Freeview v Freesat

[modeller]

Why does the government and TV companies push the sale of Freeview which requires high line of sight aerials which perpetuates the ugly forest of rooftop aerials which blight our skyline ? Whereas Freesat only requires a dish which can be put low down , frequently at ground level as its not affected much by surrounding buildings. The cost is similar and Freesat can give a better reception . What is more the same dish can be used for sky and other satellite channels.
I can understand using Freeview if you already have an aerial but for new installations surely Freesat is preferable.

[hc4361]

1. Many properties cannot have a satellite dish for various reasons.
2. A lot of people are able to use their existing aerials for Freeview.
3. Aerials can supply several tvs so people can use 2 or more tvs in a cost efficient way, without the need for extra boxes and equipment.

[deggers316]

flats usually have a communal Ariel as ours does and it does excellent job but now that people can have sat: tv for sky etc,the flats are now getting covered in unsightly dishes from top to bottom
maybe you've not seen the consequences of this,

[boxtops]

I've already got an aerial, no way would I want a dish, they are real blots on the front of houses.

[modeller]

boxtops // I've already got an aerial, no way would I want a dish, they are real blots on the front of houses. //
You are happy to see a forest of aerials on the roofs then ! Many of my neighbours have dishes but you can't see them . Like mine they are at ground level .

hc43//Aerials can supply several tvs so people can use 2 or more tvs. //
My dish feeds 2 tvs.

degger There are several blocks of flats near me with no aerials and all receive sky. There is just one dish on each block .

[redman41]

A Communal satellite Dish like what I have seems the best option for a good and largely trouble free reception. I have Sky but Freesat is a good option cost Free.

[Postdog]

Personally I find satellite dishes ugly, and they can't all be put low down.

[Buenchico]

Around 20 years ago (when only a small minority of people had satellite TV), it was becoming clear that the use of the radio spectrum was inefficient, across the whole of Europe, and that substantial change was needed to accommodate all of the new services (such as mobile phones) which were being developed. So the UK government signed up to a Europe-wide agreement to re-allocate frequencies and to use those frequencies more efficiently. As part of that agreement, the UK agreed to ensure that British terrestrial TV was fully digital by 2001 at the very latest. (So we've been in breach of that international agreement for the past decade!).

You write that "the government and TV companies push the sale of Freeview". The government has little to do with it. Freeview is promoted (unsurprisingly) by Freeview which is not really a 'system', as many people seem to perceive it, but the brandname of a company called DTV Services Ltd. That company was set up by the BBC and, perhaps surprisingly, BSkyB, along with the company which owns the transmitters (originally Crown Castle UK, now National Grid Wireless). Since then, ITV plc and Channel 4 have joined the consortium.

Those organisations and companies which make up DTV Services Ltd have put a great deal of money into developing the terrestrial TV system, so it's unsurprising that they seek to promote it!

Property developers like to add as many 'extras' as possible onto their new houses, as long as they don't add significantly to the costs of building it! So many new houses have both terrestrial aerials and satellite dishes pre-fitted, with the choice of system to be used being left to the purchaser.

Chris

[twix123]

The trouble with Freesat and Sky is that during unfavourable weather conditions, i.e. snowing, heavy rain and thunderstorms, when there is very thick cloud cover, dishes cannot always pick up a signal from the satellite and I find that I have to revert to watching terrestrial TV instead. Therefore I have both a rooftop aerial and a dish (which is on the back wall of my house).