TV licence fee could be replaced by broadband levy, says BBC

BBC sets out plan to inform, educate and entertain during unprecedented times

General: Today the BBC is setting out how it will ensure it keeps the nation informed, educated, and entertained in unprecedented times.

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4+: Channel 4 ad-free for 4 pounds a month after free trail

Cord Cutting UK: Free trail - sign up today for ad-free Channel 4 online.

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TV: Separating content from delivery

Free TV 2020: To understand television today, it is first necessary to understand that there have been big changes in both the nature of the content and how the stuff that people watch is delivered.

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Redefining UK, Free and Television

Free TV 2020: Having spent Wednesday of last week at the Digital Television Group New Horizons summit, I need to redefine what the scope of this website is. What constitutes television, what counts as free television and how do people view the United Kingdom?

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Why did the BBC just use 1.1 Million TV Licences to buy UKTV from Discovery?

Freeview news: "This is our largest ever content sales deal. It will mean BBC Studios and Discovery will work together to take our content right across the globe through a new world-beating streaming service" Tony Hall, Director-General of the BBC, said in a statement.

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Is the UK television marketplace of 2019 ready for Disney+ and Apple?

Cord Cutting UK: Disney+, Apple and YouTube Red? In the last couple of days, the OTT subscription video services market (that Amazon Prime Video and Netflix) has taken a few interesting turns.

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Will I need a filter when the 5G mobile broadband services start in 2020?

700Mhz clearance: Over the last six years some Freeview users have had to fit special filter devices to the back of their Freeview television sets to deal with overloading signals caused by 4G mobile broadband. When 5G broadband starts in mid-2020, will this happen again?0

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Why are there so many +1 channels on TV?

General: Freesat has 22 of them, there are 24 of them on Freeview, and Sky gives a whole 100 numbers to them. Why are there so many plus one TV channels?

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Rebuilding Freeview High Definition from 2019 onwards

Future Freeview?: There is a bit of a dip in the space available on Freeview HD for high definition channels once 5G mobile services start next year, but the capability will return.

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Will BritBox survive in a Netflix world

Cord Cutting UK: Commercial broadcaster ITV said on Wednesday it would team up with the BBC, its long-standing public broadcasting peer, to create a British rival to Netflix called "BritBox" - Feb 27 (Reuters)

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ITV and Freeview

Freeview news: In the days before 18th Jan, the share price of ITV plc dropped when US-bank Merrill Lynch issued a doubtful report on the future of traditional broadcasting in Europe.0

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Freeview 2024?

Freeview news: The announcement yesterday from Digital UK about the future of Freeview is intriguing. What does it mean for the future* of free television in the UK?

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We will still need Freeview in 2042

Future Freeview?: 25 years ago, we saw the launch of UK Gold, a free-to-air satellite channel showing classic BBC and Thames TV shows. If we look forward to November 2042, what will we see?

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Who is still watching TV?

Future Freeview?: You would think, perhaps, from the press that everyone is bingeing Box Sets on Netflix, viewing Amazon Prime Video, or streaming cat and dogs on Youtube? But people are still watching TV

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When will your favourite Freeview TV shows move to subscription streaming TV?

Future Freeview?: Of the three big companies providing streaming TV services Netflix is worth 64 billion pounds, Amazon 357 billion pounds and Apple 621 billion pounds. How can ITV - worth just under 7 billion pounds and Sky at just 16 billion pounds (or even BT, 26 billion pounds) - not be swallowed up by these Silicon Valley juggernauts?

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How long will Freeview and Freesat continue?

Future Freeview?: Backed by the major broadcasters, Freeview and Freesat have the medium term as secure as might be possible. But what will they be showing in 2025?

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Just how free is UK television?

Future Freeview?: Freeview? Freesat? Free and Easy? Where does the over 9 billion pounds a year for non-subscription TV come from?

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Why do less than one in five people with an HD set watch in HD?

High definition: Research has shown that after over a decade of high definition television (HDTV) broadcasts, only 17% of people watch high definition TV channels. This is when three-quarters of UK homes has an HDTV as their main TV set. Why is this?

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Upcoming Freeview transmitter changes 2017 to 2020

at700 Freeview retune: Listed in this article are all the UK’s main Freeview transmitters, for each one is a list of the channel frequency numbers, and below them the latest expected date of changes, and the various changes.

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Freeview 2017-2020 map

at700 Freeview retune: Map of 700MHz clearance programme

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Ofcom announces 700 MHz clearance schedule 2017-20

at800 Freeview retunes: To make way for new and better 4G data services for everyone's mobile devices, Ofcom has decided to change the Freeview system around starting in 2017.

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When will I get a new Freeview aerial because of even more mobile broadband?

at800 Freeview retunes: What is going to happen during the 700MHz clearance? To make way for more mobile broadband in 2020, millions of Freeview viewers are going to need to act. A very few will need a new aerial. Will that be you?

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Will we ever have Freeview Ultra HD or Freesat Ultra HD?

High definition: You can already buy Ultra HD television sets in the high street. If I buy one, how long will I have to wait for Freeview and Freesat to broadcast my favourite shows in the better format?

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New and improved Freeview radiation patterns

Freeview news: I'm very pleased to announce that the list of the radiation patterns - the diagrams that show the power levels for each direction from a transmitter - have returned in an improved format. In addition UK Free TV now has 528 new patterns received in the last month from Ofcom under a Freedom of Information Act request.

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Official aerial installers guide to the TV spectrum future

Got interference?: If you want to know what the - official - future holds for the UHF spectrum and how this will change the old advice on which aerial to use, you can download this book for free.

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How would you cut £613m from the BBC budget?

BBC Charter 2017: UK Free TV is making it possible for you to decide what to cut and what to keep. Use the tick boxes to select what you would cut from the BBC budget, and see your progress in the bar below. Please share!!!

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When you can't quite hear the TV, subtitles are critical

Sound: One great advantage of the digital TV services is that every TV set has access to subtitles.

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Super new feature: What radio can I get? Radio prediction+mapping now on UK Free

Radio: UK Free TV can now show you what radio stations you can get on DAB Radio as well as FM and AM. Not only that but you get a superb map, just like you do for Freeview prediction. Works automatically with your mobile location or can use a postcode, national grid or your geolocation. Try today!

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Go for it! What do you do on cutting the cord day?

Cord Cutting UK: So, you have your fast broadband, your wireless connections, prepared your devices and checked out what to watch online. Are you ready to take the final step?

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Prepare yourself for Cord Cutting: Where do I watch TV now?

Cord Cutting UK: You've got yourself an uncapped high speed broadband service with a wireless router, and like the idea of saving between 150 and 780 pounds every year. What is the next step?

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How much money can you save by Cord Cutting?

Cord Cutting UK: If you are prepared to stop watching live TV and enjoy content only when you want to watch, how much actual money can you save?

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Cord Cutting UK Checklist: keeping it legal

Cord Cutting UK: The starting point for us here is doing things by the book. Some of the things you need to do to be a Cord Cutter UK can result in a proper criminal conviction if not done properly.

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New section on UK Free TV dedicated to cutting the cord

Cord Cutting UK: New section on UK Free TV dedicated to cutting the cord.

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New Freeview logo for a connected future.

Connected TV: Freeview Play will supply catch-up TV, on-demand and even live TV channels .

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Having problems with TV background music?

Sound: The vast majority of people really enjoy the full auto-visual experience that is television. However if you are one of those who find background music hard to separate from voices, there are steps you can take.

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The lower the channel number in the guide, the more viewers it gets ... Right?

TV channels news: One of the reasons that Freeview does not reshuffle the channel numbers is because there is a lot of value in the lower numbered slots in the electronic guide. I thought it would be interesting to take a look.

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BBC 2017: Tell me about the 16 options to collect the BBC 4 billion quid a year?

BBC Charter 2017: This is a look at sixteen options to fund the BBC in the coming decade. I know you will be surprised by how the options have stacked up: the question is do we change the Licence Fee to one of these smart ideas?

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BBC 2017: Which of these 14 options is best to collect 4 billion quid a year?

BBC Charter 2017: There are loads of options for BBC funding, if you think about it. I have come up with ten criteria and fourteen funding systems. Which one comes out on top?

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BBC plc, 2017: Rest in peace, Auntie (from 2019)

BBC Charter 2017: It never went right for the BBC after it was sold off when the new government decided to "remove the legacy of public service by transferring all broadcasting to the private sector". In less than three years, after compounded mistakes, the old broadcaster is assigned to the recycling bin of history to make way for better mobile broadband.

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