Following the success of YouView, Freesat,
the free-to-air satellite TV provider, decided it had to fight back with a
platform of its own, Free Time. This is designed to integrate live TV with the
ability to step back in time and watch programs that you've missed on catch-up
services. As with YouView, any company can make a compatible box, although
we’ve only seen the excellent Humax HDR-10005 ($350 from www..com).
Interface and remote
Freesat Free Time has a clean and
easy-to-use EPG, with a thumbnail preview of the current program. lt’s clear
and easy to navigate, so you can quickly find what you want. Its trick, just
like with YouView, is that you can step back in time through the EPG, and watch
programs that were on earlier in the week via catch-up services.
Freesa’s
logo
The system works a little differently to
YouView’s, as stepping back just shows you the programs available on demand for
the current channel you have selected, whereas YouView shows you the entire
EPG. We slightly prefer the way that YouView does it, as you can easily switch
between channels as you go back. With Free Time, changing channels means going
back to Now and then changing the channel.
Free Time doesn’t integrate catch-up into
the system in the same way as YouView. For example, select a live program and
there’s no option to view other episodes available on demand. It’s a shame, as
this complete integration makes YouView a pleasure to use.
You can set live TV programs to record. We
like the way that when you select a standard-definition version of a program
you’re asked if you want to record the show in HD instead. You can record a
single program or set the box to record an entire series.
Anything you've recorded is managed through
the Recordings part of the interface. This has several filters to help you find
what you want, including HD, A-Z, Most recent, Still to watch and TV series,
which bundles episodes together into folders. You can permanently keep
episodes, too, as recordings are otherwise deleted automatically to make room
for new ones as the hard disk fills up. Finally, you can view planned
recordings, so you can easily manage what's coming up.
Live content
You get roughly the same number of free
channels as you do on Freeview and YouView, although you do get one additional
HD channel, bringing the total to five: BBC One and Two HD, ITV1 HD, Channel 4
HD and NHK World HD. It’s a shame, particularly given the higher bandwidth of
satellite that you don’t get other free-to-air channels, such as ITV2, 3 and 4
in HD, which you can get on Sky and Virgin Media.
Recordings
you’ve made on Freesat are neatly organized
Freesat also misses out on premium
channels, such as sports and movies, which you can subscribe to on Sky and
Virgin Media Still, there’s a good range of channels and, if you don’t watch a
lot of sport, there are plenty of free-to-air channels.
On-demand
Free Time is designed to compete with
YouView, although it currently only has BBC iPlayer and ITV Player built in,
with 40D and Five Player coming soon. You can access each player individually,
although the quality varies: BBC iPlayer is generally very good and easy to use
thanks to its search; ITV Player is a bit clunky and not so easy to navigate.
There’s no option to add other on-demand
services, as you get with YouView, so there’s no Sky Now, for example. There's
also no alternative to services from BT and TalkTalk. As a result, Freesat Free
Time is really more about catch-up for shows that you’ve missed, rather than
additional content.
How to get it
To get Freesat you’ll need to have a
satellite dish installed. An old Sky dish will do the job, as the alignment is
correct. If not, you’ll need to have one installed. This is generally cheaper
than having an aerial installed, as a satellite dish can usually be placed lower,
as it merely needs line-of-sight to the satellite. This means that the fitter
can install it with a standard ladder rather than having to get on the roof.
Each Free Time box needs one cable from the
satellite dish per tuner. If you have a satellite box, such as Sky+ HD, in the
house already, you'll need a dish with four Low Noise Blocks (LNBs). This
restriction is because each tuner has to control the LNB manually in order to
pick up a TV signal.
Free
Time box
Satellite TV doesn’t suffer from the same
interference problems as Freeview, so it’s a great choice if you live in an
area with poor Freeview reception. There are some restrictions, however, and
you may find that in some places, such as conservation areas, you won’t be
allowed to fit a satellite dish.
You’ll need to have your box connected to
the internet, either via an Ethernet cable (you can use HomePlug adaptors if
your router’s not within reach) or, on the Humax HDR-10005, by using a USB
Wi-Fi dongle.
Verdict
Freesat Free Time is a great service if you
want catch-up TV and don’t want to pay for a subscription to a premium service.
Its main problem is that YouView has the same range of channels, but more
catch-up services and more premium on-demand content.
As it stands, the main reason to choose Freesat
over YouView is if you don’t get very good Freeview reception and you can
easily fit a satellite dish. Freesat also makes sense if you don’t have an
aerial but have a disused Sky satellite dish on the front of your house. What
Freesat does is make sure that free-to-air channels can be received by the vast
majority of the population.
