FREESAT DEAD DUCK OF THE FUTURE?

[swiftmick]

When I bought into Freesat Last year, There was a couple of promises being pushed on the Freesat platform.

HD channels without the contract. Excellent I have no problems with that.

New channels to be added every month either Standard or HD. rubbish!!!! Now I do have a problem with this.

Over the last six months I have started to get greeted with 'NEW Channels to be added' when I switch on my Foxsat HDR.

Only to find after the re-tune that one channel has been removed? And this is happening regular. I now have a growing fear that if I switch on the Foxsat HDR one day it will say EVERY BLOODY CHANNEL has been removed!

Its about time Freesat pulled their fingers out and start fulfilling the promises they have made or consumers will vote with their feet and Freesat will be another dead duck floating on the pond of electronic history.

 

[Anonymous]

i also bought the bush freesat box then upgraded to humax hd pvr
a very good machine it is too, but the lack of hd channels is so frustating
but hey ho they have added 3 shopping channels in sd still none new hd channels
not even the promised c4 hd,, so i have now upgraded to sky hd
and this has taken my home cinema to another level and if freesat
dont start giving some new hd soon it will go the way of the dodo..
i am really pleased with sky there hd service is very good well worth it..

 

[murg]

not only broken promises regarding new hd channels but on top of that they cut the bit rates and reduce the picture quality of the limited hd content they offer! Sky must be loving it

 

[daveh75]

murg:not only broken promises regarding new hd channels but on top of that they cut the bit rates and reduce the picture quality of the limited hd content they offer! Sky must be loving it Freesat have never promised lot's of HD channels or channel 4HD. It was thought/hoped 4HD would join,but as yet hasn't materialised.

Freesat is a Platform/EPG provider not a broadcaster! So Freesat haven't cut bitrates or reduced PQ at all,that's down to the individual broadcaster's.

More importantly the channels that Freesat and Sky have in common are the same transmissions/signals so the BBC bitrate issue effect's both platforms.

 

[murg]

take your point daveh75 but isnt freesat a bbc venture and the individual broadcaster you mention that has reduced bit rates and pq is the bbc so surely it is freesat has reduced bit rates? the fact remains that people that have bought into this venture have seen quality of hd broadcasts reduced and promises of new channels on a regular basis broken. I feel that consumers have been let down by freesat so far. I was on the point of buying into the venture but really feel that sky is my only real option as much as I hate to say so

 

[Fee]

HD bitrates have been reduced all round, BBC HD on Virgin cable is nowhere near as good as it was when I first got a HD telly about a year ago, no matter what the BBC claim.

 

[swiftmick]

They may not have promised lots of HD channels or CH4-HD but they did promise on the website new channels to be added every month. They did not promise to take channels away every month. And this is happening at an alarming rate.

 

[swiftmick]

Freesat is a joint venture with the BBC ITV and others. The reduction in bit rate is their responsability. The BBC have since gone on record stating the reduction in bit rate is because of hardware that has been supplied to them from an outside source.

Mmmmm. This outside source would have had to compete to win the contract from the BBC to provide the hardware. The problem of reduction in picture quality in HD came to light when complaints started to hit the net. And now the BBC are looking at the scapegoat they gave the contract too, Surely the BBC looked at the equipment to be supplied and agreed?

And the winners out of this situation? Sky and Virgin. They must be having a good old giggle at Freesat's expense.

 

[The_Lhc]

swiftmick:And the winners out of this situation? Sky and Virgin. They must be having a good old giggle at Freesat's expense.

As far as BBC HD is concerned, the bitrates have been reduced by exactly the same amount on Sky and Virgin I believe (definitely Sky, pretty sure about Virgin). How could Sky's BBCHD bitrate NOT be reduced? It's the same feed from the same satellite!

 

[daveh75]

swiftmick:

They may not have promised lots of HD channels or CH4-HD but they did promise on the website new channels to be added every month.That was on launch, and yes they hoped to add channels every month(iirc they hoped to have around 200 channels in total on the platform) and they've only managed 140 or so.

You also need to consider the state of the economy has changed dramatically since launch,and a lot of broadcaster's who rely on advertising revenue alone aren't making any money so it's not viable for them to broadcast FTA at the moment.You cant blame Freesat for that...

swiftmick:They did not promise to take channels away every month. And this is happening at an alarming rate.No they didn't and nor have they. To be fair some of the channels were rebranded/renamed and most of the other channels that have disappeared are shopping channels and they've gone because they've ceased broadcasting/gone into liquidation again that's not down to Freesat....

 

[daveh75]

swiftmick:

Freesat is a joint venture with the BBC ITV Yes it is/was set-up as a joint venture between the BBC Trust and ITV, because they had a PSB obligation to do so and that's as far as it goes.

Although funded/set up by BBC/ITV, Freesat is a completely independant non-profit organisation.

So the bitrate/PQ issue's are nothing to do with Freesat.That is down to the BBCswiftmick:And the winners out of this situation? Sky and Virgin. They must be having a good old giggle at Freesat's expense.

As i said in my first post, Freesat and Sky receive the same transmissions/signals from the same satellite's so the BBC bitrate/PQ issues effect both platforms......

 

[Anonymous]

Totally agree with Swiftmick, Freesat is a big con, keep losing channels, no increase in hd channels which where implied at launch (though not promised). Bought a Humax Foxsat HDR back in Feb, keeps losing sound and now can't even get itv hd, going to take back (for the 3rd time), have a refund and put the money towards Sky Hd. Shame really!!!!

Alan

 

[oldleodensian]

al30tsm:

Totally agree with Swiftmick, Freesat is a big con, keep losing channels, no increase in hd channels which where implied at launch (though not promised). Bought a Humax Foxsat HDR back in Feb, keeps losing sound and now can't even get itv hd, going to take back (for the 3rd time), have a refund and put the money towards Sky Hd. Shame really!!!!

Freesat is no more of a con than any other free service

(Although I appreciate what you and other members have said about the paucity of HD channels, how can free public service be a con?)

The issues that you are currently having are surely problems with the box? I have the Humax HD PVR too and have no such issues...so it surely has nothing to do with the broadcast signal.

Sky HD boxes are also prone to many faults. A search of these very forums will show the myriad of problems people have had with recurrent breakdowns.

 

[daveyjay]

Guys, you can talk about boxes and equipment and bit rates until the cows come home - we're in a recession! This country is broke. Do you really think that companies like ITV are going to be rolling out new technolgy/channels/anything anytime soon? All they are worried about is whether or not they will still exist this time next year. The situation ain't gonna change for a looooong time to come, either.

 

[Anonymous]

Ive always taken Freesat to be a platform which was aimed at people who could not receive freeview, the extra channels were just a bonus and as for the two HD channels remember they are free! Even if the platform never gets another channel its not there to compete with sky, never could, nor should it try. I do think it may have missold itself but whats new! Did anyone really expect lots of free HD content when theres money to be made from it.

 

[Andy Clough]

It will be interesting to see what happens to Freesat when Freeview HD launches later this year.

 

[Big Aura]

i expected to see C4 HD when its exclusivity with sky ended. Regular C4 is a free-to-air, so assumed the HD version would be too. I also expected ITV to become a real boy, Geppetto - but it's not improved at all. Other than Champions' League, there's nowt else worth the money on there.

 

[Andy Clough]

If it's any consolation, BBC iPlayer will be coming to Freesat soon. More details in our News story.

 

[daveh75]

Andy Clough:It will be interesting to see what happens to Freesat when Freeview HD launches later this year.

I think people need to have realistic expectations of the service (many haven't been, with Freesat),otherwise they're likely to be disappointed,especially after channel 5 HD joins Freeview in Q3 2010 and the average bitrate drops on the existing HD channels to accomodate it.

 

[Anonymous]

Lots of people use Freesat because they can't get Freeview. I can understand some frustration if you're using Freesat because you couldn't get HD on Freeview though!

 

[tvspecv]

I THINK FREESAT would have been better if it had ch4 hd otherwise agree with the post

 

[ukdavej]

It seems to be getting more confusing by the minute! - I have freesat, but only because I liked the Panasonic TV's and got a good deal on the model with built in Freesat (and freeview as well). This meant I could get rid of the boxes that plagued my TV cabinet as I still have my old sky dish on the house.

What will really fry my noodle would be if Freesat did take a turn for the worse on the HD access front and Freeview HD became more of a major player as I would then miss out unless I bought yet another box and be back where I started. I would however, still have a cracking picture

 

[staggerlee]

So is it worth getting Freesat or stick with freeview ?

Reason for asking is that my aerial needs replacing ( Ih ave sky HD but its handy to be able to watch something else when your recording two programmes)

 

[tvspecv]

stick with freeview

 

[Tonya]

I live in Norway where the sat signals are rather weak on the Sky/FreeSat systems and despite having a professional 1.2 metre ChannelMaster dish and a 0.2dB LNB, I frequently get picture breakup from the BBC & ITV channels during extremely bad weather or snowstorms when viewing on my Sammy HD, but switching over to my trusty Humax HD receiver, the picture is perfect.
The audio/video quality from both systems is excellent via HDMI on a Sony 52W4500 with colour rendition slightly more accurate when viewing on the Humax although there is not much in it.

I'm really curious to see if the imminent FreeSat iPlayer will work over here as all the units are connected via fibre network.
By the way, turned on the Humax today to find they have redesigned the GUI which was rather a nice surprise.

I think FreeSat is important if only to give Sky and Virgin competition.

Here's hoping it lives longer than my original Nokia Dmac BSB system all those years ago . . . . ;-0