Freeview Vs. Freesat

There are two big choices available for anyone with a digital TV who wants to enjoy

a wide range of channels without having to pay for a subscription to a cable or satellite service. Freeview is the most commonly used and well known service, but how does it compare to the larger Freesat service which is also available in many homes across the country?

Whats Available?

Freeview is essentially digital terrestrial television, and for all the differences between digital and analogue it functions much the same, with the signal coming from various antennas that are place around the country. Freeview currently extends to about 90 per cent of the country, so unless youre very remote or youve not got a good line of sight from your property (such as trees obscuring the path of the signal) you should be able to pick up Freeview. The better the reception, the more channels you are likely to receive.

Freesat works just like Sky, using a satellite to pick up the signal from space. Freesat covers about 98% of the UK because of this, but you will need a complete line of sight from your dish to the sky and again, any large trees could mean the signal will get disrupted. You also need permission to mount a dish if you dont own your property and youll need access to the south-east corner of your home.

Channels

Both services offer a selection of core channels where the majority of quality programming takes place. For example, you can watch the main UK channels, E4, More4, UKTV, FTN, ABC and many others on both services. However, Freeview has limited space to place channels and therefore has a much smaller selection. You can purchase a Top Up TV card to get more channels. Freesat on the other hand has a much larger selection although many of these are taken up with shopping, gambling and quiz channels. However, it also plenty of niche channels and film channels not available on Freeview. Freesat also has a much larger range of radio channels than Freeview, and often has higher quality broadcasts.

Set-up and Expenses

Freeview is a very cheap and easy to set up service. In fact, most televisions made in the last couple of years will likely have Freeview as standard built in, but if you want to use Top-Up TV make sure they also have a card slot for the Top-Up card. You can also buy a box from just about any electrical retailer. Freeview boxes can come with a variety of different features with the most expensive incorporating play and rewind features similar to a Sky+ box.

Freesat is a lot more complicated. First, youll need a receiver, but then youll need the dish itself, and then an additional FTV card to watch Five, C4 and Sky3. You can get the complete installation for 150, but dont forget that a complete sky subscription for 12 months isnt much more expensive than that, and usually comes with free or reduced installation. The bonus of this is that after the 12 months moving over to Freesat is pretty easy to do.

Verdict

Both services offer a wide range of channels, but the price of Freesat will put many people off. Its got a lot more channels, but its worth going through the channel list properly and thinking about what channels you are likely to actually watch. If youve found enough, the price can be justified, but if you only wish to watch the same channels as Freeview, its likely to be the better option.

by: Charles Willoughby

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