The next 50 things on UK FREE TV. What would you like to see?
Are Freeview and Freesat chasing Sky? Photograph: Brian Butterworth
I've been compiling a list of the next 50 things I am going to write about here on UK FREE TV.
Here is a sample of the things on the list
- Why are there no free sports channels on Freeview?
- Why are we still using remote controls?
Do channels on lower numbers get more viewers?- Why do we still watch so much TV when it is broadcast?
- Review of a inexpensive DVB-T2 dongle
- Review of Chromecast and Videostream
- Why isn't HD more popular?
- Why do TV recorders not yet have solid state drives?
- Moved into a new flat? How to set up the TV
- The Freetime UI
- Review of HDR-1010S
- When will we reach "peak Freeview"?
- Sky vs Freeview "numbers"
- Hyperoptic gigabit internet
"I can't hear the birds sing"
I would be really interested to know what else you would like me to investigate.
Please let me know anything you think might be within the remit of "free TV and radio in the UK".
All questions
In this section
Tuesday, 28 October 2014
New article from the list : Having problems with TV background music?
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Gwen Symonds: You can get LBC heree LBC London Radioplayer as well.
Or, if you have an Android or Apple iOS mobile device - and most people do - you can use the RadioPlayer App. Apps | Radioplayer
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Under your 'why isn't HD more popular' idea I'd suggest (based on the purely anecdotal evidence of my own family, a statistically insignificant number) that there might be a gender bias - the female family members can see the difference with HD but don't consider it an improvement compared to the importance of programme quality (in the editorial/critical sense), while males see it and prefer it, no matter how bad the material being viewed.
Anyone else found this?
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Michael's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
M
MikeB6:08 PM
Michael Walker: I suspect its what people are used to. My parents-in-law recorded the Queens Speech on BBC1 last Christmas. I suggested that since they had an HD recorder, why not in HD. They said it was fine, but I suspect they were simply used to using 1, rather than 101. Younger people will tend to use HD more, simply because they are more used to it.
I do laugh when people say they cant tell the difference between SD and HD - we do put them on side by side, at which point they change their mind. And I did have a couple not so long ago who said they couldn't see HD on their Sky HD box. Looking at the back of the departments Sky box, they admitted they hadn't changed the cable connecting the box to the TV from scart to HDMI, which might have explained it!
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Wednesday, 29 October 2014
M
michael9:24 AM
" Or, if you have an Android or Apple iOS mobile device - and most people do - you can use the RadioPlayer App. "
No 3G/4G signal here, but maybe one day... Listening on a wifi device works fine. What is the range of costs per hour for listening on a mobile device? Is unlimited download available as for internet services? That would be brilliant!
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Sunday, 2 November 2014
F
freddy3:17 PM
There is so much wrong with UK TV now it's impossible to know where
to start.
The best bet would be to scrap ofcom (the enablers) and close down all
channels and start again with just 5 channels plus a couple of movie
ones.
Seriously do we need 4 channels broadcasting the same program at the same time then repeated 5 times a week ? The power wasted would solve
global warming at a stroke.
NEWSFLASH for broadcasters: Repeating a program on a different frequency
does NOT make it "NEW"
Its not as if you can watch a program with all the text crap and logos they keep
putting all over the programs. I have a MENU button - STOP IT.
The BBC is the worst every time amusic video comes on some inane half-wit
scribbles rubbish all over it.
As for the movie-mix channel logo - the entire channel is unwatchable.
And then there are the adverts. I recorded a harry potter documentary for the kids and the thing has 6 advert breaks in it. 6 !
And all this before you even think about unreliable set top boxes - appaling signal quality variations and an aerial the size of a planet stuck on a pole on the roof. And we dont even live out in the sticks.
I have to agree about the audio comments too - its ridiculously inept.
Once upon a time TV was a relaxing entertainment.
Now its just too much annoying hard work to be bothered with.
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M
MikeB4:26 PM
freddy: Have you come in a tardis from about 1934? I very much doubt that the British viewing public is likely to share your views.
Its also difficult to imagine an aerial the size of a planet, unless such planets would be the home of the G'Gugvuntts or Vl'hurgs (that ones for brianist..).
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Wednesday, 5 November 2014
@freddy
Sorry to say, that there is a lot "wrong" with what you have written.
"The best bet would be to scrap ofcom (the enablers)"
Ofcom don't enable anyone, they do as they are required to by Parliament.
"and close down all channels and start again with just 5 channels plus a couple of movie
ones. "
This is called the "everyman fallacy". It's where you belive that what you want is what everyone else wants and you should get it and sod everyone else.
"Seriously do we need 4 channels broadcasting the same program at the same time then repeated 5 times a week ? The power wasted would solve global warming at a stroke. "
Transmission power is seriously nothing compared to the power required to light up the TV screen in people's homes. Also, the power levels of all Freeview services is much less than the analogue ones. And you get lots of services in the same "space" with digital services."
"NEWSFLASH for broadcasters: Repeating a program on a differentfrequency does NOT make it "NEW" "
I don't ever recall anyone saying this. The industry calls them "narrative repeats".
"The BBC is the worst every time a music video comes on some inane half-wit scribbles rubbish all over it. "
This is at the behest of the providers of the videos. They don't want clean copies of music videos being broadcast because that would remove the incentive for people to go and buy them. This is the same principle that happens on radio when DJs talk over the introductions to tunes.
"As for the movie-mix channel logo - the entire channel is unwatchable. "
But you know the name of the channel, so mission accomplished.
"and then there are the adverts. I recorded a harry potter documentary for the kids and the thing has 6 advert breaks in it. 6 ! "
You can always pay for the content without adverts as DVDs or streaming. How else is the programme paid for?
"And all this before you even think about unreliable set top boxes - appalling signal quality variations and an aerial the size of a planet stuck on a pole on the roof. And we don't even live out in the sticks. "
As the TV transmitters are "out in the sticks" is mainly homes in cities that need larger aerials. Of course, some people have been "oversold" large aerials when they are not needed.
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