BBC TV Licence fee (Freeview)

davelewis1

Yet another environmental problem the government hasn't thought of? Like fridges etc.

woo

i understand that when the analogue switch off comes that the government will have to provide each home with 1 digibox for freeview. Which will then free up some air space for more channels. mind you they have still got 6 years to change their mind on that one..

mrtickle

i understand that when the analogue switch off comes that the government will have to provide each home with 1 digibox for freeview.

Hmm. Firstly "Digibox" is the brand name of a Sky product - it's a satellite receiver. This might seem pedantic but to call a Freeview set-top-box a "digibox" muddies the waters even more

I've never heard of a commitement to give out free DTT set top boxes to every house in the country! I've only heard wild journalistic speculation. They might "have" to in the sense that there would be riots in the streets when people realised en masse that they would be without TV, but it's the first I've heard about any commitment.

Which will then free up some air space for more channels. mind you they have still got 6 years to change their mind on that one..

The space will be sold off to mobile networks, I'd be astonished if it was used for extra TV channels or - far better - higher bitrates for the same number of channels to bring picture quality nearer to acceptable levels.

see http://www.dtg.org.uk/news/uknews/-ofcom_day.htm

droopsnout

This is one of the few things that gets me on my soapbox, so apologies but ... [rant_mode]

The licence fee provides you with all these TV channels: BBC1-4, CBeebies, CBBC, BBC News 24 and BBC Parliament. It provides you with five national radio stations broadcast in analogue form, and BBC 6 and BBC7 in digital as well. In addition, you have national stations for Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland (but not England!); and countless local radio stations.

Add to that the fact that the BBC runs probably the best web site in the world (of its kind), and a number of other services like the Asian Network.

From 1 April 2004, the licence fee for a colour TV has been £121 per year - and no ads on any of their broadcasts.

Compare this to Sky subscriptions. And remember that Sky do not provide all the channels that are received via the minidish and digibox. Only Sky News is provided free to air and free to view.

If you take out a subscription to all Sky's channels (entertainment, movies and sports) then it will cost you £41 per month - a staggering £492 per year! PLUS - you have tons of ads as well!

However, the story does not finish there, because the BBC is also at the cutting edge of broadcast technology, paid for, I suppose, by both the licence fee and the money earned by the Beeb through its sales of programmes and other materials.

I want the BBC to remain the world's most respected and trusted broadcaster, and I have/had no objection whatsoever to paying £10 per month to ensure that it continues to develop new technologies that most of us spend many hours enjoying.

Now to Freeview ... It was not long since the ITV companies made a complete dog's breakfast of On-Digital, later renamed ITV Digital. These companies, which one would presume had plenty of commercial experience, messed it up completely, and it was largely (but not wholly) thanks to the BBC to make the system popular. This they did by making Freeview a FREE service. All you have to shell out is £50-£100 on your receiver. Presumably you don't mind buying a TV or a radio, so why would anyone object to buying a receiver?

Reception is clearly not 100% across the country. Where I lived in lancashire, there is STILL no channel Five, and Freeview is rather iffy, I understand. But when radio and TV first started (and mobile phone networks, too), they expanded from the big cities outwards.

If good reception is a priority for you, and you live in an area where terrestrial signals are poor, then invest in a satellite receiver. You can buy new or used, and if you're lucky, you should be able to buy a Free-To-View card on eBay. (They are no longer distributed by Channel 4, or by Sky or by the BBC). You will be able to receive nearly all the channels available on a Freeview set-top box, and many others besides, and you won't be paying Mr Murdoch a penny.

The BBC offers outstanding value for money, and an unbelievably good quality of programming, generally speaking. Anyone in doubt should spend some time in France and suffer the ghastly rubbish available here, for which we pay a licence fee AND have adverts on both state and private channels.

[/rant_mode]

My apologies for this pontification, which I have thoroughly enjoyed!! ;D

System

I live less than 10 miles from the capital city and yet can't get Freeview.  I get so fed up with adverts telling me how wonderful it all is.  I want it but can't get it unless I subscribe to SKY

The BBC satellite Freeview channels are not encrypted, thus you don't need to subscribe to SKY to receive them.

As for your view that the BBC should not invest in technology that everyone can receive, if you had your way, we would still be watching 405 line black and white TVs.

droopsnout

BBC satellite Freeview channels

I think we are confusing the "free-to-view" channels on Sky with the Freeview brand name. Freeview is a set-box system that receives digital terrestrial signals. The satellite free-to-view channels from the BBC are broadcast unencrypted and so are viewable either via a Sky set-top box ("digibox") or via any other digital satellite receiver.

However, at the moment, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 signals from the satellites ARE encrypted. It is best, therefore, to get a Sky digibox and try to obtain a card to receive encrypted channels which are not subject to subscription to Sky. These cards were once distributed by BBC and Channel 4, IIRC, but as far as I know are no longer available. When I got mine, it cost £23. But they are available on eBay.

I just did a search on eBay by entering "sky card" and auctions for two are due to end in the next two hours. here's one of them: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=60837&item=5722623613&rd=1

As for your view that the BBC should not invest in technology that everyone can receive, if you had your way, we would still be watching 405 line black and white TVs.

Now that I heartily agree with! Neither would we have stereo FM, digital radio (DAB) or tests on Astra for High definition TV.

System

However, at the moment, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 signals from the satellites ARE encrypted. It is best, therefore, to get a Sky digibox and try to obtain a card to receive encrypted channels which are not subject to subscription to Sky. These cards were once distributed by BBC and Channel 4, IIRC, but as far as I know are no longer available.

http://www.free2view.tv/ Explains the whole mess.

droopsnout

Yep, that's it in a fairly large nutshell! Which means that people selling their Free2View cards on (e.g.) eBay, are getting a nice price for them.