You don’t have to pay a king’s ransom to Sky to get up-to-date television features - such as HD channels, pause and rewind live TV, plus integrated catch-up and video on demand services. There are many other ways to get dozens of digital television channels and features to rival a Sky+ or Virgin TiVo recorder.
In fact there are arguably a few too many, with three main services, plenty of big-name players, and hundreds of devices. At present we have Freeview, YouView and Freesat, but there's change afoot with the latest devices, acquisitions and court rulings shaking things up. So what are the differences? How much does it cost to get up and running on these services? And what have they got planned for the future? We’ve got the answers.
Freeview
Freeview is the best known of the three digital television brands. It offers more than 60 television channels, a dozen of which are broadcast in HD, through a standard television aerial. There’s a wide variety of Freeview equipment on the market. Freeview receivers have been built into televisions for many years – indeed, it’s pretty difficult to actually buy a television in this country without an integrated Freeview or Freeview HD tuner. Many more expensive models let you add an external hard disk too, to turn your TV into a makeshift PVR.
It also appears in a vast range of set-top boxes from manufacturers such as Humax, Panasonic and Philips. The PVRs are branded as Freeview+, and are essentially a subscription-free equivalent of the Sky+, offering facilities such as the ability to pause live TV, live rewind and automatic series recording. They normally come with dual tuners, so you can record one programme and watch another. Some Freeview set-top boxes come with extra internet services, such as BBC iPlayer, YouTube or Netflix. These vary from device to device, and of course require the box to be connected to the home router, either via Ethernet cable or wirelessly.
^ The whole family sitting around a single TV is becoming an increasingly outdated idea, but broadcast still provides an amazing range and quality of content
Freeview+ recorders start from around £90, with HD models starting from around £150. Freeview set-top-boxes without a hard disk recorder can be bought for as little as £20. EE has started offering a powerful and flexible Freeview HD-based box to its customers for free, see our full EE TV review. However, with EE being bought by BT, the EE TV may prove to have a very short life – as BT is heavily committed to the competing YouView standard.
Freeview is set for a massive revamp in 2015, with a new spec currently codenamed Freeview Connected (FVC). This will incorporate all of the current Freeview channels, plus a selection of popular video-on-demand services. It’s set to “borrow” one of the standout features of YouView – the option to go back up to seven days through the electronic programme guide and watch programmes you’ve missed on demand. It will also offer recommendations for shows to watch based on your viewing habits. FVC boxes should start appearing on shelves in the next few months.
YouView - BT, TalkTalk and BYO set top box
So how does Freeview differ from YouView? On the face of it, they look almost identical. YouView customers get exactly the same selection of digital television channels (with a few exceptions that we’ll come onto shortly). They get access to on-demand services such as iPlayer, ITV Player, 4oD and Sky Now TV (although Sky is threatening to pull out). And they get features such as live pause, dual recording and the ability to skip back through the EPG and watch programmes on demand with YouView set-top boxes.
In fact, it’s hardly surprising there’s so much overlap between the two services, as they’re largely owned by the same companies. Freeview is a joint venture between the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Sky and the transmitter operator Arqiva; YouView is owned by the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, Arqiva, BT and TalkTalk.
Yet, despite the crossover, there are key differences between Freeview and YouView. Freeview is an open specification that any television/set-top box manufacturer can build into their existing software. YouView, on the other hand, supplies its software to the hardware manufacturers, meaning that if you buy a YouView set-top box from BT, TalkTalk or any other manufacturer, its interface should look largely the same (in much the same way Windows looks similar across different PC manufacturers).
This makes YouView much more of a set-top box system, rather than a service that’s integrated into TVs. Television manufacturers such as Samsung and Sony have spent tens of millions developing their own smart TV interfaces and services, and don’t like being told how their interface should look. That means they’re much more likely to adopt the Freeview spec, which they can build into their own user interfaces, than adopt the mandatory YouView look and feel.
In fact, the bulk of YouView set-top box sales are coming from just two companies – BT and TalkTalk – who are subsidising the hardware for their broadband customers. If you’re a BT Infinity customer, for example, you can add a YouView PVR to your subscription for an extra £7.45 per month, with no up-front cost for the hardware (bar a £35 activation fee). Plus there's a new smaller box - for viewing, catch-up and rewinding live TV, but without actual recording – that has no monthly cost (full review soon).
^ BT's latest YouView box is essentially free, but there's no option to record programmes
BT and TalkTalk each add different TV channels and internet services to the basic broadcast package. BT throws in its BT Sport channels for free, plus a further 20 channels – including National Geographic, MTV and Comedy Central – for customers on its more expensive packages. BT offers box office movies, and customers can add Netflix for an additional £5.99 per month. Recently it also won a legal tussle to offer Sky Sports 1 and 2 on its YouView service.
TalkTalk has a variety of channel packages in addition to the standard Freeview channels, including Sky Sports, Sky Movies and an Entertainment package including Sky 1, Fox and Gold. These add-on packages range in price from £5 to £15 each, on top of the regular monthly fee. TalkTalk also offers movies on demand and promises Netflix is coming soon.
If you don’t want to commit to a TV subscription with BT or TalkTalk, or belong to a different broadband provider, you can buy standalone YouView PVRs. Amazon sells the 500GB BT YouView+ recorder for £149, which could work out cheaper in the long-run than paying BT £7.45 per month on top of your broadband. Alternatively, John Lewes sells the 1TB Humax DTR-T1010 YouView recorder for £219. Bear in mind, however, that without a BT/TalkTalk subscription, you won’t have access to their exclusive channels: no BT Sport, Sky Sports, Sky 1 etc.
^ If you're looking to stay away from contracts, then Humax makes excellent YouView-based PVRs, such as this Humax DTR-T1010
YouView has a number of new features lined up for next year, including an expansion of the number of internet video channels it offers – both live and on-demand – plus enhancements to its accompanying mobile app, which will deliver features that were previously only available via its set-top box.
Freesat & Freetime
There is a third way to watch subscription-free digital television: via satellite. Primarily pitched at former Sky customers who already have a satellite dish strapped to the side of the house, Freesat is a joint venture between the BBC and ITV that provides in excess of 100 free-to-view channels. Even though Freesat has more channels, the line-up is pretty similar to that of Freeview/YouView, but because it’s delivered via satellite Freesat offers much greater coverage. There’s virtually nowhere in the country that will struggle to get a Freesat signal.
There are a number of manufacturers making Freesat+ PVRs, and their features are similar to those of the Freeview/YouView boxes: live pause and rewind, twin tuners, and the ability to scroll back seven days through the EPG and watch shows on demand using the Freetime TV Guide. On demand services include BBC iPlayer, ITV Player and 4oD, but these don’t come via satellite – they require a broadband connection. Prices are pretty similar too. Freesat+ PVRs start from around £150, or you can get boxes without the recording facilities from around £70. If you don’t already have a satellite dish, you’re looking at around £80 for installation.
Panasonic is even using Freetime interface in its Smart TVs, such as the AX802B, which then confusingly works with both terrestrial and satellite tuners, so you can even get Freetime with Freeview channels. Again, add a hard disk via USB and you can turn your TV into a PVR for recording.
Sky barely promotes it, no doubt through fear of tempting paying subscribers, but it offers a Freesat service, too. For a one-off fee of £175 you get a SkyHD box (note: not a Sky+ recorder), satellite installation and over 240 TV channels, 11 of which are in HD. If you’ve already got Sky equipment and want to cancel your subscription, you can fall back onto Sky’s Freesat with a £25 viewing card, provided you’re no longer in contract.
Living without live TV
A tempting option at present is to go without live TV entirely, not only will you save money on equipment but you could also save yourself £145.50 a year on TV licensing. At present you only need a TV licence to watch or record live (or nearly live) TV. You don't need one in order to watch catch-up TV services. If you watch all your TV via iPlayer, Netflix and other such services then you could theoretically go without one.
The current BBC charter expires at the end of 2016, with the fee itself fixed until March 2017. Around this time you can expect a big debate and almost certainly changes in the law. We wouldn't be surprised if iPlayer were included under new licencing legislation, but anything is possible with such a highly-emotive issue. It's even possible that the BBC could start a transition to a subscription-based service, though we wouldn't bet on it personally.
^ You can watch catch-up shows on iPlayer without a TV licence, for now