ITV and BBC team up to bring FREE satellite service |
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Published
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Fri, 09 Sep 2005 06:05
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LONDON: TV viewers throughout the country will be able to receive Freeview by early 2006, said a spokesperson for the BBC. The channel had joined hands with ITV in order to start a free satellite TV service for the 25 percent of viewers who do not receive Freeview, the no-charge digital service.
To access Freesat one would require a set-top box and satellite dish and could initially cost around £150. Viewing however will be free. Currently over 60 percent of homes in the UK, approximately 5 million homes, access Freeview through set-top boxes.
The move is also in line with government plans to digitise the entire nation: old analogue TV signals are being replaced with digital telecast signals in the concerted effort.
The new service Freesat is expected to rival that of Sky by featuring not only BBC and ITV digital channels but also interactive and radio services. Currently, ITV has to use the Sky service to encrypt its programs.
For ITV, the effort is its only hope to maintain any share in what is already a highly competitive market. They aim to make their channels “available to as many as possible regardless of technological and geographical constraints” ITV chief Charles Allen said.
Rival BSkyB which has its own "freesat" offering refused to divulge the number of its subscribers.
A BBC spokesperson explained that it was more important to establish an open market in subscription-free satellite services. This way people across the country can get free access all the BBC’s services parallel with the government’s efforts to digitise transmissions. Therefore Freesat had to be made an affordable and attractive proposition, he said.
Currently Freeview costs between £30 and £50. When it was introduced the cost was around £100.
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