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Freeview "balloons" advert

View the new advert for Freeview

View the new advert for Freeview
Published on by on UK Free TV
Freeview, the service that provides lots of free to watch television and radio channels using a rooftop aerial is promoting their subscription-free offering in the run up to Christmas.

Freeview's new 60-second TV ad, shows a Freeview user collecting helium balloons that carry the logos of the various channels available. It is an uplifting expression of the benefits of Freeview - the best bits of telly, free from contracts.

The soundtrack is "Happy Together" by the Turtles.

Here is the latest promotional clip:





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D
David
Friday 18 November 2011 6:14PM
Seems a piontless advert to me when I thought most of us using digital allready.
Will it be shown on remaining Anolgue only I wonder or other platforms.
Not sure about the statement aerial upgrade might be needed as it helps the cowboy aerial boys sell digital aerials.
Was looking at new TV sets today some labeled Freeview HD and also HD Ready label too!
G
Greebo
Friday 18 November 2011 6:29PM
I wonder what the symbolism behind being on the bus driving past the youtube, iplayer and demand5 balloons is? Are they trying to foreshadow a future feature?
D
David
Friday 18 November 2011 7:16PM
Maybe they will start them after people bought Freeview HD TV sets and boxes for people to find out they need to replace them to get new features.
Ian
Friday 18 November 2011 8:02PM Hinckley
Wouldn’t surprise me in the least.
K
KEVIN GARDINER
Friday 18 November 2011 8:06PM
I have too say that bringing out an advert to promote freeview in the run up to christmas is abit odd. Every household has to have digital tv in some form too be able to watch television.Maybe, they are hoping that people thinking of switching or buying into a contract with sky etc, will perhaps, think twice and go for freeview instead.
It is the intention of the digital consortium to switch off standard freeview sometime between 2015 and 2017, or sooner, depending on the take up of HD set-top boxes or HD intergrated tv's. And after 2017 or sooner, freeview HD 720p will be the uk television standard. with freeview Hd, they intend too launch many interactive features depending on the technology available. However, let's hope that the switchover to HD will be smoother than the switchover from Analogue to digital.It should be, if they transmit the HD channels on the same frequency channels as standard freeview.
Briantist
Friday 18 November 2011 8:43PM
KEVIN GARDINER: Freeview HD is not 720p, it is 1080p. Eventually the SD services will be replaced with HD ones, but not as soon as 2015, probably not until the current lot of hardware has become obsolete, 2020.
Briantist
Friday 18 November 2011 8:44PM
Greebo: My Freeview box has BBC iPlayer, doesn't yours?
Briantist
Friday 18 November 2011 8:46PM
David: The Freeview HD specification ("D Book 7") also includes the ability to connect to IPTV and on-demand internet services.
D
David
Friday 18 November 2011 9:18PM
Yes Brian I have found in the past that TV specifications have things in them but the TV sets and boxes do not. You only find out after purchase when that part of the spec. starts to be used by the broadcasters.
G
Greebo
Friday 18 November 2011 9:34PM
Briantist - the internet connectivity required for iPlayer etc is only part of the Freeview HD spec. I have a Humax Freeview HD box that can do iPlayer via a humax portal app- *not* yet via the red button and BBCi which is apparently the standardised way forward.

I wouldn't think that many standard Freeview devices will be able to do streaming - and none using anything standardised by the Freeview spec?
K
KEVIN GARDINER
Friday 18 November 2011 9:44PM
Thanks for the information Briantist. Am i right in thinking that sport feature programmes are broadcast in 720p? I currently have standard freeview and find the blurring whenever the camera pans or an object or person walks past in the foreground frustrating to watch on a large screen tv . Is there any intention to correct this on SD, or is it going to stay much as it is now?
Briantist
Friday 18 November 2011 9:56PM
KEVIN GARDINER: No, as I said, sport is broadcast in 1080i/p (switches automatically).

It is not possible to "correct" SD, thus HD.
Briantist
Friday 18 November 2011 9:57PM
Greebo: I've got a copy of D-Book 7 Part B. It rather seems to me that you a making assumptions about what it says.
G
Greebo
Friday 18 November 2011 10:15PM
I could well be doing- please correct me. Do you disagree with 'net connectivity being only mandated in Freeview HD? Or that there appeared to be some sort of plan to implement the iPlayer via BBCi on the Freeview HD platform? Or something else?
D
David
Saturday 19 November 2011 12:19PM
Just been ready todays Daily Mail, a big advert from PC World and Currys with 8 TV sets on it.
According to this advert.
Only one has Freeview.
4 are full HD.
1 is HD ready.
3 are 3D
6 can have a Blu-Ray at extra cost.

So it look as if Freeview is a dead word from this advert.
Mark A.
Saturday 19 November 2011 12:46PM Haywards Heath
Dave as advertised. (Unavailable on 80% of freeview transmitters)
Film 4 as advertised. (Unavailable on 80% of freeview transmitters)
"... are free for everyone" except for 8 out of 10 transmitters.
I
ian from notts
Wednesday 23 November 2011 7:45AM Belper
david
all 8 tv's will have freeview as standard.
mark a
what is the percentage of the country covered by the remaining 2 transmitters compared to the 8 you mention ?
D
David
Wednesday 23 November 2011 9:12AM
So the word Freeview then in this case is dead. Today with TV sets having digital built in the word Freeview now is only being applied to boxes if that.
Does full HD mean the 4 TV sets have terrestrial HD built in?
Dave Lindsay
Wednesday 23 November 2011 10:28AM
The reason for these adverts for Freeview is because someone in London has come up with the idea. Bearing in mind that London switches next year, it comes just in time for the proceeding Christmas.
I
ian from notts
Friday 25 November 2011 7:25AM Belper
david
no full hd does not mean it has an hd tuner, it means the tv has the capability to show hd content from another source like bluray or skyhd connected to tv thro hdmi leads or similer
D
David
Friday 25 November 2011 9:10AM
Ian that is HD Ready description.
D
David
Friday 25 November 2011 9:14AM
Dave the advert came up last night and we are in Yorkshire it concluded saying our anologue was going off in April nect year and we need Freeview before then.
We laught as our anologue went off a couple of month back.
I
ian from notts
Monday 28 November 2011 9:13AM Belper
david
as far as i know any tv set or box that can pick up terrestrial hd should say "freeview hd" on it,
freeview is the digital slogan for aerial tuners as opposed to freesat, sky or cable.
i dont ever remember any tv being sold with "analogue" all over it, and its much the same thing.
sorry about the full hd but i think it will be the level of hd its capable of showing from another source, ie- dvi, component or hdmi ? from 720i to 1080p ?
not 100% sure on the figures as hd hasn't really excited me
K
KEVIN GARDINER
Monday 5 December 2011 4:02PM
Briantist: I've done one of my regular set top box re-scans, and today the Channel 5 + 1 logo has appeared on the freeview channel line-up, on channel 10. It will be broadcasting on the SDN multiplex, along with it's sister channels 5* and 5USA. For channel 5 + 1 to be able to be broadcast would mean that a channel already on the multiplex will have to go to make room for it surely?
A few weeks back, Arqiva changed the parameters of the com6 Arqiva multiplex to enable it to gain an extra 3mb of capacity to broadcast an extra tv channel, thus taking the maximum channels broadcast on a multiplex at one given time to 9. Brain, do you know whether it's the intention of Arqiva to change the parameters of all the commercial multiplexes to 27.1 MBS? it so, that would mean 36 SD channels up from the current 32. Making 44 SD channels in all counting the BBC ones.
Along with channel 5+1, i've noticed that they've also added Top up Anytime 5 on channel 44 and 6 on channel 311 to the same multiplex.
J
John Ledbury
Friday 16 December 2011 6:54PM Wisbech
Considering the atrocious reception I get from FV I would cheerfully throttle the clowns responsible for this advert
G
Greebo
Friday 16 December 2011 7:38PM
@John Ledbury - which transmitter are you using, guessing a central postcode (don't give yours) the centre of Wisbech should get a decent signal from Belmont: www.digitaluk.co.uk link icon Postcode Checker - Trade View
J
john ledbury
Friday 23 December 2011 12:00PM
@Greebo - hi n thanks. PE13 - I point at Belmont and had great recep on all stations inc Film4(so it's not the aerial at fault) until the retune in summer 2011 when lots of channels disappeared. I've been retuning and defaulting and faffing around ever since. I get some stations from E Yorks and mids, some from E Mids and some from Cambs n Beds. I seem to get best from E Mids (even there no Film4, but at least there's SkyNews and Food etc) and was contemplating turning the aerial. But if I do will FV muck it all up again in a few months' time?
W
Wendy Ford
Saturday 31 December 2011 7:22PM
I would like to know where the ad was shot as looks like a lovely place (Defo not London).
J
john voisey
Wednesday 11 January 2012 9:12AM Newport
I have to say I find that freeview advert intensely irritating.

My postcode in NP19 7 is in a velley by the river usk. Hills block our line of sight to the mendip and wenvoe transmitters that would need a pole tyhe size of a power pylon to overcome. The BBC told me our "official" transmitter is "Mynydd Machen"

Years ago a local company that I actually used to trust for repairs offered to erect digital aerials and for well over a hundred quid stuck something on my roof that frankly from the size of it ought to receive the cameras on the Apollo LEM at Tranquility Base but what this shyster did NOT tell us at the time was there was no digital signal from that mast, and would not be until the analogue system shut down.

This advert rubs in my face daily the fact that I have been conned by that shyster who I hope dies horribly of some vile disease.

However, from visiting your site this morning I know at last that (and I thank you for being so open with your information) that there is NO WAY I will ever get half the channels that advert promises because the only transmitter I can see does not, will not, and never will, broadcast them.

That does not help the situation of course, but at least I now KNOW I've been lied to for years by almost everyone I've asked about this issue.
D
David
Wednesday 11 January 2012 10:17AM
There should be a campaign that all transmitter should be full transmitters, people should not just be allowing this to continue.
We need people power.
It is unthinkable that the Raoyal Mail might say because you live there we will only deliver to you half the letters posted.
Or BT to say you can only recieve calls from half the country.
Dave Lindsay
Wednesday 11 January 2012 11:41AM
David: Royal Mail and BT have universal service obligations whereas their competitors do not. The BBC, ITV1 and Channel 4 as "Public Service Broadcasters" have a similar obligation, whereas their competitors do not.

In *some* cases it is possible to have a second aerial or replacement aerial on another transmitter that broadcasts these services. In some of those cases the signal might not be as good as that from the other "Freeview Light" transmitter and hence it might require a larger, more expensive, aerial installation. In those cases, the viewer's choice might be the status quo or spend money to get all the channels (this is if they realise that they might have such a choice).

Freesat is often used as an alternative and might be worth looking at.
Dave Lindsay
Wednesday 11 January 2012 12:08PM
john voisey: I sympathise with your predicament. The commercial operators were invited to broadcast from more sites and declined.

The BBC is quite correct. Mynydd Machen broadcasts the BBC, ITV1 and Channel 4 which have a universal service obligation. Years ago it will have been determined that Wenvoe doesn't provide a sufficient signal to your area and that is why Mynydd Machen was installed.

It is the commercial broadcasters that have decided not to bother with Mynydd Machen and that is hardly the BBC's fault.

As I said to David (above), in some cases viewers might be able to receive from another transmitter, usually with the need for a larger and more expensive aerial installation. This would be his or her decision whether to "consume" the service.

I had a look at your close on Google Streetview. Number 18 has opted for such a solution; a larger aerial mounted higher up pointing at Wenvoe. It is obvious that this aerial is on Wenvoe because it is horizontally polarised (aerials on Mynydd Machen are vertical). The difference in the direction of the two transmitters is about 35 degrees. Look around and see what your other neighbours have done. What can and can't be done might vary from house to house. Only a professional could give you a definitive answer.

Be aware that Wenvoe's commercial multiplexes (the ones you can't get) are at a power of 50kW whereas the Public Service Broadcaster (PSB) ones (the ones that Mynydd Machen transmits) are at 100kW. So the commercials from Wenvoe will be weaker and this will mean that in some places they will be too weak but the PSBs will be receivable. Thus, any solution (if possible) that uses Wenvoe must be sensitive enough to pick up the weaker commercial channels or it's a waste of time.
C
Chris Field
Thursday 12 January 2012 5:40PM Usk
Is anyone else having trouble with the Usk transmitter. Since retuning TV after the last Mendip retune (Sept 2011), TV channels from Usk transmitter cannot be acquired and the only Welsh programmes come weakly from Wenvoe, despite being a matter of 300m from Usk Tx. Problem seems to be that Mendip SDN and ArqB now fall on top of Usk BBCA and D3&4. Was all fine before Sept 2011! Coverage map of Mendip shows Usk as a weak signal area but it delivers a solid signal on BBCA and D3&4.
Briantist
Wednesday 18 January 2012 7:32AM
Chris Field: Please see Digital Region Overlap | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice .
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