BBC launches Freesat

May 6, 2008, 7:48 pm by James Holland Leave your comment

Filed under HDTV, Home Entertainment, News Tags: Freesat, Freeview, Satellite

UPDATE: We’ve had a first look at Freesat. It’s spectacular, it’s smart, and it’s cheap! Check out our exclusive video here.

Want HD but can’t bear to drop the cash for Sky or cable? Now there’s another option: Freesat from the BBC and ITV.It’s just like Freeview, but instead of coming down your aerial, it’s delivered by, you guessed it, satellite.

We’ll be getting all the fresh new details at a press conference later today, but we already know it’ll pack 80 channels at launch, and 200 by the end of 2008. That’s a helluva lot of telly!

Available to 98% of British homes from day one, you’ll need to make a one-off payment to grab a dish and set top box, as well as getting it installed, but after that it’ll be free to receive as much telly as you like.The set top boxes and dishes will be on sale in Argos and Comet, although we’re not sure how much they’ll cost yet.

Keep it here, and we’ll let you know all the details this afternoon.

TBC | £TBC

BBC

ITV