Freeview and Freesat set-top boxes: Freeview and Freesat digital TV Free digital TV
Freeview and Freesat services have no TV subscription fees
Types of digital TV service
You have two options when it comes to choosing a digital TV service.
Free services from Freeview and Freesat allow you to have a digital TV service without signing up to a contract or paying a monthly fee. If you just want a basic TV service and aren’t interested in premium channels such as Sky Sports and Movies, a Freeview or Freesat digital TV service may be ideal.
If you’re after a wider range of channels, you’ll need a subscription TV service from Sky, Virgin or BT. These TV services have a monthly fee, but allow you to access premium channels. For more information on costs and packages available see our guide to cable TV, satellite TV and digital TV packages.
For more help on working out which type of digital TV service would be best for you see the Which? guide to free TV and pay TV services.
Freeview vs Freesat
Freeview includes a basic line-up of around 50 digital TV channels from BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Five, Sky and Virgin. It’s by far the cheapest digital TV service, with Freeview set-top boxes starting from around £20.
Freesat offers more channels, with around 70 available. This doesn’t necessarily mean you get a better line-up – channels including Dave and Sky News are available on Freeview, but not on Freesat. You'll need a satellite dish if you don't already have one, which will add around £80 to your start-up costs.
Freesat from Sky is an alternative free digital satellite TV service. With more than 200 channels, it offers the most TV, but, like Freesat, it doesn’t include all the Freeview channels. You can’t get HD services with Freesat from Sky and there's no choice of set-top box, so you can't get a PVR to record programmes.
Freeview and Freesat TV equipment
Lots of manufacturers make Freeview and Freesat equipment, so there's a wide variety to choose from depending on what you're looking for.
If you don’t need a new TV, the simplest option is to get a freeview or freesat set-top box. Prices start from around £20 for the more basic models.
More advanced set-top boxes allow you to record, replay and even pause live TV. These boxes are referred to as personal video recorders or PVRs. You pay more for the added benefits of a PVR, but this could well be worth it if you want to record programmes to watch later.
You can also get TVs with Freeview or Freesat built in.
See the Which? LCD and plasma TV reviews for test results on the latest models.
Get 50 regular and four HD channels through your aerial
HD TV from Freeview and Freesat
Freesat was originally the only free TV service to broadcast live content in high definition (HD), but Freeview HD is now available to around half of the UK population. You'll need to make sure you have an HD-ready TV and the right HD equipment, though.
Freesat HD equipment A number of Freesat HD set-top boxes are available, with costs starting from around £60 for the cheapest HD box. HD PVRs start from around £200, so you can also record programmes in high definition.
Freeview HD equipment Humax launched the first Freeview HD set-top box in February 2010, but there are now many other models on the market. TVs with integrated Freeview HD are now also available from all of the main TV manufacturers, including LG, Panasonic, Sharp, Sony and Toshiba.
Existing HD TVs with Freeview (not Freeview HD) built in will not be compatible with programmes broadcast in high definition, because a new compression format is being used to fit the HD broadcasts on to the service.
