Sky on the defence

In the wake of the Freesat launch, the COO of BSkyB, Mike Darcey, has been putting the case for Sky against that of the Freesat version, which is a partnership between BBC and ITV, although there are other channels either involved or planning to get involved soon.

The issue is going to be when ITV launch their HD version; they have said that they will not just give this to Sky for nothing, which implies that they will be placing it on Freesat instead.

Sky believe that not allowing Sky viewers to have ITV HD is a deliberate act in order to keep the free to air content from their 500,000 HD subscribers.

As far as the equipment goes, people now have choice in where they get their Freesat from.

Firstly there is Sky who has been offering their Freesat service for some time at £150. Although it can be purchased at the special pre Freesat launch price of £75!

Then there is the Freesat version, whose equipment starts at £49 with a £80 installation charge. Let battle commence.