What Is Freeview?

Freeview is a digital TV service available terrestrially in the U.K.  It uses DVB-T, the standard European technology for broadcast transmission of digital terrestrial television.  The service is growing fast in the U.K off the back of its appealing 'free' status: As opposed to pay-per-view, the TV and radio channels available on Freeview are free to watch/listen to, with the only usual cost outlay being the purchase of a set-top box to allow your TV to receive digital signals.  Such boxes retail for as little as £30.  However it may sometimes be necessary to pay to upgrade your TV aerial.  Most new TVs bought today are already digitally enabled with no need of an additional set-top box.

Freeview was launched on October 30 2002, taking over a digital broadcasting license from the collapsed service ITV Digital.  The launch consortium consisted of the BBC, BskyB and National Grid Wireless.  They were later joined by ITV and Channel 4.  Consortium members plus others now broadcast around 40 TV stations and over 20 radio stations.

By March 2006, Freeview was available in an estimated 6.4 million U.K homes and the number of Freeview-only homes was poised to overtake Sky TV-only homes.  

Freeview is a box that you plug into your television to gt extra channels.