when was the last meaningful channels included?

efforts by freesat to follow up on promises to have major channels in the line up seem to have been hollow promises
coupled with Humax inability to provide updates verrbal or firmware will put off many people who would like an alternative to the ever present Sky monopoly of all things
media.

Freesat was not envisaged, and can never be seen, as a direct alternative to Sky. It's really as simple as that.

For confirmation of that, this is from the Freesat site:


http://freesat.co.uk/index.php?page=...13imic7fekrlu3

If it's an alternative to anything, then it's an alternative to freesatfromSky, or even an alternative to Freeview.

inferior content can never be considerd to be an alternative

it all seems to be happening with freeview(hd e.t.c.)and Itv seem to be backing freeview from what has been posted here,so so much for freesat.
its been left to die a very slow death

Exactly what I just said in another post.

Making Freeat inferior in content and quality to Freeview is going to kill it.

The BBC Trust need to realise, most of the people on Freesat are on it because they envisaged it being a better platform NOT because they can't get Freeview - that's only a small proportion of users.

If they want people to desert it in droves they just need to carry on as they are making it inferior. See where it is then when most of the audience disappear and the channels and advertisers follow.

the trouble is what channels could they add, you can bet sky would put a stop to all that, what we need is channels to come out in support of freesat, like that guy said the other day, when he called for more hd channels to come to freesat, at the moment all freesat has is potential, hopefully the potential will be realised

Sorry, but I can't quite make the link between Humax and the availability of channels. Yes there is some frustration that the timeline for an update has never been clearly defined, but the HDR does work and I don't feel that would be a major concideration to anybody deciding to put their station on Freesat.

Sorry, but I can't quite make the link between Humax and the availability of channels. Yes there is some frustration that the timeline for an update has never been clearly defined, but the HDR does work and I don't feel that would be a major concideration to anybody deciding to put their station on Freesat.

'concideration'

Well the number one problem stopping that Colonel in my opinion is Freesat's positioning in the market place - its just a inferior version of Freeview right now - inferior in content and inferior in PQ. Hardly attractive to channels and becoming less attractive to users.

Now if the BBC Trust were to wake up to themselves, realise that people who can't get Freeeview only make up a small proportion of Freesat's audience and that its become something not originally envisaged and were to then decide to take advantage of Freesats bandwidth to position it as a quality alternative to Freeview in terms of PQ and HD content, then both products could sit in the market place and appeal to differing audiences on a cost basis.

Freesat would also become attractive to channel providers and advertisers as the quality alternative to Freeview.

There's place in the market for both Freeview and Freesat but they need to play both platforms to their strengths.

Max Freesat out with HD content, HD channels (obviously beyond their control but subject to channel providers becoming interested, has the potential to carry more HD channels that Freeview) and PQ, and max Freeview out in terms of cheap cost and easy availability. That way Freesat becomes the platform for enthusiasts and those who simply can't get Freeview and Freeview becomes the cheap easy option to suit the masses who aren't bothered about HD content or PQ but just want cheap easy to receive traditional style tv reception.

I think one of the problems is advertising. Most of the people I know have never heard of Freesat, and to be honest if it hadn't been for a newspaper article I wouldn't know myself.

I have seen many large adverts in papers for Freeview, but not a word about Freesat. Is there some rule that forbids BBC & ITV from advertising. Why is nothing ever mentioned during broadcasts? This, I think, would be a perfect opportunity to tell viewers about Freesat.

As a viewer of mostly the standard channels, I quickly discovered that Freesat was a cheaper alternative than Sky. I saved £10 every month by coming away from Sky which will pay for the humax HDR before the guarantee expires.

There could be a lot of people with sky who only use Sky+ for recording and could save £10 pounds a month if they only knew about Freesat

You could of corrected it instead of quoting the error!

You've been on these forums long enough, you know perfectly well that Freesat isn't going to do that, was never planned to that, and don't even have the authority to do that.

The ONLY thing that's gone wrong with Freesat is the ludicrous idea of adding HD on Freeview - there isn't room, and the entire system has been further compromised by doing so. Freeview should have been left SD only, with HD users doing so via Freesat - even though the chances of ever getting much HD in a reasonable time span is pretty slim.

I just love forums

all the time Sky dictate what channels freesat can and cannot have freesat will always be a nonentity

its not in skys intrest to allow decent channels HD wise to broadcast,thats why freesat will always be limited to bbc hd,itv hd(red button)luxe hd(non-freesat)

what use is a hd box with that kind of content?

I don't understand this thread. I am perfectly happy with the channels that are available on Freesat. There is so much to watch that I cannot see what more is needed.
My Humax HD box works fine without any problems, as I am sure many do, so why do we need a software update?

That's a pretty naive question when there are so many people on here with complaints about the operation of the box in one way or another.

It certainly won't, and Freesat is 'held back' (if that's the right term?) by simple economics and lack of space, nothing to do with Sky.

Luxe HD isn't on Freesat - end of story - Freesat is just an EPG, and Luxe HD isn't on it. It's pretty certain that CH4 HD will appear on Freesat, but no one can predict when, and other channels will appear if and when it's viable. Luxe HD would be an obvious easy one, but I doubt Luxe think it's worth spending an extra £30,000 per year for the small difference it would make. I also doubt that Luxe HD is viable in the first place, it's just completely bizzarre.

The picture quality of channels on Freesat has nothing to do with Freesat.

If a channel looks bad on Freesat, it looks bad on Sky. In general, they are the exact same feed. I think Channel 5 is the only channel that has a different feed for Freesat.

With regards to HD, how are sky holding back HD channels? The channels are the ones that signed up with Sky, did sky put a gun to their heads and force them to sign???

@White Knight
Just how do you expect Freesat to "Max Freesat out with HD content"???

Freesat don't own the channels, they cannot force anyone to produce HD channels. Whilst we would love more HD, it boils down to simple economics for each channel. If they think it will be a money spinner, then they will find a way to launch in HD. If not, then they wont.

Freesat never said it was an alternative to Freeview. They never said they would have the same channels. They never said that there would be loads of HD.

The only area where Freesat have no come through are in the amount of channels they had hoped would be on the EPG. Unfortunatley for them and many channels, the financial crisis has meant this is just not feasible for some and has forced other channels to shut.

MJ

luxe hd can be viewed only in non-freesat mode if a scan is done

sky do hold all the cards when it comes to allowing a channel on freesat(if they dont want a channel on freesat economicaly viable or not then it wont be allowed on)
simply because sky dictate how much space frresat is allowed on "THEIR" satellites

Yes I know, so it's NOT on Freesat.


Freesat don't have any 'space' it's just an EPG on Eurobird, and Sky can't dictate anthing on a satellite because they don't own any. They are certainly the major customer of Astra/SES, but that doesn't give them any clout, unless they lease all available space, which would be ludicrous.

Any broadcaster is free to lease space and transmit from Astra2/Eurobird, then pay Freesat and Sky for EPG inclusion, with no one commiting commercial suicide by going only on Freesat.

This is a very very common misconception. As Nigel pointed out, Sky do not own the satellites.

The Astra sats. are owned by SES Astra:
http://www.ses-astra.com/business/uk/index.php

Eurobird sats are owned by Eutelsat:
http://www.eutelsat.com/home/index.html

If I wanted to launch a channel on satellite tomorrow, Sky have no say in the matter at all. The only time Sky or Freesat come in to it is if I want my channel on their EPG.

i think you'll find that sky have more influence than youy think

and to think otherwise is naive

sky is like an octopus a tentacle in everything and the power or clout to dictate

I think you're just tring to make excuses for Freesat not been stuffed full of free channels

In that case it should be put down now before too much more money is wasted on it.

Freesat can never compete with Sky content. Sky content is by definition 'premium'. If you want premium content you have to pay more for it. You never get premium content for free otherwise it wouldn't be premium content.

I still think that long term Freesat will offer more HD than Freeview but for the next couple of years it remains what it was supposed to be:An alternative for those who can't get the proper 'Free UK TV system'.

Once you realise what Freesat is you won't be so dissappointed and in a couple more years you might actually start to see things changing. Maybe. Unless TV over Internet takes off in which case Freesat will vanish and Sky will become a hybrid system.

No sense at all IMO. Luxe are targetting rich buggers who like to spend money. Those kind of people will subscribe to Sky. Probably have a box in every room including the butler's pantry.

Who would they be targetting on Freesat?