Freesat

I am very excited by the launch today of Freesat.   It is a joint initiative by the BBC and ITV, and offers free digital and HD satellite TV to 98% of the UK population.   I will definitely be investigating this, as soon as a set-top box with hard drive recording is available.

Freeview is ok, but the signal for Mux B (which includes ITV and Channel 4, E4 etc) is pretty poor where we are in Oxford.   And when the signal is bad, unlike analogue TV where the picture just goes a bit funny, or there’s a hiss, the picture is pixellated and the sound clicks and pops, make it completely unwatchable.

Satellite TV suffers from the same problem when the weather is bad, but it is far less frequent.   Therefore, a new HD TV and set-top box are required!