Is freeview worth having?

[alecstilleyedye]

We have four TV's in the house two hooked up to Sky and the kids Telly's which have freeview, IMHO it's mostly 56 channels of pure drivel, with the occasional decent programme, I much prefer the wireless.

anyone under 25 will assume you prefer watching tv on a laptop.

 

[sheddy]

You should be able to delete the worst channels from your listings.
Also switch the Fbox off at the wall when not in use to save lectric

 

[ColinJ]

And there are some parts where there are only 4 channels.

Here in most parts of Hebden Bridge for example! The town is surrounded by big hills and those of us in the valleys cannot 'see' the Yorkshire TV transmitter at Emley Moor. So... no Channel 5, no access to cable, no Freeview reception until the local hillside analogue transmitter switches to digital in 2011. There is always SKY of course, although some properties very close to the hills can't even 'see' the satellite.

Great terrain for cycling though...

 

[Noodley]

Here in most parts of Hebden Bridge for example!

I'll not expect to watch any telly then when I travel down to Hebden Bridge next year for some hilly audaxes.

 

[marinyork]

Thanks.

...erm....is this good?

Could be better. You're quite a long way from either Crystal Palace or Bluebell Hill and the field strength is quite weak. As long as your rooftop aerial is decent and the cabling is decent I don't see why it shouldn't work, borrow someone elses box for a day to see. I have a freeview PVR and haven't regretted it either, freeview PVRs are good and contrary to sky propaganda aren't less stable or have worse software.

In actual fact noodley when channel 5 launched there were a great many areas that couldn't get channel 5 - only 75% of the population could receive it. The percentage that can get all of freeview is similar. In the past reported to be about 73% but disputed. 4 channels isn't too bad for analogue, a small percentage of homes can't even get that.

 

[ColinJ]

I'll not expect to watch any telly then when I travel down to Hebden Bridge next year for some hilly audaxes.

Most people here can receive digital TV by satellite of course, but there are a few spots where there isn't a clear view of the right patch of SKY. I'm too much of a cheapskate to pay so I'm waiting for FREEVIEW in 2011. I get my EUROSPORT cycling coverage free through an old analogue satellite system .

As for local hilly audaxes - yes, there are some very good ones round here. Take a look at the West Yorkshire Super Randonneur website for details.

I'll be doing 'Season of Mists' on Sunday - it's only 100 km but it has 2,500 m of tough Yorkshire and Lancashire hills to go over...

- nice!

There's a similar event earlier in the year - 'Spring into the Dales' which I always do.

 

[ColinJ]

I'll be doing 'Season of Mists' on Sunday - it's only 100 km but it has 2,500 m of tough Yorkshire and Lancashire hills to go over...

Actually the sun is shining so why am I sat here at home at my PC when those hills beckon - I'm off out on the bike - byeeeee !

 

[HLaB]

For free its worth it (one off payment) and the whole UK will go digital
eventually, so why not do it now and occasionally the extra channels have events like cycling.

 

[Ghost Donkey]

We got a better picture.

We didn't

Our analogue signal is/was good so we gain no quality but get more choice. I'll occasionally watch analogue if I know I'll be sticking on the same channel for a while. I like being able to delete channels from the menu though.

 

[Crackle]

We get, NWesterly veering west, four analogue. SWesterly veering South 3 analogue and some snow: Occasionally we get nothing! This normally co-incides with the mobile signal going AWOL - I think the sheep chew the cable or the antennae get covered in midges! Must get myself a dish one day.

 

[Noodley]

There's a similar event earlier in the year - 'Spring into the Dales' which I always do.

Yep, I'm planning on being at that and next years Season of Mists - I would have been there this year but for a family holiday. Which reminds me, I must go and help with the packing...

 

[marinyork]

We get, NWesterly veering west, four analogue. SWesterly veering South 3 analogue and some snow: Occasionally we get nothing! This normally co-incides with the mobile signal going AWOL - I think the sheep chew the cable or the antennae get covered in midges! Must get myself a dish one day.

Get one next year, when freesat launches!

 

[Crackle]

I thought Freesat had already launched? I know you can just get a card from Sky which allows you to watch the free channels anyway for a one-off cost of about £25, just goes in your Sky reciever. This is nearly the same as you can get via digital TV plus 240 channels of other rubbish. In fact using a SKY reciever is the only way to get channel 4 and 5 via satellite as they are still scrambled, so you won't get them from FreeToAir satellite recievers. What's the difference between Freesat and that?

 

[marinyork]

Yes crackle you are right but that's not what I'm talking about. There's freesat from sky which is free-to-view and there's freesat next year which is a new consortium. As for the current situation, what you say is entirely correct... but not for much longer.

Freesat is a service that was supposed to have launched by now but has been delayed (one of the speculated delays is so C4 could join), it's run by BBC and ITV, it will launch sometime around March next year. Next year channel 4's contract with Sky runs out. It actually costs them a lot of money to be encrypted, so the chances of them renewing coupled with the facts that they said they want to join freesat and they've let other contracts expire suggests heavily they will be in on it. Channel five on the other hand is harder to predict because they never tell us what they think but it's believed they want to join freesat after launch next year too. A lot of freesat stuff has to be sorted out too.

Likely channels available by the end of next year all the terestrial channels plus the new HD channels. So it will be similar to freeview plus the HD channels and a few other weird things. It's not pretending to be anything great but it'll be digital tv for the quarter of the population that can't get freeview and don't want anything to do with sky.

 

[Crackle]

Yes crackle you are right but that's not what I'm talking about. There's freesat from sky which is free-to-view and there's freesat next year which is a new consortium. As for the current situation, what you say is entirely correct... but not for much longer.

Freesat is a service that was supposed to have launched by now but has been delayed (one of the speculated delays is so C4 could join), it's run by BBC and ITV, it will launch sometime around March next year. Next year channel 4's contract with Sky runs out. It actually costs them a lot of money to be encrypted, so the chances of them renewing coupled with the facts that they said they want to join freesat and they've let other contracts expire suggests heavily they will be in on it. Channel five on the other hand is harder to predict because they never tell us what they think but it's believed they want to join freesat after launch next year too. A lot of freesat stuff has to be sorted out too.

Likely channels available by the end of next year all the terestrial channels plus the new HD channels. So it will be similar to freeview plus the HD channels and a few other weird things. It's not pretending to be anything great but it'll be digital tv for the quarter of the population that can't get freeview and don't want anything to do with sky.

Aha! That one had completely passed me by - thanks for that.