Two new Freeview channels - almost everywhere
Brian Butterworth published on UK Free TV If you are using, or will use a Public Service (small relay) transmitter, please look away now.
For everyone else, the removal of the BBC News Interactive and one Interactive channel has an upside.
The BBC is selling the capacity used by these services to provide two more slots to the commercial market. This means two more channels in areas that have not switched over yet.
At the same time, Arqiva is adding two more full-time video streams (TV channels) over Multiplexes ARQA and ARQB, for those regions that HAVE switched over.
This means, in effect, that as soon as next month there could be two new full-time channels on Freeview.
No doubt it will be ITV3+1 or More4+1+1, but we can hope. Perhaps Yesterday will expand again?
(The most watched non-premium, non-Sky, non-plus-one channels are 0.6%: Living TV; 0.4%: Comedy Central, G.O.L.D., Hallmark, Sci-Fi Channel,
Watch; 0.3%: Alibi, Nick Jr, Nicktoons; 0.2%: Boomerang, Bravo, Cartoon Network, Challenge TV, FX, Good Food, Nickelodeon.).
Which two channels would YOU like on Freeview next month?
Steve P: I understand there is another slot up for grabs - Bid Media puts new Freeview slot up for sale | News | Broadcast says
"A new Freeview EPG slot has been put up for grabs with the aim of getting a channel on air as early as October.
The 24-hour Multiplex A channel has been created through the release of additional capacity, and airtime broker Bid Media is handling the sale based on a three-year contract. The current owner of the slot is not known."
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3:40 PM
I really want to cancel my sky subscription so expensive now, but from 9pm every night we watch Alibi. That is the only reason at the moment I am not getting rid of sky, I don't know if it would be the same without it. I have looked and looked and cannot find any freeview companines that have alibli. :( I wish they have never turned the analogue off!!
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4:46 PM
Liz - Dunno what Alibi is, but whatever you have you should still get all the formerly analogue channels.
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Liz Newman: Alibi is a subscription channel, if you want to watch it, you have to pay.
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10:48 PM
Would it be possible for Comedy Central to come on freeview?
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Tara Moxon: Anything is possible, if the company wishes to pay for a Freeview slot. The channel is currently a pay channel on cable and satellite.
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would love to have the horror channel or one of the cbs channels on freeview
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4:14 PM
Can we have a country channel on freeview please. Years ago we had CMT on the sky format and went within a blink of an eye, how about showcase + horse & country currently on SKY?
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mark.farrant: Horse and Country TV is free to air on Sky, Showcase TV is on Sky and Freesat. It is up to the channels to bid for space on Freeview when it becomes available.
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5:39 PM
mark.farrant: Yes! CMT was one of my favourite channels, and which I still have many VCR recordings I made from the analogue Satellite box, although still haven't got around to transferring them onto disc yet!
I contacted CMT shortly after they closed down, them promptly replying (by letter) along with an envelope containing an assortment of their CMT stickers, and stating that they fully intended to return in the near future, however I later found out that they owed Sky quite a few hundred thousand pounds in back fees, hence the reason for their rapid departure.
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