Freeview V Freesat

[anotheoldgit]

I can receive both Freesat and Freeview, what are the advantages over each other, or is there no difference?

[mccfluff]

with both you get free channels but freeview usually comes built in these days, freesat you need a sky box/dish (i think its sky). I guess it depends on which channels you watch the most.

[Old_Geezer]

I believe the satellite version has more channels. But of course needs a dish antenna installed.

[melv16]

I noticed whilst on holiday in Wales last year that freesat had a bigger choice of radio stations over freeview. I can't comment about the choice of TV stations, as I only watch 3 or 4.

[andres]

Freesat needs dish plus top box
Freeview needs aerial plus top box.
With freesat you get total coverage but freeview depends on your signal . Good signal in some areas but bad in others.
We have freesat but don't get Sky.

[mccfluff]

you don't need a top box for freeview unless you have an older model tv, its integrated now.

[hc4361]

Most tvs come with Freeview built in so don't need a Freeview box, some also have Freesat built in and just need the dish.

[bhg481]

Freeview knows where you live because you point your aerial at a particular transmitter; Freesat doesn't because the satellite transmits all stations. That means that with Freeview you can normally get only local variants of BBC1, ITV etc, whereas with Freesat you can get all of them, so that you can watch Lancashire news if you live in Berkshire, if you wish, maybe to see what the weather is like if you're going to be going there. Some of the non-major channels only use one or the other - have a look in Radio Times, or similar.

[Buenchico]

Freesat offers considerably more channels but many of the additional ones are probably only of interest to a minority of viewers:
https://www.freesat.co.uk/whats/full-channel-list/

https://www.freeview.co.uk/why-freeview/channels

For many years the main reason to have Freeview (either instead of Freesat or as well as it) was, for many viewers, the fact that UKTV's free channels (Yesterday, Drama, Dave, etc) were ONLY available on Freeview. (That was probably because of strong commercial links, with both Freeview and UKTV being co-owned by the BBC). However UKTV now has access to the Freesat platform as well, so Freeview doesn't have any significant advantages over Freesat.

[EDDIE51]

I have Freesat and it gets at least 8 regional versions of BBC1. But I only ever watch my local one.

[alavahalf]

If I remember rightly, my initial choice was to choose Freesat over freeview was because we had a couple of years to wait for our Freeview transmitter to be turned on.
Freesat only required a setbox box and a dish and we could have digital transmission immediately, along with an end to poor reception from our existing ariel setup. That was the way we went and have since purchased a couple of tv's with integrated Freesat receivers. Just like everyone else we have loads of channels we never look at and just the same few that we do.
When I am short of someting too watch, I always go for You tube.

[anotheoldgit]

Do you really need to have a SKY box installed as well as a dish to receive freesat?

I ask this because I still have an old SKY box which I have had installed for years and which I am thinking of getting rid of.

[Buenchico]

To receive TV programmes via a satellite dish you need:

EITHER a TV set with a Freesat tuner built into it (instead of the Freeview one which is fitted inside the vast majority of sets)

OR a satellite receiver set-top box (to use with a 'normal' TV).

A GENERIC satellite receiver box can receive all of the channels listed here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_free-to-air_channels_at_28%C2%B0E

A SKY BOX without a subscription acts becomes a generic satellite receiver.

A FREESAT box is actually configured to receive just a SUBSET of the channels from my link (although the other channels can be accessed through manually tuning them). The only feature that it adds in is its own electronic programme guide.

The foregoing statements ignore recording facilities though. A Sky box without a subscription loses the ability to record programmes. Generic satellite receivers tend not to incorporate recording facilities, whereas many (most?) Freesat boxes now do.

[anotheoldgit]

Thanks for that Buenchico, I better leave well alone then.

But it is strange as my old Sky box is connected to one of my bedroom TVs which is never switched on, yet I can receive Freesat on my lounge none Freesat Sony TV.

[Buenchico]

Unless you're into witchcraft (obviating the need for any connections!), you're either receiving Freeview (rather than Freesat) in your lounge or there's some sort of connection between the Sky box and your TV there.

If you're using the TV's remote control to change channels, you're watching Freeview. If you're using the Sky box's remote control to change channels, you're watching Freesat (or, more accurately, the 'free-to-air' channels from the Astra satellites) and there must be some sort of connection between the Sky box and that TV set.