Freesat is a free-to-air digital satellite television joint venture between the BBC and ITV plc, serving the United Kingdom. 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 digital satellite broadcasting to offer a selection of high-definition programming from the BBC, ITV plc, Channel 4, NHK and RT UK.
Freesat's main competitors are Freeview and Freesat from Sky.
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.
Freesat+ is a consumer brand introduced to raise consumer awareness and promote sales of Freesat-capable digital TV recorders, otherwise known as personal video recorders. Freesat+ affords users similar features that are available with competitor services such as Sky+ and Freeview+.
Freesat+ offers a PVR functionality for Freesat, which offers a greater choice of channels compared to Freeview, including a greater number of HD channels, without the subscriptions of Sky or Virgin Media. Freesat also offers higher rates of coverage than Freeview.
Freesat do not manufacture the units itself, but will award the Freesat+ label to manufacturers that are able to meet a series of specifications that have been drawn up by the UK’s Digital TV Group.
Many manufacturers provide Freesat+ set-top boxes such as: Humax, Manhattan, Bush, Sagemcom, Goodmans and others.
Using the specifications of the Humax FOXSAT HDR-PVR, typical Freesat+ recorders include:
Still to far from me
Only now in real life
Guess iÂ've never been this free
Guess itÂ's time to realise
When you left your life collection
Was it planned for me to see
And i took the first moment
Just to not let it be
And i blame, i blame it all
It all on me
There was something in that mind
Something wanished and gone
And i just couldnÂ't follow
What was going on
When i tore apart your picture
It was just cause it was old
But i put it all together
Just like i was told
I never pictured that about you
My home is no more immune
You brought me my enemy
Just like i told you not to
And nothing in this world
Can wash it clean
And i donÂ't wanna be able
To see how that could have been
And i blame, i blame it all
It all on me
Headacher, painful
Heartbraker, beautiful
So i turn out all the lights