Freesat on hold

Hidden away in this article is the revelation that the launch of the BBC (and ITV)'s Freesat service has been delayed until the first half of next year, which all things considered isn't surprising at all. An additional delay will improve the chances of Channel 4 and Five sorting out various rights issues and therefore being able to offer digital satellite channels in an unencrypted form.

A BBC (and ITV)-sponsored Freesat service really needs Channel 4 and Five to be available alongside the BBC and ITV offerings so as to avoid confusion and disappointment (not to mention avoiding a lot of significant 'small print' disclaimers). Expect BSkyB to become really worried if these issues are resolved and a true 'Freesat' system rapidly becomes popular.

And as for Charles Allen putting the boot into Greg Dyke's failed bid for ITV, well he would say those things even if they may not have turned out to be true; a successful bid from Dyke's consortium would have ditched contract rights renewal at the first opportunity since there's a strong argument that CRR was for a merged Carlton/Granada entity and that wouldn't exist anymore!