One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

PBS America is going FTA and joining Freesat imminently.

Talking Pictures had a meeting yesterday with Freesat with a view to joining the platform before Christmas.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

TBH all I really want from Freesat now is for ITV, who are supposed to part-own the thing, to put their HD channels on it. Honestly, in 2015, putting your HD variant behind Sky's paywall as if it's some next-big-thing innovation is just ridiculous.

And while we're at it, let's have FilmFour HD as well ...

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

It's a disgrace that Channel 5 HD is behind a paywall, especially as a PSB.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Wasn't the Channel 5 decision made before Viacom bought it? Maybe they might think differently now.

Meanwhile on Freeview they seem to be having problems finding HD channels that want to take space on the new COM 8 multiplex. There's something not quite right with the economics of TV at the moment.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Well, CH5 had a slot reserved for them on the PSB3 Freeview mux & turned it down. Don't know if the possible move of BBC3 to online only will open that door to them again. If not COM8 & Freesat will be the only ones available.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

UKTV channels Yesterday, Drama and Really have now launched on Freesat.

Netflix is being added right now!

Talking Pictures is joining and hope to have the legalities sorted by the end of January 2016.

It is widely believed that Dave (SD) Channel 5 HD and Yesterday +1 will arrive shortly.

There have also been rumours that Quest and Possibly some HD variants of the PSB spin off channels may join too.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

UKTV's absence from Freesat has been a real puzzle. They have a stated aim to be universally available across the whole UK, however there are terrestrial relay transmitters the length and breadth of the country that don't, and will never, carry them. Yet it has taken them until the end of 2015, more than 8 years since Freesat was originally announced, to get their channels onto the platform that exists precisely because DTT is unable to provide universal coverage of all the channels that might want it.

I only hope Sky's shilling was worth it to them, for them to locked behind satellite encryption for so long.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

From what I can gather, the more modern satellites have been a major contributor to this change.

The older satellites covered a large area, but the new ones can have spot beams to only serve a certain area eg the UK.

If they hadn't of scrambled their signals prior to now, UKTV would have had to pay for pan European rights for their programmes.

I suppose they could have gone FTV as opposed to subscription, but they would have had to pay for encryption as opposed to getting a cut of the Sky subs.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Its even more puzzling when you consider the BBC own half of UKTV as well has being a major part of freesat.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

This may be the case, but as the number of fully FTA channels on satellite has numbered in the hundreds since well before Freesat even came on the scene, you have to wonder why the prospect of rights payments was uniquely challenging to UKTV. They don't screen anything that might demand a premium for European broadcast, such as sport or movies.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

It's BBC Worldwide that own half of UKTV.

It will either be the additional costs of rights clearance, or a desire to not give away content for free to areas where the programming could otherwise be sold.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Maybe so, but the spot beam capability of Astra 2F has been available commercially for 3 years now ...

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

I didn't know that. Maybe it was just a case of letting a carriage agreement run it's course??

It's odd that Dave (SD) hasn't been added to Freesat yet, perhaps there's some problem with Sky. I imagine that it will join at some point, with the HD variant remaining behind a paywall.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Yes, I think what has ultimately driven this has been an exclusivity deal with Sky, hence my earlier comment about UKTV taking their shilling.

The channels they have moved on to Freesat this week are a good start, and hopefully an indication that they actually are serious about the claim they started making some years ago now about them "taking over the world". We may yet get Dave on Freesat.

Now, if some of the broadcasters would only stop pretending that HD is somehow premium content, and get some of that out from behind Sky's paywall, things would really start to look bright and cheerful in the world of FTA satellite.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Yes, HD is becoming the norm as opposed to a premium offering- but this doesn't seem to be filtering down.

If you are on VM too, you can now access the UKTV HD channels over Christmas at no extra charge providing you are on M+ and above.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Sadly I've not had cable for well over a decade now ... I'm very, very off-net. :D

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

My Freesat channels 162'. 163'. 164'. Still have not came through yet,

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

I've seen some freesat receivers where, if the dish isn't 100% in line, it can lose the EPG/Info feed and miss out on channel updates.

Can you receive CBS Reality (135)?

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

If you force the box to re-scan for channels they should come up. Exactly how you do that will depend on which box you have.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

That should work, but check you get CBS Reality (135) first, to make sure the dish is aligned. I had some big problems with a setup where after doing a rescan (to force channel updates) the unit refused to accept any regional variations. Turns out the dish was misaligned.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Thanks for that, will try 135'

---------- Post added at 11:36 ---------- Previous post was at 11:28 ----------

135". I have a great picture,

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

In that case give the channel re-scan a go.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

A new Country Music channel starts 24/1/16 on Freesat.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Looking forward to the Country Music Channel .

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Its taking over the existing Showcase channel. (Sky 261, Freesat 402 & FreeviewHD 254 via internet streaming)

http://www.philmackcountry.com/

If we cant bring back CMT Europe, this is better than nothing.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Unfortunately, the Freesat launch of this channel has been delayed by a week or two.

A little bird tells me that 4 Music is now preparing to go FTA and will probably join Freesat.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Just a waiting game then,

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Talking Pictures starts today on Freesat channel 306.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

I hope the country programme starts, was so looking forward to that one,

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

It's definitely coming. AIUI, they bought the EPG slot from Showcase on Sky because there is a shortage of SD EPG slots.

There isn't on Freesat, so they probably found it cheaper to start up the channel from scratch as opposed to obtaining the Freesat EPG slot from Showcase.

Not sure if this would require a new satellite broadcasting too, as it's a brand new channel on Freesat, as opposed to being an existing Channel with a change of use.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Thanks Richard , Fingers crossed, Nash

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

The word 'licence' should have appeared after 'broadcasting' :dozey:

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Thanks again

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

You can of course switch to non-freesat mode if its available & tune in manually for now. Channel looks pretty good. Been watching it on Freeview 254 via broadband. Its also available through the website I quoted earlier.

Audience figures from the first 10 days of operations have exceeded their expectations for the entire first month already, & quoting from philmack's website.

" We are pleased to say that we will be making a MAJOR announcement about expansion of this channel within the next month , and can confirm that we should receive our Freesat Channel number within the next few days , and hopefully be broadcasting on Freesat within 14 days" .

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Looking forward to watching this Channel .

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

I suppose Dave still isn't on freesat?

I could see me dumping sky if they did that. Freeview is really bad here in Sandy (which is odd as I can see the transmitter out the window - well I could if I could see, oh you know what I mean ;) )

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Depends how far you are away from it. If you are too close the signal may be going over your house (rather than by it) or it may be too strong.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

The latter is more than likely. Living next door to a 200kW transmitter is no fun, though a set-top aerial with a variable 1 - 20dB attenuator downstream of it should deal with most issues.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Keep It Country TV will launch on the Music section of Freesat on channel 516 shortly. They have also secured a Freeview slot, with a prospective launch date in April.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Good News for me, I just love Country Music, The Traditional kind, Not the modern stuff,

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Not yet, but as several UKTV channels have recently launched on Freesat, the omens are good.

They have never been clear about their reasons for not being FTA long before now. I suspect it's a combination of an exclusive carriage deal with Sky and lack of spot-beam capacity for UK broadcast and they will go FTA as soon as they can resolve those. They have expressed their intention to make Dave a mainstream entertainment channel and are spending money on original content. It would be odd for them not to be universally available across the UK if they are serious about that.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

The next UKTV channel to go FTA will be Home on 1/3/16 on Freeview. I can see them adding it to Freesat too, but nothing has been confirmed yet.

http://corporate.uktv.co.uk/news/art...tv-moves-home/

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Bad news I'm afraid, just found out that Home will remain in the Pay packages on both VM and Sky "for the foreseeable future".

Looks like those who want to watch this Channel for free will have to use Freeview (if they are able to).

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Keep It Country have now moved to the Music section on Sky (389), & will launch on the Music section of Freesat on 1st March (516). They are still using the Freeview HD IP slot Showcase used to occupy (254), although there is no news on whether this will be maintained when they launch a Freeview HD broadcast slot in April on Freeview MUX 7, which will only have 75% UK coverage.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Looking forward to This new Country Channel. Will be home from holiday on Thursday ,

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Aye, he's claiming that his audience figures keep on growing, even doubling in some cases.

In fact, he claims that his channel is now more popular than some Premier League matches on Sky Sports!

He really must think that viewers and advertisers are as stupid as he is...

Having said that, I do wish the channel well.

Technical changes have been made that suggest that Channel 5 HD may become FTA and join Freesat soon.

Rumours abound the industry that Channel 5 HD will replace BBC3 when that finally closes on Freeview.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Seems logical for them to take the 105 slot vacated by BBC3, but will this also mean an end to CBBC HD on the PSB3 mux, where it was sharing capacity?

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

I honestly don't know, but I would have thought that they would find some way around this.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Not in Scotland by the looks of things:

http://www.a516digital.com/2016/02/l...under-one.html

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

The 105 slot on Freeview is a UK wide service:

...BBC Three HD's channel slot on 105 will be reallocated in accordance with existing Freeview channel allocation rules, which could see BBC Four HD move to 105. It could also be Channel 5's last opportunity to launch an HD service in that slot - it turned down the chance to launch an HD service on Freeview on two occasions under its previous management, but the broadcasters says it's still commited to launching in HD on Freeview...

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Having looked into this, there's currently 10Mbps of capacity unused on the BBC-B national Freeview HD multiplex, so technically it is possible to add C5 HD without affecting any other service.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

True Crime & True Crime +1 have now launched on Freesat & Sky, replacing More>Movies & More>Movies +1. True Crime has also launched on Freeview, but only in areas where a local TV mux is running. Movie Mix continues to broadcast on its existing Freeview slot on channel 32.

http://www.a516digital.com/2016/03/t...ces-movie.html

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Good news,

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Been quite a month for Country fans in the UK, & particularly London. C2C was a great success. Keep It Country TV to watch nationwide, & now Chris Country radio is broadcasting 24 hours a day to the whole of London on DAB.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Been a great time indeed, This suits me to. T

New HD channels.
 

CNN HD is now testing on satellite in preparation for a full launch on the EPG.

The picture quality is said to be one of the best with regards to the HD channels.

CNN SD is FTA, I don't know if the HD variant will be pay or not, but I doubt it (the tests are certainly FTA). Here's hoping that it will join Freesat.

Edit: Just found out that ITVBe HD and CITV HD are testing on satellite too- wonder if Freesat will get these as well?

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

I hope Freesat will get these. I think it mostly depends on spot beam capacity for UK broadcast. If they have rights issues with transmission overspill into continental Europe, they have to go with Sky because they need encryption to ensure they are only viewable in the UK. There is a lot more spot beam capacity than there used to be, so here's hoping.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

I hope so too.

I now have a Freesat box to supplement the missing Virgin Media channels, so that if VM don't get the ones that I'm interested in (they haven't been adding the new FTA channels for a while), then I would still have access to them.

It's also a useful back up if the VM system ever goes completely down or if my box fails- both of which have happened to me.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

I still have VM in one of the bedrooms but it is only preview channels, which is fine as my main TV is Freesat. The thing that worries me is if something happens to the dish in bad weather. They charge to fix it,

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Channel 5 HD becomes Free To Air today; it will be added to both Freesat and Freeview very shortly.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Finally ...

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Only ITV2/3/4 HD left and I'll be a happy chappy.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Thanks Richard

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Aye, it's only taken 7 years!

NP :)

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Looks like its tomorrow (Wed May 4th) for both:
http://www.a516digital.com/2016/05/c...eeview-on.html

It looks like the capacity on PSB3 will be utilised, so Freeview coverage will be nationwide

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Ok Thanks again

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

AIUI, Channel 5 will be leasing the former BBC3 capacity from the BBC & EPG slot to provide their service on Freeview.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

5HD is now live on Freesat, and occupies channel 105 on HD boxes.

If 5HD isn't already showing on channel 105 on your box, try manually re-scanning (you should see the 5HD logo in the top left of the picture if it's working).

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

DAYSTAR have now closed their SD channel on Freesat and are now broadcasting in HD only.

DAYSTAR HD can be found on the previous SD channel number 691.

More information can be found here:

http://www.daystar.com/news-updates/...on-hd-freesat/

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Hot off the press!!
Keep It Country TV will launch on Freeview channel 87 on Wednesday 1st June.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Good news for Freeview

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

AIUI the Keep It Country TV channel is managed by Showcase. I wondered if the problems encountered leading to a delay to the Showcase channel in the link you posted in the other thread affected it's launch date?

Did it appear on Freesat on 1 June?

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

KIK TV actually launched a day early on Freeview (31/05/16). However, as with most new Freeview services they have launched on the only capacity currently available, which is on the COM7 HD mux which only provides 70% coverage of the UK.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Thanks.

It's been claimed that 'Dave' has been briefly testing FTA on satellite using the Freesat home transponder.

I thought that 'Home' would have been the next one.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

CNN HD has been testing for a while now, there is some limited Freesat data there, so I'm hopeful it will join Freesat.

If not, if can be tuned in manually in non Freesat mode.

Tuning details are:

11.112 H, 22.000, 5/6, DVB-S, QPSK.

If you tune it in whilst it's still testing, it's under the label 50290 as opposed to CNN HD :)

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

How do you tune your freesat box to watch preview,?

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Your settings menu has a non-Freesat mode. Exactly how you find that depends on what box you have. You have to enter non-Freesat mode, then use the details Richard has supplied to manually tune the box to the channel you want to add.

You can't add non-Freesat channels to the Freesat programme guide. You have to maintain a separate list of non-Freesat channels you have tuned which you can view whenever you switch your box to non-Freesat mode.

In other words, unless you really badly want the channel, it's more hassle than it's worth ...

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

This article claims that the BBC is preparing for the launch of a BBC UHD channel next year:

http://advanced-television.com/2016/...transmissions/

I'm assuming that VM will carry it due to the 'must carry' regulations and the fact that the new TiVo box is said to be UHD capable.

I'm sure it will arrive on satellite too, but doubt that there will be enough spare capacity for it to go onto Freeview. But what about the BBC's platform neuterality policy?? :confused:

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Thanks Chris, Don't really need it, but I was curious

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Is CNN SD on Freesat?

A lot are tuning into CNN HD for the geek value as it's said to be one of the best HD pictures at the moment, even better than when the BBC HD channel first started.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

I'll have a look later. Kids are on school holidays now so I can't get near the tv. :D

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Okidoki.

Sadly, Vintage TV has left Freesat, but will be joining Freeview on 1/7/16. Those who can receive BBC4 HD and Talking Pictures should be able to receive Vintage TV too.

It can still be viewed on satellite via non Freesat mode using the following parameters:

Astra 2G 11264 H 27500 2/3

Apparently, some smart TV's have it via an app too.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

CNN is on Freesat in SD only, on channel 207.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Thanks.

There is some limited Freesat data present on the HD variant, so I think it will probably arrive on Freesat fairly soon.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Anyone not receiving "Freeview Lite" (from a relay transmitter) should still be able to get the channel on a Freeview HD connected TV via channel 242 if they cannot get the linear broadcasts on channel 86.

http://www.a516digital.com/2016/06/v...-ahead-of.html

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Thanks- I didn't know they had an IPTV channel too :)

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Vintage TV have today confirmed that, due to overwhelming demand, they will be rejoining Freesat :)

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

This new HD channel is currently testing on satellite, it's been said that their website says that they will be joining Freesat.

http://www.arirang.com/mobile/index.asp

I can't seem to find where it says this, but it will be a FTA channel.

It's been flagged as Videoguard encrypted (when it isn't) whilst in testing mode, meaning Freesat viewers will not be able to view it until it's ready to launch.

Tuning details are: label 53150 on 11224 V

It's an English speaking Korean channel that shows documentaries and TV shows.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Confirmation here:

http://www.arirang.com/Help/Help_Desk.asp?hseq=18702

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

The above channel test is now broadcasting null packets :confused:

Al Jazeera English HD is to expand from Freeview onto satellite.

As a FTA channel, I would expect this to join Freesat, but this had not yet been confirmed.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Depends if they want to pay both Sky & Freesat for an EPG slot. If they only join Sky then it will be another manual tune job the same as CNN HD is now.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

I wish we could get Euro sports as I would have loved to be watching the Tennis ,

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

The new channel 'Blaze' from A&E Networks starts on 20/9/16.

It's not yet known if this will be on Freesat, but the channel is currently broadcasting FTA on:

11.171H

S/R 22.0 00

FEC 5/6

It's labelled 50350.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Thanks Richard

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

You're welcome :)

Arirang is now showing EPG data. It was originally doing this before video testing, then null packets and now testing the EPG, so it looks to be starting soon.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

A few (most short term) freebies for Freesat users :)

Viceland HD* can be found FTA on 11.739 V 29.500 FEC 8/9

*May be labelled as '3840'.

Viceland* can be found on 11836 H 27.500 FEC 5/6.

*May be labelled as '5115'.

These channels are said to sometimes encrypt in the evening and they will be fully encrypted in about a week as they are supposed to be pay channels.

Blaze* is a free channel and can be found on 11.082 H 22.000 FEC 5/6

*May be labelled as 50350.

E! +1 can be found on 11.306 H 27.500 FEC 5/6. This is a pay channel, so could encrypt at any time.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

10.773 H SR 22000 FEC 5/6 DVB-S QPSK

6381 - BBC Radio Cymru Mwy

This service hoped to launch on Freesat in Wales only on 19 September, it is now expected to be late September.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Now confirmed that Blaze won't be coming to Freesat straight away, but Freesat viewers can tune it in using the above parameters.

This channel carries former pay TV programming from History, H2 and CI.

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

This channel is now showing programming FTA :)

Re: One or two new channels coming to Freesat.
 

Unfortunately, Euronews appears to have been taken off Freesat.

However, the station can be watched in non-Freesat mode using the following parameters:

11464 H 22000 5/6