Freeview TV and how to receive it

[JamesT]

Anyone with BT (or I expect EE) can get a TV box that also gets Freeview channels via the Internet, although I think you must pay a fee for the box per month.

I'd hoped by now Freeview would develop a box/stick of its own, or an app for Fire TV, Roku etc that mimics a Freeview box - that being a traditional EPG and not needing to log in to individual apps (iPlayer, ITVX, Channel 4 etc) which is somewhat clunky.

So far they've not done this but the Virgin Stream box was pretty good when I was at the launch - but sadly requiring Virgin broadband, although they did say it might one day be available to other ISPs. It depends on whether they think it will help connect more people to Virgin, or sell in larger quantities and help Virgin make more revenue (through the optional subs you can take out).

Isn't that essentially what Freeview Play is? Devices branded as that have the integrated EPG that pulls in programmes from the catchup services when you go backwards in time.

 

[dosxuk]

Given the BBC is now under orders to plan how it (and the other OTA broadcasters) would move to all tv services being provided over the internet I would guess a future standard for tv's themselves will include an internet friendly EPG. Smart tv's are common enough so it shouldn't be a difficult step.

Don't hold out much hope with the current government in place... The BBC, along with ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 were working on a unified live/on demand platform several years ago based on their iPlayer platform for computers / smart TVs / mobile phones - lots of development work, was looking very positive, then the Government decided it was too big of a challenge to the commercial offerings so forced the BBC to get out and sell up. The technology eventually got sold for not much money and formed the basis of the technical underpinnings of BritBox.

 

[Richardr]

Don't hold out much hope with the current government in place... The BBC, along with ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 were working on a unified live/on demand platform several years ago based on their iPlayer platform for computers / smart TVs / mobile phones - lots of development work, was looking very positive, then the Government decided it was too big of a challenge to the commercial offerings so forced the BBC to get out and sell up. The technology eventually got sold for not much money and formed the basis of the technical underpinnings of BritBox.

There was Project Canvas, which became Youview. It is jointly owned by the BBC, ITV, C4, C5, BT, and TalkTalk (14.3% each). Outside of adapted versions used by BT and TalkTalk, it hasn't really taken off elsewhere, and the BBC, etc., now want to push their own apps, if only for the data mining [including relevant ad sales]. Hence the likes of Freeview Play which push you to the apps. The problem for the original questioner is that Freeview Play apps don't always include the live TV channels, just the catch up part.

 

[jon0844]

Isn't that essentially what Freeview Play is? Devices branded as that have the integrated EPG that pulls in programmes from the catchup services when you go backwards in time.

That's more for the catch up aspect, with more of a highlights/hand picked menu of content - rather than the traditional live now/next or 7 day planner.

We're now seeing that people are enjoying watching 'live' content, even if it's on demand content being played out in a sequence. Take Pluto TV, which is apparently doing extremely well.

I stopped using my Fire TV products a whole ago but even that tried to have some sort of EPG for live content, albeit firing up the individual apps (which is the clunky part).

 

[Energy]

Does anyone have any insight on the best/cheap ways to get Freeview? I'm looking into it after cancelling my expensive Virgin Internet/tv connection and replacing with a cheaper Internet-only subscription.

My original plan was to get a Freeview outdoor aerial installed, but a couple of quotes have come in around the £400 mark. So then I thought, maybe I should try getting Freeview from my Internet connection. The Freeview website seems to indicate this is perfectly feasible (https://www.freeview.co.uk/blogs/do-i-need-an-aerial-for-freeview-play):



So I looked on Amazon for freeview settop boxes, but everything I look at seems to be marketed as being for use with an aerial. Which leaves me a bit confused about whether I do actually need to swallow the £400-ish and get an aerial.

Does anyone know anything about this kind of stuff?

Freeview requires an aerial for live, freeview play is effectively all the catch up apps bundled together.

If you are sticking with Virgin Media for internet have a look at their stream product, its a one off fee but otherwise no monthly charge for the freeview channels.

 

[nw1]

I had a similar issue when moving into my current address.

It came with some sort of Virgin system, but I didn't want to pay for that and just bought one of those indoor aerials.

It's not perfect but "mostly works" - though I don't watch TV that much.

 

[CarltonA]

I've asked for this thread to be reopened as I've recently been having some Freeview TV reception issues. I'm using the TV aerial which was already on the house when I moved in. About three weeks ago I started getting poor reception (pixelating) on Pick - Channel 36. This was annoying as I enjoy the Star Trek reruns which they show. I tried retuning the sets, but this caused a loss of channels which was only resolved after three or four further retunes. A few days ago messages were coming up saying Pick was being rebranded as Sky Mix and moving to channel 11 and Sky Arts would move to the channel 36 position.

On the announced day for the changeover I retuned yet again and had more issues having to tune four or five times to avoid losing about twenty channels. At last I had everything stabilized at about 100 TV channels including 11 and 36. The next day however, neither of these could be displayed but the list function is still working showing the schedules. Mostly the other channels work perfectly well. Obviously the aerial is below par, but I'm surprised that the poor reception is restricted to particular channels.

 

[JamesT]

I've asked for this thread to be reopened as I've recently been having some Freeview TV reception issues. I'm using the TV aerial which was already on the house when I moved in. About three weeks ago I started getting poor reception (pixelating) on Pick - Channel 36. This was annoying as I enjoy the Star Trek reruns which they show. I tried retuning the sets, but this caused a loss of channels which was only resolved after three or four further retunes. A few days ago messages were coming up saying Pick was being rebranded as Sky Mix and moving to channel 11 and Sky Arts would move to the channel 36 position.

On the announced day for the changeover I retuned yet again and had more issues having to tune four or five times to avoid losing about twenty channels. At last I had everything stabilized at about 100 TV channels including 11 and 36. The next day however, neither of these could be displayed but the list function is still working showing the schedules. Mostly the other channels work perfectly well. Obviously the aerial is below par, but I'm surprised that the poor reception is restricted to particular channels.

The channels are grouped into MUXes at the transmitters. https://www.freeview.co.uk/corporate/platform-management/channel-listings-industry-professionals The two Sky channels are on Arqiva A, so I would expect both to have issues. The two BBC MUXes and D3&4 are usually higher power than the others so if you’re marginal you might find those work when others don’t.
There are website where you can put your postcode in and it will tell you where your local transmitter(s) are. It may be your aerial isn’t pointing at the best one.

 

[PeterC]

I'd certainly give the existing aerial a try before spending any money. The one on my house was replaced a while back - maybe about 15 years ago - but it worked with analogue TV before that was switched off and it continues to work well with Freeview.

Another "stick" solution to consider is a Chromecast; it plugs into an HDMI socket and you can stream from a phone, tablet or computer. The only remote control I need is for the telly itself. I bought my first one for £30 and there were numerous free trials for video and music services that would have cost far more than that.

I still use the aerial that was already installed when I moved in 30 years ago. For streaming services I use Chromecast and my phone. The only problem that I have found is with streaming a Zoom talk. The image streams to the TV but the audio still comes from the phone.

 

[DelW]

I've asked for this thread to be reopened as I've recently been having some Freeview TV reception issues. I'm using the TV aerial which was already on the house when I moved in. About three weeks ago I started getting poor reception (pixelating) on Pick - Channel 36. This was annoying as I enjoy the Star Trek reruns which they show. I tried retuning the sets, but this caused a loss of channels which was only resolved after three or four further retunes. A few days ago messages were coming up saying Pick was being rebranded as Sky Mix and moving to channel 11 and Sky Arts would move to the channel 36 position.

On the announced day for the changeover I retuned yet again and had more issues having to tune four or five times to avoid losing about twenty channels. At last I had everything stabilized at about 100 TV channels including 11 and 36. The next day however, neither of these could be displayed but the list function is still working showing the schedules. Mostly the other channels work perfectly well. Obviously the aerial is below par, but I'm surprised that the poor reception is restricted to particular channels.

I also have aerials that were on the house when I moved in, in 1994 in my case. My main TV always had issues with channels like Quest and Yesterday (though oddly the video recorder using the same aerial picked them up OK). Either the picture would break up, or the TV would just show "no signal", although other channels would be fine at the same time. Then earlier this year reception on mainstream HD channels deteriorated too, and when retuning I often only had about 30 channels found, at best about 50.

Rather than replace the aerial, I experimented with a signal booster, "One for All" brand bought from a local shop for about £10 or so. Plugging that into the TV feed transformed it, the first retune went up to around 120 channels including all the ones I'd been unable to watch before. Very occasionally weather conditions seem to affect HD, but other than that I've had no issues since. Not a guaranteed solution of course, but at modest cost I'd suggest it's worth a try before going for big-money options.

 

[jon0844]

I used to struggle with the MUX that carried BBC News HD, but the problem was fixed when BBC News HD was simply removed from the platform and the MUX re-used for Band n28 5G!

 

[Flying Snail]

I also have aerials that were on the house when I moved in, in 1994 in my case. My main TV always had issues with channels like Quest and Yesterday (though oddly the video recorder using the same aerial picked them up OK). Either the picture would break up, or the TV would just show "no signal", although other channels would be fine at the same time. Then earlier this year reception on mainstream HD channels deteriorated too, and when retuning I often only had about 30 channels found, at best about 50.

Rather than replace the aerial, I experimented with a signal booster, "One for All" brand bought from a local shop for about £10 or so. Plugging that into the TV feed transformed it, the first retune went up to around 120 channels including all the ones I'd been unable to watch before. Very occasionally weather conditions seem to affect HD, but other than that I've had no issues since. Not a guaranteed solution of course, but at modest cost I'd suggest it's worth a try before going for big-money options.

Those sort of issues are likely down to crap cables, splitters and connectors that lose signal at each split, if the aerial was bad then no amount of boosting would work.

 

[route101]

I am looking at getting a smart tv. One that can utlise Youtube, I player etc. I am worried about the speed of the internet to use the Smart TV.

 

[dgl]

A smart TV doesn't need a connection that fast really, ADSL/ADSL2 speeds should suffice, really anything over a couple of megabits should work, at least for SD streaming.

 

[PeterC]

I am looking at getting a smart tv. One that can utlise Youtube, I player etc. I am worried about the speed of the internet to use the Smart TV.

My normal download speed is around 6meg and I can stream a film while two of us look at social media without any issues.

 

[jon0844]

Most (all?) streaking sites use variable bitrates for video so even a pretty slow service should be okay, you might just not get HDR or UHD resolutions - and there may be more buffering.

 

[1D54]

I tried retuning the sets, but this caused a loss of channels which was only resolved after three or four further retunes. A few days ago messages were coming up saying Pick was being rebranded as Sky Mix and moving to channel 11 and Sky Arts would move to the channel 36 position.

Use the Manual Retune as it will look for channels and you will not lose any that you already are tuned into

 

[PG]

Most (all?) streaking sites use variable bitrates for video so even a pretty slow service should be okay, you might just not get HDR or UHD resolutions - and there may be more buffering.

With a bit of pixelation on screen presumably

 

[CarltonA]

Use the Manual Retune as it will look for channels and you will not lose any that you already are tuned into

I might give that a go if I have further problems. As it happens the two channels have reappeared so it may have been weather related or maintenance being carried out.

 

[DelW]

Those sort of issues are likely down to crap cables, splitters and connectors that lose signal at each split, if the aerial was bad then no amount of boosting would work.

Quite possibly, since the whole installation is likely to be around 35 years old and maybe more. But the signal booster has certainly worked at least for now.

 

[dgl]

I might give that a go if I have further problems. As it happens the two channels have reappeared so it may have been weather related or maintenance being carried out.

Manual retune is generally the option used to scan a specific frequency block (called a channel), not for normal retuning, an auto tune is what you would normally do, some TV's will give and option as to if you want to keep the current channels.