ON YOUR MARKS… GET SET… GO! Introducing IAAF World Athletics Championship in HD on Freesat      Reach for your running shoes and sprint to the sofa, because this year’s World Championships in Athletics is coming to Freesat in high definition and subscription free. From Saturday 15th to Sunday 23rd August, the 12th IAAF World [...]]]> Press release from freesat 27/07/09:

ON YOUR MARKS… GET SET… GO!
Introducing IAAF World Athletics Championship in HD on Freesat
    
Reach for your running shoes and sprint to the sofa, because this year’s World Championships in Athletics is coming to Freesat in high definition and subscription free. From Saturday 15th to Sunday 23rd August, the 12th IAAF World Athletics Championship airs on the BBC HD channel.

Olympic Champion Michael Johnson will join the BBC commentary team to report on the nine days of athletics action – disciplines ranging from Relay to Triple Jump and Javelin Throw to 5,000 Metres. Some of this year’s hopefuls include British runner Christine Ohuruogu, as well as American-born Allyson Felix and LaShawn Merritt.

Berlin Olympic Stadium is the host of these prestigious games and for the first time in its history the marathon and walking competitions will take place in Berlin’s city centre – all in brilliant high definition.

HD is perfect for watching all the high-speed athletic action, with a picture that is five times the quality of normal digital TV. This amazing event in pin-sharp HD has a staggering 1,800 athletes, 47 competitions and 24 disciplines, there should be no need for photo finishes. Freesat + also enables you to record, fast forward and rewind live TV, in case you want to re-live any of the best moments.

Other BBC HD highlights include chat show Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, and dramas such as Torchwood and Gavin and Stacey.

HIT THE RIGHT NOTES WITH THE PROMS ON BBC HD ON FREESAT

The symphonies, concertos, overtures and fugues of this year’s Proms will be better than ever this year with Freesat bringing viewers this unique summer event in glorious high definition on BBC HD. From the First Night of the Proms on [...]]]> Press release from freesat 27/07/09:

HIT THE RIGHT NOTES WITH THE PROMS ON BBC HD ON FREESAT

The symphonies, concertos, overtures and fugues of this year’s Proms will be better than ever this year with Freesat bringing viewers this unique summer event in glorious high definition on BBC HD. From the First Night of the Proms on Friday July 17 you can recreate the Proms experience in your own home all summer long, culminating with the renowned Last Night of the Proms celebration on September 12.

No need to compromise on sound or picture quality with Freesat as high definition (HD) gives you five times the quality of normal digital TV. With The Proms in crystal-clear HD, you won’t miss a single stroke of the kettle drum or twitch of the conductor’s baton as the experience bursts out of the TV and into your home.

This summer marks the 115th year of the Proms, with concerts taking place in famous venues around the country; from the Royal Albert Hall to Cadogan Hall and the popular BBC Proms in the Park events.

As ever, the world’s finest classical talents will be performing, including pianist Lang Lang, violinist Joshua Bell, and well-known conductors William Christie and Valery Gergiev. Enjoy the music and feel the passion as Freesat brings the event to life in glorious high definition.

The Proms on the BBC HD channel will also be available in stunning surround sound for Freesat viewers with home-cinema speakers. So music lovers up and down the country will be able to savour the best in classical music as if they have the best seats in the house.

Other highlights available on BBC HD in the coming weeks include the IAAF World Athletics Championship Berlin 2009, That Mitchell and Webb Look, Rick Stein’s Far Eastern Odyssey and Dragon’s Den.

The annual awards, founded in 2004 by the CBI and Real Business magazine, celebrate the achievements of women who are trailblazers and pioneers [...]]]> Emma Scott, Managing Director of the subscription-free digital satellite television service Freesat, took the top prize in the media category at last night’s First Women Awards, held at the Marriott Hotel in London.

The annual awards, founded in 2004 by the CBI and Real Business magazine, celebrate the achievements of women who are trailblazers and pioneers in business, across sectors including media, finance, business services and manufacturing. Also nominated in the media category were Yasmin Jeetha, COO of the Financial Times and Carol Stone, MD of YouGovStone. The award comes in the same week that Freesat won ‘Best New Brand or Business’ at the Marketing Society Awards for Excellence.

Emma comments:

“It’s important to recognise the achievements of women in business everywhere. So to receive this prestigious award is a real honour, especially when Jetha and Carole are such exceptional women. I couldn’t have won this award without the support of many great people during my career – and now thanks to our shareholders, the BBC and ITV and the fantastic team at Freesat who have worked incredibly hard to make the service such a brilliant success in only its first year.”

The award reflects the great strides Freesat has made in only its first year, exceeding 400,000 sales and offering viewers over 140 digital television and radio channels, including [...]]]> Freesat has won the ‘Best New Brand or Business’ category at the Marketing Society Awards for Excellence, beating off competition which included Innocent and the BBC’s iPlayer service.

The award reflects the great strides Freesat has made in only its first year, exceeding 400,000 sales and offering viewers over 140 digital television and radio channels, including the BBC and ITV HD services.

Will Abbott, Freesat’s marketing director comments
We are delighted and proud to win this award as it highlights the impact we have made over the last 12 months – spending a fraction of the budget of our competitors – and the incredible work of the whole company. We’re already building on this success through 2009 – adding more customers, channels and launching IPTV services such as BBC iPlayer.

Talksport is the UK’s largest commercial radio station, broadcasting sports phone-ins and discussions, live sports commentary, and lively phone-in discussions.  Talksport is the UK’s only national commercial speech radio station and is home [...]]]> freesat have announced that Talksport Radio will be joining the freesat (EPG) Electronic Programme Guide next Tuesday 19th May on channel number 731

Talksport is the UK’s largest commercial radio station, broadcasting sports phone-ins and discussions, live sports commentary, and lively phone-in discussions.  Talksport is the UK’s only national commercial speech radio station and is home to talent that includes former international footballers Ian Wright, Andy Townsend, Stan Collymore and Alan Brazil, TV talk show host Jeremy Kyle and politician George Galloway.

Emma Scott, Managing Director of freesat commented; “Talksport is a respected name in sports broadcasting and its launch onto freesat is a big plus for our radio portfolio. With the FA Cup and UEFA Champions League finals on ITV HD this month, and Wimbledon coverage on BBC HD next month, the addition of Talksport builds on freesat’s first class and free sports coverage.”

Piers Collins, Talksport business development manager added, “The launch of Talksport on freesat is a fantastic opportunity to grow Talksport reach new audiences.”  

Although a welcome addition to the freesat EPG we would like to see further TV channels especially more High Definition content joining the EPG.

Your freesat set top box or freesat TV should automatically retune for the new channel.

We will update channel list as soon at Talksport goes live on channel 731 next Tuesday, link to Talksport website here.

One of the main attractions has been subscription free high definition of BBC HD and ITV HD which still remains a freesat exclusive red button channel.

Freesat [...]]]> freesat has today reached its first birthday , the service has grown from when it was launched back in May 2008 from 80 channels to well over 140 channels today.

One of the main attractions has been subscription free high definition of BBC HD and ITV HD which still remains a freesat exclusive red button channel.

Freesat has sales approaching 400,000 and offers a real free alternative to Sky especially in the current economic climate especially with the BBC iPlayer coming to freesat in the autumn which will offer catch up TV for the last 7 days.

Emma Scott, Managing Director of Freesat comments:

“We are thrilled with the progress we’ve made in the last twelve months. Reaching 400,000 sales as well as launching Freesat+ and a whole range of new Freesat products and services is a fantastic achievement in this competitive market. It shows that there is a real consumer appetite out there for high quality digital TV without monthly bills. With more Freesat channels and products to come and IPTV services such as BBC iPlayer due in the Autumn, we’re looking forward to a successful second year.

Some of freesat’s highlights:

• May 2008 –Freesat launches with SD and HD digital boxes from Humax, Goodmans, Grundig and Bush
• June 2008 – Freesat-integrated televisions are first introduced by Panasonic
• August 2008 – Freesat shows over 300 hours of the Beijing Olympics coverage in pin-sharp high definition on the BBC HD channel
• September 2008 – Freesat exclusively premieres Peter Jackson’s blockbuster King Kong on ITV HD
• September 2008 – Freesat wins the Pace / DTG award for ‘Best Contribution to Digital TV in the UK’
• November 2008 – Freesat+ launches
• December 2008 – Freesat doubles sales in final quarter of 2008
• February 2008 – Freesat adds another 100k sales in Q1 2009
• March 2009 – International news network CNN joins Freesat
• April 2009 – First ever Freesat TV advertising campaign
• April 2009 – Panasonic unveil their first integrated Freesat+ Blu-ray recorder
• May 2009 – LG’s range of Freesat-integrated TVs launch
• May 2009 – Freesat will stage the first Freesat Awards on 20th May; rewarding the outstanding contribution its channel, retail and manufacturing partners have made to the success of the past year

Emma Scott, Managing Director of Freesat [...]]]> Freesat have today announced that NHK World TV will be joining freesat Tuesday 21st April. NHK World TV provides English language news, analysis and culture from a Japanese and Asian perspective to over 80 countries around the globe. NHK World TV is the international channel of Japan’s national broadcaster NHK.

Emma Scott, Managing Director of Freesat commented

“Freesat is committed to expanding our international news and current affairs offering and NHK World TV represents yet another high quality channel, which provides viewers with access to a high quality news service from an interesting new viewpoint.”

Makoto Harada, Director-General of NHK WORLD TV added,

“The launch on freesat will offer viewers in the UK a new way to enjoy NHK WORLD TV’s unique, alternative perspective: your eye on Asia.”  

NHK World TV will be on channel 209 and your set top box or TV should automatically retune itself over the next few days or you can force a retune automatically.

Link to NHK World TV website

The freesat channel list has been updated

By the end of 2008 freesat had achieved over 200,000 sales since its launch in May 2008. Having [...]]]> Press Release from: Emma Scott at freesat

• freesat subscription free offer proving popular in current economic climate
• Increasing popularity of High Definition (HD) a key driver
• Launch of freesat+ and a pre Christmas marketing campaign saw strongest ever sales in December

By the end of 2008 freesat had achieved over 200,000 sales since its launch in May 2008. Having reported sales of 100,000 in September 2008, total sales of freesat doubled in the final quarter of 2008 against the backdrop of challenging times on the high street.

freesat is seen as an excellent choice in the current economic climate, with consumers attracted to freesat’s subscription-free offer, preferring to avoid costly monthly TV bills in return for brilliant quality TV and a wide range of free channels.

Standard Definition (SD) boxes currently sell for under £50 and with HD boxes now priced below the £99 mark, freesat offers over 140 channels and services, including HD programming for a low one-off payment.

Emma Scott, MD of freesat commented; “We saw consumers increasingly drawn to freesat at the end of last 2008 and into this year. The quality and choice of channels and services available and the added benefits offered by freesat+ have really struck a chord.”

HD in 2008

freesat’s offer of subscription-free TV with high quality HD programming from the BBC and ITV has been a key factor in the strong sales increase of HD set top boxes, with 61% of freesat’s ‘customer panel’ specifying HD as their primary reason for purchasing.

In the latter half of 2008, viewers were offered a wide selection of HD programming via freesat including UEFA Champions League, England internationals and FA Cup matches on ITV HD – exclusive to freesat. The BBC HD channel offered some firm family favourites like Strictly Come Dancing, Heroes, The Royle Family and Wallace & Gromit.

Further HD programming is due on freesat in early 2009, including Lark Rise to Candleford, Hustle, Anne Frank and the Rugby 6 Nations on the BBC HD channel and the FA Cup and Champions League will be gathering pace on ITV HD.

Emma Scott continues; “freesat is able to offer incredible HD with no subscription. We’re thrilled that both the BBC and ITV are investing more in HD programming in 2009.”

The future

Emma Scott concludes “As we approach freesat’s first anniversary in May 2009, we’re in an extremely strong position to build on our early successes. Key goals in 2009 include increasing our product range and distribution by the quality and choice of channels and services available, and the anticipated launch of IPTV services, like BBC iPlayer onto freesat later this year.”

The campaign centres around viewers’ emotional responses to watching their favourite programmes [...]]]> freesat has today 4th November unveiled its largest advertising campaign to date, launching 4th November, which will highlight the satellite TV service’s subscription-free high-definition (HD) offer and run across national newspapers, supplements, TV listings publications, commuter press and a wide range of digital media.

The campaign centres around viewers’ emotional responses to watching their favourite programmes in HD on freesat, including: BBC HD’s Strictly Come Dancing, Little Dorrit, In the Night Garden, ITV HD’s UEFA Champions League football and new teen drama Britannia High.

Key messages communicated in the campaign include;

• freesat’s attractive no subscription, no monthly bills proposition
• freesat’s range of channels, which currently number 140, including free HD from the BBC and ITV
• freesat’s UK wide signal coverage, which stands at 98%
• The ease of equipment purchase and set-up

freesat, which recently announced that product sales had reached over 100,000 in only five months, has worked with creative agency farm to create and implement the campaign, with media agency MPG handling media planning and buying.

Will Abbott, freesat marketing and communications director commented; “freesat offers 140 channels and UK-wide coverage for everyone, for free – no subscription and no monthly bills. That’s a brilliant offer and great value. Add to that some of the best of BBC and ITV in HD for free and it just gets better. But we’re interested in people not pixels. It’s the heightened viewing experience HD offers that we’re focusing on in our campaign – the feeling that you’re really there, immersed in the action.”