Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul
|
Because BBC/ITV already trademarked 'Freesat'. They originally announced this two years ago but it has been bogged down in STB specifications ever since, plus the fact that C4 and C5 are currently locked into encryption deals with $ky that would prevent them being available in the clear. There is no point launching Freesat until it can offer at least the same channels as Freeview.
Sky's service is called 'Freesat from Sky' because they can't call it 'Freesat'. And it is widely believed that they only launched it to try to spoil the BBC/ITV effort.
Digital terrestrial TV is limited in a couple of very important ways. First off it is going to be many years after analogue switch-off before it gets anywhere near blanket coverage of the UK; there are hundreds of fill-in transmitters that will not be digital-enabled on switchover day or for a long time afterwards. So it's important, seeing as we believe in universally available public service broadcasting in this country, to make provision for those who will not be able to get a DTT signal. The other biggie is that Freeview can't support HDTV, so Freesat will be the best -in fact the only- way to deliver subscription free HD content in the medium term.