Sky Interactive Slot Is Finally To Be Used
After almost 10 years since Sky Digital launched the ever elusive Interactive Card Slot is to be used.
Turner Broadcasting is to issue a loyalty card giving viewers of Nuts TV on Sky rewards for viewing the channel.
The Nuts TV Loyalty card fits into the interactive card slot on Sky boxes and awards viewers points for time spent watching the channel. Once a viewer has amassed enough points on their loyalty card a digital coupon will be issued which can be exchanged for exclusive discounts with a wide range of top name retailers including Dixons, Just Eat and Kit Bag. Competitions from Nuts TV can also be entered (using points) with the new loyalty card where you can win days out, Nuts TV merchandise and other sought after goodies.
The card is being produced by loyalty card maker MiCard.
England Football Qualifiers Live On TV
Watch the upcoming England World Cup qualifiers exclusively live on Setanta Sports. These matches are available on Freeview, Sky Digital, Broadband – live on demand, Virgin Media, Tiscali, BT Vision and Top Up TV.
Soon to be shown football matches during September are:
- Andora Vs England – Setanta Sports 1 at 7pm Saturday 6th September
- England Vs Croatia – Setanta Sports 1 at 8pm Wednesday 10th September
You can now save £6.49 each month on your subscription for the first 3 months by using Setanta Sports Offer Codes.
To keep up-to-date with the latest live football matches on TV visit www.live-footballontv.com
Freesat Officially Launched
The all new free digital satellite TV platform has launched today – Tuesday 6th May.
Freesat is a joint operation by the BBC and ITV which will plug the gap left by Freeview by reaching an estimated 98% of households: giving you more than 80 free digital tv channels, radio stations and HDTV (high definition TV) from the BBC and ITV.
Freesat Receivers are available from:
- Argos – order online or collect instore.
- Comet – order online.
- Currys – order online.
- Dixons – order online.
- John Lewis – order online.
Prices vary between £50 and £149 depending on whether you’re buying a standard definition, recorder or HD Freesat box. Standard installation should be available to buy online from the above retailers at around £80.
It’s worth noting Freesat is transmit from the Astra 2 group of satellites. If you have a working Sky minidish or suitable satellite dish correctly aligned, with cabling to your Freesat box, then you shouldn’t need any installation apart from plugging in your Freesat receiver.
Visit the official Freesat website here for information regarding channel listings.
Now Save 10% On Freesat Receivers
By using discount codes you can save 10% on Freesat Receivers at Dixons!
Go here for current discount codes for Dixons
Discount codes are entered on completion of your order at the checkout.
Freesat Launch Gets Closer
We were told that the new Freesat Digital TV platform would be with us in Spring of this year and have yet to see any firm dates published or any advertising campaigns to start. But it looks as if it’s only round the corner.
Argos seem to be ready or nearly ready for Freesat, with Freesat receivers listed on their website but not yet available to purchase it shouldn’t be very long until the launch. Other retailers are almost definately taking stock of Freesat boxes as you read this.
Receivers at Argos vary depending on your budget and what you want from your receiver: starting at around £50 for a basic model and going up to £149 for a full High Definition model there are two box manufacturers, Bush and Grundig at Argos.co.uk
Installation looks set to be around £80 including the supply of the dish, cabling and labour.
If you’re looking to get Freesat keep your eyes and ears peeled for the start of the advertising campaign which will hopefully be with us very soon.
Visit www.freesat.co.uk or check back here for any updates as and when they happen and Argos.co.uk for to see what receivers are on offer.
Freesat has now launched – read more here
MTV Branded Bespoke Sky Boxes
You heard it right! MTV and Sky have joined forces to offer limited edition designer Sky Boxes.
These bespoke boxes will be on limited supply and available as part of the April Sky multi-room promotions.
More information to follow….
Keeping Updated On Freesat
The new Freesat (Free Digital Satellite TV) platform is due to launch sometime in spring of 2008. With over 80 channels available to 98% of UK households it will be perfect for those who don’t want to pay any monthly subscription fees and can’t yet receive Freeview. Freesat will also have free HD channels for those viewers with High Definition TV’s.
Freesat should be available at most major high street stores such as Argos, Comet, Currys and John Lewis; and is being run on a non-profits basis by the BBC and ITV.
For more information on the service and availability as it happens visit the new Freesat website at www.freesat.co.uk
New HDTV Channels On The Horizon
With the launch of BBC Freesat due in the spring of next year it looks like we could be treated to a handful of new HDTV channels. Namely channels from the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and possibly Five.
BBC HD
Sky and Virgin Media have been running the BBC HD pilot channel for over a year. The new BBC HD channel should start next year showing more of the BBC’s core programmes and will be available on Sky, Virgin Media and Freesat.
ITV1 HD
ITV1 also look set to launch it’s high definition channel on satellite in spring next year. The ITV channel will be available on both Sky and Freesat, initially airing programmes for a couple of hours at peak times.
Channel 4 HD
Channel 4 HD is firstly set to make it’s move via the 4-On-Demand feature of Virgin Media and is also due to become available on Sky and Freesat in December this year, showing the main channel 4 programmes in simulcast.
Five HD
Not a lot is known about Five’s plans for a HD channel at the moment but an interesting article from The Guardian could be taken as a hint.
To summarise it looks like HDTV channels look set to be on the increase sometime soon, could this be the start of the snowball the HD TV viewing public need?
The TV platforms:
Arsenal TV Now Available On Setanta Sports
Great news for all Gooners (Arsenal Fans) who have Sky Satellite TV.
The new Arsenal TV channel is now available on Setanta Sports exclusively via Sky Digital Satellite TV.
Sky Channel 423
The launch of the Arsenal TV channel happened early in January. Arsenal TV is now available as part of the standard Setanta Sports Package with no extra charge, currently £9.99 per month.
The new Arsenal Tv channel will show:
- A minimum of 6 hours programming each day
- Coverage from behind the scenes of Arsenal FC
- Nostalgic re-runs of Arsenal’s greatest matches
- Live friendlies and reserve matches with highlights from ladies games
- All Of Arsenal’s games from the Premier League, Champions League, Carling & FA Cup
Visit Setanta Sports to sign up and for further information.
New, Sky Pay Once Watch Forever
Sky ‘Pay Once, Watch Forever’ is a great new way to get free digital satellite TV for a simple one off payment of only £75, that’s half the previous standard price of Sky Freesat! 
Included is 4 months free viewing of Skys most popular Entertainment Mixes, Variety Mix and Knowledge Mix, worth £76 at normal subscription prices.
Other features included are:
- No monthly fee
- More than 200 Digital TV Channels including BBC AND ITV
- More than 95 Digital Radio stations
- Access to exciting interactive services
- Sky Digibox, Minidish, Remote, Channels and standard installation included
- Ability to upgrade to any Sky Digital package
After 6 months of free viewing of the Variety and Knowledge mixes there are 2 options:
- Upgrade to a Sky TV package and pay from £16 per month for 1 channel mix or increase your subscription for more channel mixes/sports/movies.
- Just continue with the 200 free digital channels you have and access to. The Variety and Knowledge mixes will stop.
To find out more about Sky ‘Pay Once, Watch Forever’ Visit Dixons Online
Sky Digital For Flats
Do you live in a block of flats and would like Sky Digital but thought the installation would be aggravation or near impossible?
A lot of people don’t realise that Sky can arrange for a communal IRS (integrated reception system) or a shared dish system to be installed.
IRS System
The Sky IRS is a complete system comprising of Tv aerial, radio aerial and satellite dish and will usually have to be arranged by the social landlord, developer or management company.
Shared Dish System
The Sky shared dish system is a shared dish solely for viewing Sky Tv in blocks with less than 49 flats and no higher than 3 stories (one dish for up to 24 subscribers, two for more subscribers). If the block is taller than 3 stories Sky may still be able to install for you and can offer bespoke installations. To have the shared dish system installed you only need 4 households/flats to sign up for Sky’s shared dish.
To register your interest with one of these scheme’s or to find out more information visit Sky’s communal Tv systems website at communaltv.sky.com
Sky Anytime for Sky Plus and HD
Viewers with Sky HD boxes now have access to Sky Anytime Plus with video on demand functionality, and it’s a free service.
There is content available from the favourite channels like National Geographic, Sky One, Sky Movies and Sky Sports. More content is expected to become available over the coming months.
To access Sky Anytime (video on demand) you need to press the Tv Guide button of the Sky remote, followed by the red button for the on-screen prompt labelled Anytime Tv. Here you will find a selection of programmes available. New Sky customers may have to wait up to a week for the full programme listings to download.
Those Sky subscribers with Sky plus should have or be presently receiving the software upgrades to their boxes to enable Sky Anytime features. Unfortunately this will only be available to customers with the later Sky plus boxes, 80Gb hard drives or larger.
For those who don’t want to use the Sky Anytime services the feature can be disabled by accessing the service menu and pressing number 6 on their remote.
Further information is available at the official Sky Anytime website.
Sky+ Video On Demand
  Sky+ and Sky HD subscribers will soon have the use of video-on-demand programming. Sky intend to have this feature fully up and running later this year.
Viewers with Sky Plus and Sky HD receivers should find this a huge benefit, as this will mean a choice of certain programmes available instantly and without any requirement to wait for the next programme viewing time that we’re currently used to with Box Office. It is unknown which programmes will be available on the new video-on-demand feature, but a safe guess would be some of the Sky Movies and Box Office channels.
Sky are yet to announce whether this will be a chargeable feature or use it as an extra added incentive to take up the Sky+ or Sky High Definition services.
Subscribers will still be able to record the same amount of programmes and carry on using the live pause function in the usual way, and the present useable allowance of disc space will remain unchanged. The Sky+ and Sky HD box has a pre-determined amount of hard disc space specifically set aside for future innovations like video-on-demand. Updates and programme downloads won’t disrupt standard viewing, or use the telephone connection, but will simply be over the air in a similar manner to usual software upgrades.
Another new feature that subscriber’s can look foward to is an adaptation of the remote record SMS facility, which should soon be accessable through any internet connection.
Free to View Satellite
The BBC’s proposed gem Freesat should come as welcome news to viewers in poor television reception areas. This could potentially show a huge range of benefits to licence fee payers and unlock a whole host of new possibilities for equipment manufacturers and consumers alike.
Free satellite Tv to be known as Freesat can be nothing but a huge step in the right direction for many, and shows the potential to futher unlock an already competitive market place. We could end up seeing a greater rise in the development and standards of new equipment, with more choices including High Definition receivers and PVR’s (personal video recorders). Other major television service providers may also find this a useful way to reach more viewers and expand the viewing experience of television as we know it.
One off the main assets to Freesat could be the possibility of subscription free HD (high definition) Tv services in the future. This could in-turn make it one of the industries leading television platforms and uptake may become huge if this was to happen.
This is just one example of the potential changes in television we could expect to see in the coming years. Let’s keep those fingers crossed for Freesat launching in the near future!