Freesat from Sky

[TV Boy]

An friend of mine is looking for an list of channels on Freesat from Sky.

Can anyone give me an list or an web page with that info.

---------- Post added at 15:29 ---------- Previous post was at 15:26 ----------

Also can you use an Sky Digital viewing card with 'Freesat from Sky'

[danielf]

http://www.freesatfromsky.co.uk/?pID=3 ?

[TV Boy]

Thanks for info.

[SilverLady]

I'm getting a bit confused over this Freesat. How does the existing free sat service you get from Sky differ from the new one being introduced by BBC, ITV.

[GeoffW]

Basically you don't need the sky card to decrypt it and you can also get HD for free.

[andygrif]

Originally Posted by SilverLady

I'm getting a bit confused over this Freesat. How does the existing free sat service you get from Sky differ from the new one being introduced by BBC, ITV.

I think there's a lot of confusion, Sky introduced their Freesat from Sky service last year in response to the news that the BBC and ITV were setting up their own Freesat product. The fact that they both have the same name is crazy IMHO.

But basically Freesat from Sky is all the free to air (FTA) channels (about 200 I think, mostly what's on Freeview and shopping channels) that you get through a Sky receiver. Sky like this route as it gives the box owner an upgrade path to Sky subscriptions.

Freesat requires you to buy a new box (from £50) and will usually work with your existing Sky satellite dish if you have one. If not, you'll need one installed. Freesat has fewer channels than Freesat from Sky, but nothing of any serious note is missing and if you have an HD capable television then Freesat will offer two HD channels free of charge, with more likely later in the year.

Freesat from Sky is good for people who already have a Sky box but don't want to pay for their channels.

Freesat is good for people who want Freeview but perhaps can't receive it or for those that want free HD channels, oh and of course those (and there are plenty here) that don't like giving any money to anyone with the surname Murdoch!

Hope this helps....

[SilverLady]

Thanks for helping to clarify this, guys.

Our Sky free services date back several years to when we switched from Sky to Telewest, but kept our Sky box for use in another room. I remember vaguely that we were told something about being able to access most of the free channels without the card, but with some (ITV I think) needing the card, but that the card would have to be renewed at some time in the future. Presumably if we loose some of the basic channels this means we will have to buy a Sky freesat card.

[altis]

There is a good deal of confusion over these two products and this was deliberately, IMHO, created by Sky. The Beeb and Sky have an uneasy relationship. Over many years Sky has created itself a virtual monopoly of satellite broadcasting in the UK. Say satellite TV to anybody and they'll automatically think of Sky and nothing else. For many years, the Beeb paid Sky many millions each year to carry all their channels. A few years ago, their agreement came up for renewal and the Beeb managed to come up with a better idea. They rented space on the Astra satellite (same as Sky) directly from SES-Astra then just paid Sky to include their channels in Sky's EPG. This still costs the Beeb many millions a year so recently, when ITV's contract with Sky expired, the Beeb managed to encourage them to switch to their own service - called Freesat. Sky found out what was going on and, presumably before the Beeb has registered it as a trademark, started using the name 'Freesat from Sky' to offer a similar service but still retain control of the EPG.

There are many thousands of free-to-air satellite channels available in the UK from several satellites. You can buy a simple FTA receiver to view them (look for Lidl's occasional satellite kit offer for about £70) but these have a very limited EPG. You can usually see the name of the current program, possibly get a short description and, if you are very, very lucky, get the name of the following programme. Also, these channels have to be configured by hand so, as channels frequently come and go, it all becomes a lot of hard work.

Freesat is all about wrestling control of the EPG back from Sky.

http://www.freesat.co.uk/
http://www.freesatfromsky.co.uk/
http://www.ses-astra.com/landingPage/uk/index.php
http://www.lyngsat.com/28east.html

[the-cable-guy]

Originally Posted by TV Boy

An friend of mine is looking for an list of channels on Freesat from Sky.

Can anyone give me an list or an web page with that info.

---------- Post added at 15:29 ---------- Previous post was at 15:26 ----------

Also can you use an Sky Digital viewing card with 'Freesat from Sky'

yes you can use any Sky viewing card for Channel 4, five, Five US, Five US +1, Fiver, Fiver +1 & Sky Three. 2bh mate your mate would save alot of money by buying a second hand Sky Digibox & mini dish etc instead of paying £150 to Sky. even if he/she pays a local installer £35 to align the dish it'l still be cheaper.

[TV Boy]

He got two boxes in [but he was paying Sky £74 pm due to the line from the box to the phone line not working and he was not willing to pay Sky £65 to fix it].

[the-cable-guy]

ok does he use interactive services that require his phone line connecting to Sky (or whoever) ? also has he already got Sky or ?

[TV Boy]

He do not use interactive via Sky.

The last time he did used the phone line was to pay for Setanta PPV to see Larsson last game for Celtic.

He has Sky+ (Also in the bedroom) being cut-off on May 30.

[the-cable-guy]

oh ok then i dont have Sky + myself but from what others have said, in order for the + features to work you have to pay £10 p/m (i think that thats for each receiver) however if he has both viewing cards still, he will get all of the FTA & FTV channels.

[the-cable-guy]

Originally Posted by GeoffW

Basically you don't need the sky card to decrypt it and you can also get HD for free.

you only get what you get on Sky FTA however if a channel is not FTA on Sky then you wont get it, plain & simple. infact from looking at wiki you get a hell of alot less channels on freesat: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freesat then with a FTA/Sky receiver: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...UK_and_Ireland