Freeview
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Image:Freeview ukdigitaltv.png
Freeview is a form of digital terrestrial television in the United Kingdom, using the DVB-T standard.
Contents |
Overview
Freeview was launched on October 30 2002 at 6am, it took over the DTT licence to broadcast on four multiplexes, three of them from the defunct ITV Digital (originally called ONdigital).
Unlike ITV Digital and the cable and satellite digital TV services, it offers no premium or pay-per-view channels, and no subscription channels. A set-top box costing around £30 to £100 or a new television with an integrated digital tuner is needed to receive the Freeview service. Some people may also need to get their aerial upgraded which can cost around £80 to £180Template:Ref. This is in addition to the annual television licence that all viewers of broadcast television in the UK must purchase irrespective of whether they receive it via satellite, cable or their aerial.
The Freeview consortium's founding members were the BBC, National Grid Wireless and British Sky Broadcasting. They were joined by ITV plc and Channel 4 on 11 October 2005. The service broadcasts free-to-air television channels, radio stations and interactive services from the BBC, Sky, and various other broadcasters.
As of March 2006, sales of Freeview enabled receivers have passed 10 million units, available in approximately 6.4 million homes Template:Ref. 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 Template:Ref. The number of Freeview-only homes is set to pass the Sky-only homes during the second quarter of 2006.
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 a Freeview set-top box or television equipped with a card slot or CI slot (which not all models possess). The Digital Network Group, made up of all the multiplex owners, is responsible for co-ordination between Freeview and Top Up TV services.
Full list of Freeview channels
TV channels
- BBC One (includes regional variations)
- BBC Two (includes regional variations; digitial variations from analogue in Wales and Northern Ireland)
- ITV
- Channel 4 (S4C Digidol in Wales)
- Five
- ITV2
- BBC Three
- Channel 4 (Wales only), TeleG (Scotland only) or a Teletext information screen (England and Northern Ireland 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
- More4 +1
- E4 +1
- ITV Play
- Quiz Call
- CBBC Channel
- CBeebies
- CITV Channel
- BBC News 24
- BBC Parliament (1/4 screen due to bandwidth limitations)
- Sky News
- Sky Sports News
- S4C2 (Wales only)
- Community Channel
- Teachers' TV
- Teletext (text service)
- Teletext Holidays (text service)
- Teletext Cars (text service)
- Teletext on 4 (text service)
- BBCi (text service)
- YooPlay Games (interactive service)
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 (Scotland only), BBC Radio Wales (Wales only) or BBC Radio Ulster (Northern Ireland only)
- BBC Radio nan Gaidheal (Scotland only), BBC Radio Cymru (Wales only) or BBC Radio Foyle (Northern Ireland only)
- Mojo
- Kerrang!
- talkSPORT
- 3C
- Premier Christian Radio
- U105 (Northern Ireland only)
New channel launches
A full list of digital terrestrial television channels in the UK is also available.
See also
External links
References
- Template:Note {{cite web
| author= | year= | url=http://www.cai.org.uk/asp/faq.asp | title=Frequently Asked Questions | format= | work= | publisher=Confederation of Aerial Industries Ltd | accessdate=2005-12-31 | accessyear= }}
- Template:Note {{cite web
| author= | year=2005-12-09 | url=http://www.ofcom.org.uk/research/tv/reports/dtv/dtu_2005_q3/q3_2005.pdf | title=Digital Television Update Q3 2005 | format=Adobe Acrobat - PDF | work= | publisher=Ofcom | accessdate=2005-12-31 | accessyear= }}
- Template:Note {{cite web
| author= | year=2006-03-02 | url=http://www.dtg.org.uk/news/news.php?class=countries&subclass=193&id=1510 | title=Freeview confirms 10m-receiver landmark | format= | work= | publisher=DTG | accessdate=2006-03-11 | accessyear= }}simple:Freeview