Enhanced red button services from Freesat

The corporation is planning to offer a wide range of red button services on Freesat, its joint venture free-to-view digital satellite service. Initially viewers will be able to read the latest news and sport stories 24 hours a day, enjoy entertainment news and access the official lottery results.

By the summer, there will be access to a wide range of news in video at any time it is required. During the Beijing Olympics, there’ll be a choice between coverage of different sports and highlights to get the whole BBC Olympics package.

Later, there will be enhanced coverage of many other sporting and music events, children's games, plus all the interactive content from the BBC’s digital TV channels.

Freesat will target the estimated 25% of homes unable to receive Freeview Digital terrestrial, and will be the first satellite rival to Sky since the demise of British Satellite Broadcasting in the 1990s.

The new BBC-ITV joint venture will also provide the terrestrial networks with a platform to launch HD services, as there is only very limited capacity on Freeview.