are provided free without any form of continual subscription . It differs from free-to-air (FTA) in that the program is encrypted. Free-to-view vs. free-to-air The free-to-vi ...

viewing card to decrypt the channels. Similarly, to use the

Videoguard VideoGuard (sometimes referred to simply as ''NDS''), produced by NDS, is a digital encryption system for use with conditional access television broadcasting. It is used on digital satellite television systems - some of which are operated by News ...

encryption, the broadcasters needed to pay a fee to

NDS Group Cisco Videoscape (formerly NDS Group and currently known as Synamedia) was a majority owned subsidiary of News Corp, which develops software for the pay TV industry (including cable, satellite and others). NDS Group was established in 1988 as an ...

Move to free-to-air

In May 2003 the BBC moved most of its channels from the

Astra 2A Astra 2A is one of the Astra communications satellites owned by Société Européenne des Satellites. Launched in 1998 into the 28.2° East orbital position, half its expected end-of-life capacity of 28 transponders were pre-booked by BSkyB, w ...

satellite to

Astra 2D Astra 2D is one of the Astra communications satellites owned and operated by Société Européenne des Satellites (SES), and located at 28.2° East in the geostationary orbit until June 2015. It is a Hughes Space and Communications HS-376HP ...

, which has a footprint that focuses more tightly on the UK. This move allowed the BBC to stop encrypting its broadcasts while continuing to meet its rights obligations. It dropped the encryption two months later. Two months later, ITV, whose channels had already been located on the Astra 2D satellite since launching on the Sky platform some years earlier, also made their channels free-to-air. On 18 November 2008, Channel 5 commenced broadcasting a single channel via Freesat, eventually adding its ancillary services

5USA 5USA is a British free-to-air television channel. It is owned by Paramount Networks UK & Australia and is a sister channel of Channel 5, 5Action, 5Star and 5Select. It was launched on 16 October 2006 as Five US and was the second digital ter ...

and 5* (now known as 5STAR) three years later in December 2011. It later added Channel 5 HD to Freesat following the removal of BBC Three (BBC iii) as an SD and HD TV channel (when it moved to on line and BBC iPlayer only). Viva moved from

to free-to-air on satellite on 19 March 2013, before launching on Freesat on 2 April 2013. On 2 April 2013, all seven of

Box Television The Box Plus Network (formerly Video Jukebox Network International Ltd and Box Television Ltd) was a British television company owned by Channel Four Television Corporation, it specialised in music programming. On 2 April 2013, all The Box Pl ...

's channels left Sky's subscription package, with six becoming free-to-air on satellite; on 15 April four of the channels – The Box,

Kerrang! TV Kerrang! TV is a British music television channel owned by Channel Four Television Corporation, with permission to use the ''Kerrang!'' brand from Bauer. It is currently the only music channel in the United Kingdom that is dedicated to rock musi ...

Kiss TV Kiss TV is a commercial hip-hop and dance music television channel owned by Channel Four Television , with permission to use the Kiss brand from Bauer Media Audio UK. The playlist predominantly consists of old skool and mainstream hip-hop, ...

and Smash Hits – were added to the Freesat EPG. This was followed by

Heat In thermodynamics, heat is defined as the form of energy crossing the boundary of a thermodynamic system by virtue of a temperature difference across the boundary. A thermodynamic system does not ''contain'' heat. Nevertheless, the term is ...

and

Magic Magic or Magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces * Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic * Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...

on 29 April. The free-to-air channels can be received using any standard satellite ( DVB-S) receiver, although those not licensed by Freesat will need to be re-tuned manually if/when channel frequencies are changed. (See next section.)

Managed service

The Freesat project aims to provide a managed service with an

Electronic Programme Guide Electronic programming guides (EPGs) and interactive programming guides (IPGs) are menu-based systems that provide users of television, radio and other media applications with continuously updated menus that display scheduling information for ...

and interactive features similar to the Freeview service launched three years earlier. Unlike Freeview, however, these features are only available on approved receivers manufactured under licence from Freesat. The initial plan was to launch the service in early 2006. This was postponed to Autumn 2007 as approval from the

BBC Trust The BBC Trust was the governing body of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) between 2007 and 2017. It was operationally independent of BBC management and external bodies, and its stated aim was to make decisions in the best interests of ...

was only received in April 2007. However, the service was further delayed and was officially launched on 6 May 2008.

Launch channels

The service launched officially on 6 May 2008. From the launch, Freesat advertised all national television channels from the

...
and

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

as being available on the platform (excluding ITV2 +1), as well as all national BBC radio networks.

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

also managed to make most of its channels free-to-air in preparation for the launch. In addition some channels from other broadcasters such as Chello Zone,

CSC Media Group CSC Media Group, formerly known as Chart Show Channels (CSC), was a British cable television broadcasting company. It was a subsidiary of Sony Pictures Television. The company dissolved on 27 November 2019. Background CSC Media Group was named ...

, Al Jazeera English, Zee Live,

Zee News Zee News is an Indian Hindi-language news channel owned by Subhash Chandra's Essel Group. It launched on 27 August 1999 and is the flagship channel of the Zee Media Corporation. The channel has been involved in several controversies and ha ...

, RIA Novosti and Euronews were included on the channel list.

High-definition

BBC HD BBC HD was a 24-hour high-definition television channel provided by the BBC. The service was initially run as a trial from 15 May 2006 until becoming a full service on 1 December 2007 before its discontinuation on 26 March 2013. It broadcast ...

was the only high-definition channel available on Freesat from launch day, with

ITV HD ITV1 HD is a British free-to-air high-definition public broadcast television network operated by ITV plc, the company which is contracted to provide 13 ITV1 services across the UK. ITV1 HD simulcasts them in high-definition (excluding former Ch ...

added as a "red-button" interactive service from 7 June 2008. On 2 April 2010 ITV HD changed from an interactive service to a full-time channel called

ITV1 HD ITV1 HD is a British free-to-air HDTV, high-definition public broadcast television network operated by ITV plc, the company which is contracted to provide 13 ITV1 services across the UK. ITV1 HD simulcasts them in high-definition (excluding forme ...

, simulcasting the main

ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the Channel 3 public broadcast service across all of the United Kingdom except for t ...

channel. The name was changed back to ITV HD on 14 January 2013. BBC One HD, a high-definition simulcast of BBC One, was made available on Freesat and other platforms on 3 November 2010. Channel 4 HD also became available on the platform on 19 April 2011, but was withdrawn on 22 February 2018. NHK World HD was added to Freesat on 9 May 2011; it shared its channel number with its standard definition counterpart and was therefore only listed on high definition receivers, which were unable to access the standard definition channel via the EPG. (The SD channel ceased transmission on 1 October 2011.) On 23 July 2012, the BBC added 24 temporary channels to cover the 2012 Summer Olympics, the channels share their EPG slot with their standard definition counterpart. On 29 August 2012, Channel 4 added three temporary channels covering the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Gam ...

in high definition from the following day; the three channels also share their EPG slots. On 14 February 2013, RT HD was added to Freesat, sharing its channel number with its standard definition simulcast. On 26 March 2013, BBC HD was replaced by a high-definition simulcast of BBC Two. On 13 June 2013, an HD stream of the

BBC Red Button BBC Red Button is a brand used for digital interactive television services provided by the BBC, and broadcast in the United Kingdom. The services replaced Ceefax, the BBC's analogue teletext service. BBC Red Button's text services were due to c ...

was temporarily made available on the EPG. On 16 July 2013, the BBC announced they would be launching five new HD channels in early 2014. The five channels (HD simulcasts of BBC Three, BBC Four, CBBC, CBeebies and BBC News) were in fact launched early – on 10 December 2013. BBC Three and BBC Three HD have been rebranded as BBC iii and now only available on the BBC i player, but in HD if your television is HD ready and can be connected to the internet either directly (using an Ethernet cable) or via wi-fi or via your computer online. You now have to pay a licence fee to receive all BBC TV channels legally on all devices. Channel 4 pulled its 4HD service from Freesat on 22 February 2018, along with its catch up on demand ALL4 service. It claimed that Freesat had significantly increased Channel 4's fee for the Freesat platform, with Freesat claiming that they had not increased their fee for the ALL4 catch up service. However, Channel 4 HD returned to Freesat on 8 December 2021. Channel 5 HD and S4C HD continue to broadcast on Freesat, along with all the Channel 4 SD (standard definition) channels including Channel 4 SD, Film 4, E4, 4Seven and the +1 channels.

Regional variations

Some channels (notably BBC One and ITV) are transmitted in regional variations and the appropriate services are selected by the Freesat receiver from the user's postcode. In March 2010, ITV altered several of their regions from

transmission to

(because they were moved to a satellite from which transmission covers a much larger area than just the UK and content licensing means that they had to be encrypted). As a result, a few Freesat viewers (who cannot receive free-to-view, encrypted content) were moved to regional variations not corresponding to their actual location. Other available regions may be chosen by putting a different post code into the box for the preferred television region. BBC English Regional content is only available in SD, whereas Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland programmes are in HD on BBC One only.

Future channels and recent launches

On 24 November 2020 the BBC Sounds app was added to Freesat 4K boxes to provide streaming access to live and catch-up BBC radio and podcasts services. On 30 November 2020, Court TV joined the Freesat EPG as channel 177, 12 weeks after first launching on satellite for the UK. On 17 September 2020,

Sky Arts Sky Arts (originally launched as Artsworld) is a British free-to-air television channel offering 24 hours a day of programmes dedicated to highbrow arts, including theatrical performances, movies, documentaries and music (such as opera perfor ...

Launched on Freesat channel 147 as a result of the channel itself going free-to-air, offering 24 hours a day of programmes dedicated to highbrow arts, including theatrical performances, movies, documentaries and music (such as opera performances and classical and jazz sessions). On 16 December 2020, Amazon Prime Video joined the range of apps available on Freesat 4K boxes. On 13 June 2021,

GB News GB News is a British free-to-air television and radio news channel. The channel is available on Freeview, Freesat, Sky, YouView, Virgin Media and via the internet. Since 4 January 2022, an audio simulcast of the station is available on DAB+ ...

launched in HD on channel 216. On 11 October 2021 That's TV Gold launched on Freesat channel 178, broadcasting classic TV entertainment, music and films from the 1960s to today, 24 hours per day. On 8 December 2021, the high-definition version of

re-joined the Freesat lineup (it had left in February 2018) and Channel 4's music channels,

Box Hits Box Hits (formerly Smash Hits) was a British commercial television channel owned by Channel Four Television Corporation. The channel broadcast general pop music in shows such as Chartbusters, which was recent music and Pop Domination, which sh ...

, The Box,

Kiss A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

and

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...

, also started broadcasting again on the platform. On 25 April 2022, Talk TV from

News UK News Corp UK & Ireland Limited (trading as News UK, formerly News International and NI Group) is a British newspaper publisher, and a wholly owned subsidiary of the American mass media conglomerate News Corp. It is the current publisher of ...

launched on Freesat channel 217 in HD. On 8th November 2022, Freesat added ITV2 HD, ITV3 HD and ITV4 HD. The HD channels replaced the SD channels on their previous channel numbers

Video on demand

The BBC began to roll out a beta version of BBC iPlayer for Freesat devices in early 2010. BBC iPlayer is an internet based service with around 2500 hours of television being available on demand.

ITV Hub ITVX (formerly ITV Hub) is a British online video-on-demand service operated by ITV plc, ITV. The service offers predominantly features content from ITV1, as well as ITV Digital Channels, ITV Digital channels and some licensed content. The serv ...

is available for

Humax Humax (휴맥스) is a consumer electronics company. Founded in South Korea in 1989, it manufactures set-top boxes, digital video recorders and other consumer electronics. It is publicly traded on KOSDAQ. Listed on the Korean stock exchange (KO ...

increased to a 30-day catch up service from the original 7-day service but with a larger ITV ident/logo in the top left of the screen], Manhattan, and some Sagemcom devices, however it is not available on 2nd Generation Humax devices to viewers using DG and TD postcodes. It is not clear why this is the case. In 2010, Freesat also indicated an intent to launch a receiver featuring the

service (then called 'Project Canvas') and said that the video on demand services 4oD (now

All 4 All 4 is a video on demand service from the Channel Four Television Corporation, free of charge for most content and funded by advertising. The service is available in the UK and Ireland; viewers are not required to have a TV licence—requir ...

) and

Demand 5 My5 (previously Five Download and later Demand 5) is the brand name of video-on-demand services offered by Channel 5 in the United Kingdom. The service went live on 26 June 2008. It is owned by Paramount Global and operated by their Paramou ...

were under consideration On 28 July 2011, the BBC Trust approved proposals to introduce the listing of pay content delivered on-demand via broadband. The trust will allow the BBC to continue to play a part in Freesat as the plans did not represent a significant change to the approval previously given in 2007. There was no need for a Public Value Test or for further regulatory process. Under the plans some pay content, such as films, would be added to the Freesat EPG alongside the existing free-to-air content. However, there would be no adult material or live streamed sports coverage. Freesat itself will not supply any of the on demand content, but will allow third parties to do so through its EPG. Some content will also be made available through existing channels using an on-screen prompt that would take viewers to an on demand environment. Pay-TV sales would be handled by a third party, with Freesat operating the conditional access system that would underpin it. The plan is to use the upcoming launch of G2 spec receivers to add support for Digital Rights Management and where technically possible on existing receivers. On 29 November 2011, a beta trial for the subscription based on demand movie service BoxOffice365 was added to the Freesat EPG. On 11 March 2013, BoxOffice365 withdrew from Freesat. The Freetime guide also features a backwards EPG and a Showcase section offering recommendations.

HTML The HyperText Markup Language or HTML is the standard markup language for documents designed to be displayed in a web browser. It can be assisted by technologies such as Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) and scripting languages such as JavaSc ...

versions of BBC iPlayer and ITV Hub will also launch, both services use MHEG-5 on first generation devices. YouTube launched on Freetime receivers on 7 March 2013, the first deployment of YouTube's HTML app in a Western European TV service.

4oD All 4 is a video on demand service from the Channel Four Television Corporation, free of charge for most content and funded by advertising. The service is available in the UK and Ireland; viewers are not required to have a TV licence—require ...

launched on Freesat's Freetime receivers on 27 June 2013, making Freesat the first UK TV platform to host the HTML5 version of 4oD.

arrived on Freesat on 6 August 2013. In December 2015, Freesat announced the availability of an application for the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

subscription TV streaming service on the Humax HDR-1000S, HDR-1010S, HDR-1100S and HB-1000S Freetime receivers. Netflix is expected to be available on other Freetime receivers in the future. In January 2016,

Saorview Saorview ( ) is the national digital terrestrial television (DTT) service in Ireland. It is owned by RTÉ and operated by 2RN. The service began operation on 29 October 2010 on a trial basis with a full launch on 26 May 2011. By legislation i ...

, the Irish free TV service announced it would be launching an online catch-up and on-demand TV service using the commercial version of the Freetime software, including EPG roll-back and remote recording, with Freesat providing a fully managed service. In September 2016 the BBC closed the MHEG version of the BBC iPlayer (V2) used on some older connected TVs and receivers (manufactured between 2008 and 2014). Freesat Freetime equipment using the HbbTV version was unaffected. The BBC recommended that consumers should purchase replacement receivers to continue to receive iPlayer. In October 2016 STV Player was made available to Freesat viewers. The online live streaming and catch-up service operated by STV shows ITV programmes and content from its own archive. All4 (formerly 4OD) was added to the umaxFreesat service soon after its launch online; however, due to fee increases at start of 2018, Channel 4 have withdrawn the All4 on-demand service from all boxes that carry the Freesat Freetime service, from 22 February 2018 as well as taking Channel 4HD from all HD-capable Freesat devices. In September 2018, catch-up service,

UKTV Play UKTV Play is a video on demand service owned by UKTV, launched in August 2014. The service offers catch-up programming from UKTV's free-to-air channels, which are Dave, Drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in perform ...

joined the Freesat on-demand services, offering catch-up programming from UKTV's channels including

Dave Dave may refer to: Film, television, and theater * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the film * Dave (TV channel), a digital television channel in the ...

, Yesterday, Really and

Drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

. In March 2019, Channel 5's Demand 5 app providing catch-up for Channel 5, 5 STAR,

5 USA 5USA is a British free-to-air television channel. It is owned by Paramount Networks UK & Australia and is a sister channel of Channel 5, 5Action, 5Star and 5Select. It was launched on 16 October 2006 as Five US and was the second digital terr ...

, 5 SELECT, 5 Spike and

Paramount Network Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Media Networks. The network's headquarters are located at the Paramount Pictures studio lot in Los Angeles. The channel was ...

was replaced on Freesat by My5, with a change in user interface, a selection of programmes from partner channels, BLAZE,

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los ...

PBS America PBS America is a British free-to-air television channel derived from the American public television broadcaster PBS. Similar to the BBC and Channel 4, it is a joint venture between entrepreneur David Lyons and PBS Distribution, a joint venture ...

, Real Stories, Spark and

Together ''ToGetHer'' (, aka Superstar Express) is a 2009 Taiwanese drama starring Jiro Wang of Fahrenheit, Rainie Yang and George Hu. It was produced by Comic International Productions ( 可米國際影視事業股份有限公司) and directed by Linzi ...

, and some programmes shown online exclusively or ahead of broadcast.

Reception equipment

Receivers

At the launch of the service, there were two types of Freesat receivers available —standard definition-only receivers and high definition-capable receivers. As of July 2010 there were eleven companies licensed to produce Freesat boxes and televisions. Humax launched a Freesat recorder, Freesat+, which became available to the public in November 2008. On 17 October 2012, Humax released the first Freetime receiver, the Humax HDR-1000S. In September 2018, Freesat announced that

Arris International Arris International Limited (styled as ARRIS) is an American telecommunications equipment company engaged in data, video and telephony systems for homes and businesses. On April 4, 2019, Arris was acquired by network infrastructure provider CommS ...

would produce Freesat's 3rd generation set-top box. The new boxes, which support 4K, were eventually released in February 2020 by

CommScope CommScope is an American network infrastructure provider based in Hickory, North Carolina. CommScope employs over 30,000 employees. The company joined the NASDAQ stock exchange on October 25, 2013. CommScope designs and manufactures network infr ...

, who purchased Arris International in 2019.

Televisions

Following the initial launch,

Panasonic formerly between 1935 and 2008 and the first incarnation of between 2008 and 2022, is a major Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation, headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka. It was founded by Kōnosuke Matsushita in 1918 as a lightbulb ...

introduced three plasma televisions with integrated HD Freesat receivers. At the end of October 2008, Panasonic brought out two more sizes which are the 32" and 37". In April 2009 LG launched four LCD TVs with built-in Freesat receivers. The LG series is the LF7700 (discontinued mid-2010), with screen sizes of 32", 37", 42" and 47".

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professiona ...

have released two televisions with Freesat receivers, the W5810 and Z5800 series, available from sizes 32" up to 52" and in 100 Hz and 200 Hz alternatives.

Satellite dish

The service makes use of the same group of Astra satellites at 28.2°E as the

Sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space. In the field of astronomy, ...

subscription satellite service. This means that a satellite dish which is positioned to receive these services will be capable of receiving Freesat, with the addition of a suitable receiver (or Television with receiver built in). Provided that the LNB has sufficient outputs, a single dish may be used to receive multiple services (i.e. Sky and Freesat). However, a dish with an LNB for the

Sky Q Sky Q is a subscription-based television and entertainment service operated by British satellite television provider Sky, as a part of its operations in Austria and Germany, Ireland, Italy and in the UK. The name also refers to the Sky Q set- ...

service cannot be used with most types of Freesat receiver because Sky Q uses a wideband LNB which is incompatible with most models of Freesat receiver. A "Hybrid" Sky Q LNB can be used as it has both wideband outputs for Sky Q and conventional universal LNB outputs for non-Sky Q receivers, including Freesat. In 2020 a new generation of Freesat boxes launched, these work with regular LNBs and also Sky Q LNB's. For users who do not currently have a satellite dish, Freesat offers an installation service which is made available through retailers and which is advertised in a leaflet included with Freesat receivers. A suitable dish may also be installed by the user or a non-Freesat-affiliated installer.

Ireland

While Freesat systems work in Ireland, official branded Freesat receivers are not widely or officially marketed in the country. On 23 October 2008 several Irish retail chains including Maplin,

Tesco Ireland Tesco Ireland is the Irish subsidiary of supermarket group Tesco. Tesco Ireland was formed by Tesco plc's 1997 purchase of the Irish retailing operations of Associated British Foods, namely Powers' Supermarkets Limited and its subsidiaries, tra ...

and PowerCity began offering modified Freesat systems from

Grundig Grundig (; ) is a German consumer electronics manufacturer owned by the Turkish Arçelik A.Ş., the white goods (major appliance) manufacturer of Turkish conglomerate Koç Holding. The company made domestic appliances and personal-care prod ...

and

Alba ''Alba'' ( , ) is the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland. It is also, in English language historiography, used to refer to the polity of Picts and Scots united in the ninth century as the Kingdom of Alba, until it developed into the Kingdom ...

that had their Freesat branding replaced with a Sat4free brand name. The requirement to enter a UK postcode was removed; the systems were instead set to use the version of the

electronic programme guide Electronic programming guides (EPGs) and interactive programming guides (IPGs) are menu-based systems that provide users of television, radio and other media applications with continuously updated menus that display scheduling information for ...

appropriate for

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

through a

hard-coded Hard coding (also hard-coding or hardcoding) is the software development practice of embedding data directly into the source code of a program or other executable object, as opposed to obtaining the data from external sources or generating it at ...

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

postcode. Sat4free was permanently closed down shortly after.

Outside the UK and Ireland

Although not intended for reception outside of the UK, it is possible to receive Freesat outside of the UK and Ireland but a larger dish is required as the UK beams of

Astra 2E Astra 2E is one of the Astra communications satellites owned and operated by SES S.A., launched to the Astra 28.2°E orbital position on 30 September 2013 after a 10-week delay caused by launcher problems. The satellite provides free-to-air ...

Astra 2F Astra 2F is one of the Astra communications satellites owned and operated by SES S.A., launched in September 2012 to the Astra 28.2°E orbital position. The satellite provides free-to-air and encrypted direct-to-home (DTH) digital television ...

and

Astra 2G Astra 2G is one of the Astra communications satellites owned and operated by SES, launched to the Astra 28.2°E orbital position on 27 December 2014, at 21:37:49 UTC from Baikonur Cosmodrome. Astra 2G is positioned at 28.5° East (part of t ...

(which carry the majority of channels from the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5) have footprints tightly focused on the UK and Ireland. Also, Freesat receivers are not widely or easily available outside the UK, without which the full Freesat EPG is not accessible.

Technical details

Freesat broadcasts from the same fleet of satellites (

Astra 28.2°E Astra 28.2°E is the name for the group of Astra communications satellites co-located at the 28.2° East position in the Clarke Belt that are owned and operated by SES based in Betzdorf, Luxembourg. It is one of the major TV satellite positions s ...

) as Sky. Channels are broadcast using DVB-S. Freesat's role is not broadcasting or availability of channels (although the BBC and ITV are substantial broadcasters in their own right) but instead providing a platform for receiving the channels and the EPG. All of the standard definition channels on Freesat are broadcast using DVB-S; ITV HD, NHK World HD and RT HD also use DVB-S. BBC One HD and BBC HD used DVB-S until 6 June 2011 when the satellite transponder carrying them was upgraded to DVB-S2. Channel 4 HD had launched using DVB-S2 but the transponder was downgraded to DVB-S on 28 March 2012. Standard definition channels are broadcast using MPEG-2, while high definition channels are broadcast using MPEG-4. Interactive television is done using

MHEG-5 MHEG-5, or ISO/IEC 13522-5, is part of a set of international standards relating to the presentation of multimedia information, standardised by the Multimedia and Hypermedia Experts Group (MHEG). It is most commonly used as a language to describ ...

rather than the proprietary OpenTV platform used by Sky. Channel 4 is no longer available in HD from 22 March 2018, it is again available here only in SD just like it was before 19 April 2011. Since the channels are broadcast in-the-clear, they can also be received by non-Freesat receivers, including Sky Digiboxes. The specification for Freesat boxes includes having an

Ethernet Ethernet () is a family of wired computer networking technologies commonly used in local area networks (LAN), metropolitan area networks (MAN) and wide area networks (WAN). It was commercially introduced in 1980 and first standardized in 1 ...

port. This is to allow on demand programming from services such as BBC iPlayer or

to be viewed directly on the customer's television. Open standards and technologies form the basis of Freesat's second generation Freetime receivers, including those from the

Open IPTV Forum The Open IPTV Forum (OIPF) was a non-profit consortium and standards organization focused on defining and publishing open for end-to-end Internet Protocol television (IPTV) standards. It was later joined by several others. Since June 2014, OIPF h ...

(OIPF), the Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV (HbbTV) project and

HTML5 HTML5 is a markup language used for structuring and presenting content on the World Wide Web. It is the fifth and final major HTML version that is a World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) recommendation. The current specification is known as the HTML ...

browser technology, with the majority of the Freetime user interface built using the latter. The Freetime spec also includes features such as: DiSEqC 1.2 support; MoCA (

Multimedia over Coax Alliance The Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA) is an international standards consortium that publishes specifications for networking over coaxial cable. The technology was originally developed to distribute IP television in homes using existing cabl ...

) support including single cable routing;

JavaScript JavaScript (), often abbreviated as JS, is a programming language that is one of the core technologies of the World Wide Web, alongside HTML and CSS. As of 2022, 98% of websites use JavaScript on the client side for webpage behavior, of ...

and CSS internet technologies for broadband-delivered interactive services;

DRM DRM may refer to: Government, military and politics * Defense reform movement, U.S. campaign inspired by Col. John Boyd * Democratic Republic of Madagascar, a former socialist state (1975–1992) on Madagascar * Direction du renseignement milita ...

for online content; and payment mechanisms for broadband services like

LoveFilm LoveFilm was a United Kingdom–based provider of DVD-by-mail and streaming video on demand in the United Kingdom, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Germany. Acquired by Amazon.com in 2011, the service had reached 2 million subscribers. It claimed ...

. James Strickland, Freesat's director of product and technology development, explained that Freetime is a hybrid between HbbTV and MHEG-5.

Adoption

The table below shows the quarterly and cumulative sales of Freesat equipment in the first years of the service. In the Q4 2009 report (from the table above), Ofcom reported that Freesat had announced the 1 million mark had been hit by the end of February 2010. *Note: Ofcom stopped reporting Freesat Penetration Cumulatively with the Q3 2010 Report, and stopped quarterly reports at the end of 2010. Indications are that Freesat penetration largely plateaued in late 2010. In May 2017, Freesat announced that 904,000 devices capable of receiving the platform were sold in 2016, with the installed base increasing 58,000-year-on-year and passing 2 million during the course of the year.''Smart and UHD TV sales boost Freesat''
25 May 2017. Broadband TV News. Accessed 31 May 2017

References

External links

*
BBC News: Q&A on Freesat

List of Freesat (UK) Channels

Freesat Section at Astra 2
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