Freeview (DTV Services Ltd)
Type	Digital terrestrial television provider
Founded	2002
Headquarters	London
Key people	Ilse Howling (General Manager)
Industry	Media
Products	Package of free-to-air digital terrestrial television channels
Website	www.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 6 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.

2007, Q4, 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 France and Spain.^{citation needed}

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 £20) 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.

High Definition on Freeview Planned

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 160 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." Freesat, which parallels the Freeview service on a new dedicated satellite platform began broadcasting on 6 May 2008. Current Freeview set-top boxes 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.

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

Coverage and reception

Approximately 73% of households are in a location that can receive Freeview broadcasts.^[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.

Freeview Playback

Main article: Freeview Playback

Freeview Playback, 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 Playback logo [1], in order to benefit from joint marketing and consumer confidence.

Freeview channels

A full list of digital terrestrial television channels in the UK is also available, which includes the additional Top Up TV and Setanta Sports services.

Television channels

^1  ITV1 is the brand name for 12 of the 15 regional ITV Network franchises for England, Wales, southern Scotland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. Each of these 12 franchises has a separate brand name used prior to local programming, see ITV1. STV is the brand name for the franchises for central and northern Scotland. UTV operates the franchise for Northern Ireland. All 15 franchises broadcast 0925-0600; GMTV operates the franchise for national breakfast television and broadcasts 0600-0925.

^2  Five, S4C and S4C2 will move to a public service multiplex at the start of digital switchover, using the bandwidth created by switching from 16QAM to 64QAM mode, so will be transmitted from all 1,154^[9] UK transmitters. None of the commercial multiplex operators have asked Ofcom to extend their multiplex to any of the 1,074 relay transmitters so these multiplexes will broadcast only from the existing 80 main transmitters that carry all the multiplexes after switchover.^[10] Broadcast power for these multiplexes will, however, be increased, and they will use 64QAM mode, enlarging the national coverage from the current 73%^[9] of the population to an estimated 90% by 2012.

Text and interactive services

Radio stations

Former Channels

See also

• BT Vision
• Télévision Numérique Terrestre

References

External links

• Freeview
• Digital TV Group: the industry association for digital TV in the UK
• As Cumbria leads the way to Digital TV - share your experiences and advice on your local site.
• Extended Freeview reception prediction
• Digital Spy Forums - Freeview Latest News
• Entertainment-iuk.com - Latest Freeview, Virgin Media and Top Up TV News