Freesat
Freesat is a British free-to-air satellite television service, first formed as a joint venture between the BBC and ITV plc and now owned by Everyone TV. 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 service on digital terrestrial television, 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 60 high-definition channels from broadcasters including BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, Sky Mix, Arirang TV, Bloomberg, Daystar, Discovery Networks, France 24, NHK, and TRT World.
Freesat's main competitors are the digital terrestrial television Freeview platform, and the free-to-air services on the IPTV and DTT YouView platform from EE TV and TalkTalk TV, the cable Virgin TV platform and the satellite Sky UK platform.
In February 2021, it was announced that, subject to regulatory approval, Freesat was to merge its operation with Digital UK, 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. In January 2023, Digital UK changed its name to Everyone TV.
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, the channels have always been available free-to-air 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, 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 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 viewing card to decrypt the channels. Similarly, to use the Videoguard encryption, the broadcasters needed to pay a fee to NDS Group.
Move to free-to-air
In May 2003, the BBC moved most of its channels from the Astra 2A satellite to Astra 2D, 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 and 5* three years later in December 2011. It later added Channel 5 HD to Freesat following the removal of BBC Three as an SD and HD TV channel.
Viva moved from free-to-view 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'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, Kiss TV and Smash Hits – were added to the Freesat EPG. This was followed by Heat and Magic on 29 April.
The free-to-air channels can be received using any standard satellite receiver, although those not licensed by Freesat will need to be re-tuned manually if/when channel frequencies are changed.
Managed service
The Freesat project aims to provide a managed service with an Electronic Programme Guide 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 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 BBC and ITV as being available on the platform, as well as all national BBC radio networks. Channel 4 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, Al Jazeera English, Zee Live, Zee News, RIA Novosti and Euronews were included on the channel list.High-definition
was the only high-definition channel available on Freesat from launch day, with ITV HD 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, simulcasting the main ITV1 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. 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 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 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 were in fact launched early – on 10 December 2013. BBC Three and BBC Three HD have been rebranded as BBC iii and are now only available on the BBC iPlayer, but in HD, if your television is HD-ready and can be connected to the internet either directly 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 channels including Channel 4 SD, Film 4, E4, 4Seven and the +1 channels.
In April 2022, QVC launched its HD service on Freesat, followed by ITV2 HD, ITV3 HD and ITV4 HD in November 2022, and in February 2023, BBC completed its upgrade to HD of BBC Parliament, BBC Red Button and BBC Alba, and all its regional services. On 9 January 2024, BBC closed all SD channels broadcasting by satellite, and on the following day, ITV closed the SD channels, ITV3, ITV4 and ITVBe, with the SD versions of ITV1 and ITV2 later closing in October 2024. The +1 versions of ITV1, ITV2, ITV3 and ITV4 continued on SD-only receivers until November 2024, when they moved to a DVB-S2 transponder.
Regional variations
Some channels 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 free-to-air transmission to free-to-view. As a result, a few Freesat viewers were moved to regional variations not corresponding to their actual location. Other available regions may be chosen by putting a different postcode into the box for the preferred television region. BBC English Regional content was previously only available in SD, whereas Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland programmes had also been available in HD on BBC One only. As of March 2023, all BBC services, including English regions, are available in HD with regional services now unavailable in SD. The SD “Nightlight” services for viewers with non-HD equipment has closed on 8 January 2024.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 podcast 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 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.
On 16 December 2020, Amazon Prime Video joined the range of apps available on Freesat 4K boxes.
On 13 June 2021, GB News 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 Channel 4 re-joined the Freesat lineup and Channel 4's music channels, Box Hits, The Box, Kiss, Magic and Kerrang!, also started broadcasting again on the platform.
On 8 November 2022, Freesat added ITV2 HD, ITV3 HD and ITV4 HD, followed by ITVBe HD on 12 December 2023. The HD channels replaced the SD channels on their previous channel numbers.