BBC, ITV to Launch Freesat
How much does the satellite TV subscription cost you?
In the UK, viewers will soon be able to answer "nothing," with the long-awaited release of Freesat, a digital satellite TV service from the BBC and ITV that is rolling out with more than 80 TV and radio channels. (That number is expected to rise to 200 by the end of the year.)
The full dish, as it were:
Freesat will be available to 98% of UK homes, including those who currently cannot receive Freeview, which is broadcast via terrestrial transmitters and aerials.
Customers will have to make a one-off payment for a digital box, satellite dish and installation.
Viewers will need an HD-ready TV in order to view high-definition programmes.
Millions of people have already got HD-ready TV sets, but until now have not been able to access HD programmes for free.
Could such a free service be made available in the North American market? Bell Canada is contemplating it:
Bell Canada, which operates the Bell ExpressVu satellite service, says it is exploring a proposal to give Canadians "free" access to a limited number of high-definition channels.
Dubbed "FreeSat," Bell said yesterday the offer would be ideal for consumers who are eager to access local HD stations but wary of paying subscription fees to television service providers.
"Bell ExpressVu believes that we can provide a service whereby we carry a certain number of high-definition signals from each of the major national and regional networks on our satellites," Gary Smith, president of Bell Video Group, told the federal broadcast regulator yesterday. "All they (consumers) would need would be the reception equipment."
The front-end cost of that receiver was not specified. Bell executives, however, made it clear that "free" access would be restricted to local over-the-air signals and would not include specialty or "pay-TV" networks.
Smith said FreeSat would also be a boon to conventional broadcasters because it would allow them to avoid "huge investments" in new transmission towers and distribution systems to carry those high-definition signals across the country.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission has set 2011 as the deadline for television channels to be broadcast in high-definition digital, and networks around the country are scrambling to meet that deadline.
Meanwhile, back in Britain, BSkyB is not taking the threat of Freesat to their subscription base lying down. They recently lowered prices to preempt the competition:
BSkyB will not stand by and let Freesat take its market. As we report this week, the broadcaster has already reacted by reducing the price of its HDTV box. And BSkyB has the ability to target customers at the low end of the market beyond its £150 (US$297.63) “Freesat from Sky”. Its Sky Pay Once service is now available as a standard product after a successful trial last year.
For a one-off payment of £75, BSkyB provides a free four-month subscription to four of its six basic-tier television channel packages along with a set-top box, dish, viewing card and standard installation. This compares favourably to a basic Freesat box and installation, which will start from about £130.
So will Freesat steal huge market share from paid services? It’s possible, but not necessarily a given. The demand for premium channels, after all, has led millions of people around the globe to pay for broadcasting via satellite or cable despite it being available (mostly) for free over the air.
Nonetheless, on the margins, it will be interesting to see how Britons respond to the availability of Freesat.
