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Freeview (UK)

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This article is about the United Kingdom digital terrestrial television brand. For other uses of the branding, see Freeview.
Freeview
(DTV Services Ltd)
Company typeDigital terrestrial television provider
IndustryMedia
Founded2002
HeadquartersUnited Kingdom London
Key people
Ilse Howling (General Manager)
ProductsPackage of free-to-air digital terrestrial television channels
Websitewww.freeview.co.uk

Freeview is an operator of free digital terrestrial television in the United Kingdom, using the DVB-T standard. The Freeview brand name, owned by DTV Services,[1] is used to promote free digital terrestrial television services as a whole and those services operated by companies who rent capacity from Freeview Consortium shareholders.[2]

Overview

Freeview was launched on 30 October 2002 at 5 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 founding members of DTV Services were the BBC, Crown Castle UK (now known as 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.

2008, Q3, UK's 60 million TV sets (not homes, Ofcom figures[3])

As of the end of December 2006, 30.4% of first sets and 25.6% of all TV sets in the UK use Freeview. 7,703,000 of the 25.3 million UK homes are 'Freeview only', with 15.3 million Freeview enabled TVs (and integrated digital televisions) in 10.5 million homes.[3]

The Freeview model has been copied in a number of countries including New Zealand, France, Spain and Italy.

Service costs

Freeview offers no premium or pay-per-view channels and no subscription channels. The name distinguishes the service from ITV Digital, cable and satellite digital TV services. To receive the Freeview services, a set-top box (typically available from £15) 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.[5]

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. It was possible to receive Top Up TV selected Freeview set-top boxes or televisions equipped with a card slot or CI slot, however, this was discontinued in 2006 in favour of "Top Up TV Anytime", a service which depends on a proprietary set top box.

The Digital TV Group the industry association for digital television in the UK, is responsible for co-ordination between Freeview, Top Up TV, and other digital services.

Plans for High Definition

There are currently no high definition channels on Freeview, but as of January 2008 it appears that there are plans to roll out high definition channels on a regional basis, starting in 2009. According to The Producer, a Sony publication for professionals:

…on 21 Nov 2007 Ofcom proposed a reorganisation of the three public service digital multiplexes to allow free-to-air HD services to launch by late 2009. It has backed a scheme to clear multiplex B for this goal (currently used by the BBC to carry CBeebies, BBC Parliament, three interactive video services, ten radio and two data services). The process strips the BBC of a significant amount of spectrum, and gives Ofcom the power to decide who gets what in the subsequent carve-up. The day before the announcement the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Five signed a "non binding memorandum of understanding" to reorganise their DTT spectrum to ensure an HD launch on Freeview within the existing spectrum capacity, in an attempt to control their own destiny. Ofcom is backing a near-doubling of efficiency by two means. These are, first, through coding squeezing more into the same spectrum by using MPEG4 rather than the current MPEG2. Secondly it is backing a new transmission standard DVB-T2, an update from existing DVB-T, this alone promises to deliver a 30 percent increase in capacity to a multiplex. Together the two moves increase the capacity of a multiplex by 60 percent. Ofcom expects to award four blocks but with three starting in 2009/2010 and a fourth starting 2012. It is expected that the first three will be BBC HD, ITV HD, and Channel 4 HD. The HD services will also be available on Freesat.

Current Freeview set-top boxes (apart from possibly Sony's PlayTV for the Playstation 3) and HD-ready digital televisions are not capable of decoding DVB-T2 so viewers will need to purchase an HD receiver when the time comes.

Ofcom announced on 10th February 2009 that the version of AVC being used would be level 4 which would mean 1080p50 can not be used. AVC level 4 supports up to 1080i30/1080p30.

The Ofcom proposal and the consultation responses can be found here. Ofcom DTT Future

Coverage and reception

Approximately 27% of households are in a location that cannot receive Freeview broadcasts, despite the TV licence being the same for every region.[6] Maximum Freeview coverage of the UK whilst analogue and digital services are running in tandem has now been reached.[7] The British government plans to switch off analogue transmitters region-by-region, starting in 2007,[8] to allow for an increase in both Freeview coverage and transmitter power. The government estimates that the coverage level of the three public service broadcasting multiplexes will reach 98.5% of the population (the same as analogue television) and six-multiplex reception will cover 90% of the population once the digital switchover has been completed in 2012.[9]

Freeview+

Main article: Freeview+

Freeview+, as well as Freeview, are consumer brands created in the UK by the DTG Group to "raise consumer awareness and promote sales" of Freeview-capable digital video recorders. Players which meet specified quality and functionality criteria are permitted to carry the Freeview+ logo,[10] in order to benefit from joint marketing and consumer confidence.

History

Following the collapse of ITV Digital, the Independent Television Commission re-advertised the licenses for the three multiplexes (MUX B, C and D) that had been used by ITV Digital. On August 16, 2002 the licenses were granted to the Freeview consortium, with BBC getting multiplex B and Crown Castle getting multiplexes C and D.

Although all pay channels had been closed down on ITV Digital, many free-to-air channels continued broadcasting, including the five analogue channels, the BBC channels and ITV2, ITN News Channel, S4C2, TV Travel Shop and QVC.[11]

Freeview was launched on October 30, 2002. Sky Travel, UK History, Sky News, Sky Sports News, The Hits and TMF were available from the start. BBC Four and the interactive BBC streams were moved to multiplex B.[12] Under the initial plans, the two multiplexes operated by Crown Castle would carry eight channels altogether. The seventh stream became shared by UK Bright Ideas and Ftn which launched in February 2003. The eighth stream was left unused until April 2004 when the shopping channel Ideal World launched on Freeview.

In March 2004, pay television returned to the terrestrial platform when Top Up TV launched. The BBC and Crown Castle multiplexes were at the time barred from broadcasting pay channels, so the new service broadcast on multiplex A and Channel 4's half of multiplex 2.[13] The autumn saw the launch of two new free-to-air entertainment channels; ABC1 in September and ITV3 in November.

In early 2005, two new channel streams became available on the two Crown Castle multiplexes. ITV plc and Channel 4 won one stream each. ITV used their channel to broadcast Men & Motors. Channel 4's entertainment channel E4 had up until this time been broadcast as part of the Top Up TV package. It was decided that E4 would be made free-to-air and E4+1 was launched at the same time in the newly acquired stream. They also launched a live stream of the Big Brother house, which was later replaced by quiz channel Quiz Call.

In the autumn of 2005 Channel 4 and ITV joined the Freeview consortium. They also launched two new channels, More4 and ITV4, respectively. Sky replaced Sky Travel with the broader entertainment channel Sky Three.

The autumn of 2005 also saw yet another stream became available on the Crown Castle multiplexes. Channel 4 won the bidding for this stream, which reportedly reached £12 million per year.[14] The space was initially used to broadcast More4+1.

The ITV News Channel had seen its broadcasting hours reduced to daytime after the launch of ITV4. It stopped broadcasting in December 2005 and the space was taken over by CITV in March 2006. ITV later launched ITV Play in April 2006, replacing Men & Motors. In June, Channel 4 launched their movie channel Film4, which had just become free-to-air as part of a rebrand, on Freeview, in the space where More4+1 was previously broadcast.

Five waited for a long time before launching additional channels. They had bought a stake in the company behind the Top Up TV service, and in the autumn of 2006 it was restructured into an video on demand service. This freed up space for Five to launch two new channels in October: Five Life and Five US (now known as Fiver and Five USA respectively).

ITV and Channel 4 eventually decided to rid themselves of their quiz channels. Quiz Call was sold in November 2006 and replaced by Film4+1. ITV Play was closed down in March 2007 and replaced by ITV2+1.

Channel 4 replaced Film4+1 with Channel 4 +1 in August 2007. Disney decided to leave Freeview and closed down ABC1 in September 2007. October 2007 saw UKTV and Virgin overhaul their Freeview channels. FTN was replaced by Virgin 1, UKTV Bright Ideas was closed down, UKTV History had its broadcasting hours restricted to daytime and UKTV G2 was launched on Freeview under the new name Dave.

CITV eventually moved into ABC1's old space, allowing ITV4 to broadcast round-the-clock. In August 2008, The Hits was replaced by 4Music.

In January 2009, price-drop tv was replaced by Quest, gambling service Supercasino launched in new space on the SDN multiplex, Turner channel Nuts TV was closed and replaced with four-hours of news channel CNN International, and Arqiva announced that their latest new channel slot had been sold to UKTV who would use it to broadcast Dave+1. Then, Russia Today TV announced that they were going to broadcast for a small amount of time during the day, timesharing with Dave+1. Also, January saw NETPLAY TV launch on channel 49, timesharing with SuperCasino on 48. This shows Rocks&Co and various JML presentations throughout the day. Finally, Directgov launched on channel 106.

Freeview channels

Main article: List of channels on Freeview (UK)

Technical problems

In August 2008, a change was made to the broadcast format to allow future expansion of the network. This caused approximately 250,000 DVB-T receivers to stop working altogether due to incompatibility. The problem affected a specific range of older units, and was caused by an increase in the size of the Network Information Table (channel list) which exceeded the memory available in some set-top boxes.[15] Freeview had warned consumers in advance of the update, which was phased over a three-month period.[16] Affected consumers were advised to buy new set-top boxes.[17]

See also

References

  1. ^ "DTV Services Limited Company Profile". February 22, 2007.
  2. ^ "Channel 4 buys new Freeview slot". 29 November 2005. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |published= ignored (help)
  3. ^ a b "The Communications Market: Digital Progress Report Digital TV, Q3 2008" (PDF). Ofcom. 4 January 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-04.
  4. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions". Confederation of Aerial Industries Ltd. Retrieved 2006-06-22.
  5. ^ "TV Licensing - TV Licence Information". Retrieved 2007-05-04.
  6. ^ "Freeview Facts: When will I be able to get Freeview?". Retrieved 2006-12-06.
  7. ^ "Freeview FAQ: I have no coverage, what can I do now?". Retrieved 2006-12-06.
  8. ^ "First digital TV switch date set". BBC News. 15 March 2007. Retrieved 2007-03-15.
  9. ^ "Ofcom sets Digital Switchover related licence conditions". Ofcom.org.uk. Retrieved 2009-02-25.
  10. ^ [1][dead link]
  11. ^ "UK DTT Channel List (free-to-view including yr2002 dtt trials)". Unsatisfactorysoftware.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-02-25.
  12. ^ "UK DTT Channel List (Freeview)". Unsatisfactorysoftware.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-02-25.
  13. ^ "UK DTT Channel List (Freeview/Top Up TV)". Unsatisfactorysoftware.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-02-25.
  14. ^ "Confirmed: Channel 4 wins new Freeview slot". digital Spy. November 28 2005. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ^ "Freeview boxes destined for landfill". FrequencyCast. Retrieved 2008-08-25.
  16. ^ Sweney, Mark (2008-08-14). "Freeview upgrade leaves set-top boxes obsolete". The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-08-25.
  17. ^ "Complaints from Customers who were affected". FrequencyCast. Retrieved 2008-10-23.


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