On the 3rd of September, free-to-view channel Virgin 1 gets a new name… Channel One.

The reason for the name change is that Sky recently acquired a number of Virgin Media-owned TV channels, including Living, Bravo and Virgin 1. Obviously, they have to lose their Virginity, and just as Virgin Radio became “Absolute Radio” when it was sold, Sky’s had to find a new name.

Channel One, under Sky’s ownership, will continue to run a similar mix of mostly US shows. One new addition to the programme lineup, is the recent re-make of the classic hamster-eating alien saga that was “V”. It’s already been shown on the subscription service SyFy, but will soon be free-to-air on Channel One too.

One of the affected boxes from Inverto

A number of Freeview set-top boxes have lost their EPG, the Electronic Programme Guide.

Some set-top boxes made by DigiFusion, Inverto, Thomson and Sony get their programme information from a service provided by InView. Apparently their contract has come to an end and won’t be renewed – this means that users of these set-top boxes now no longer get their 14 day programme guide, causing major problems making advance recordings.

Here’s our list of the affected boxes:

• Digifusion: Digifusion FRT101 , Digifusion FVRT100 , Digifusion FVRT145 , Digifusion FVRT150 , Digifusion FVRT200 and Digifusion FVRT400
• Inverto: Inverto IDL-7000T and Inverto IDL-7000M
• Thomson DHD4000
• Sony SVR-S500

InView broadcast the programme guide service over-the-air on the Freeview ‘D’ Multiplex, known as 4TV, but InView is now no longer broadcasting this service.

According to the DTG, boxes that conform to the DTT standard should “fall back” to the standard 7-day Freeview  programme guide, but this does not appear to be the case for the boxes affected.

The advice appears to be to make do with the “Now and Next” feature – which is of little use if you want to record something on your Freeview PVR that’s being broadcast in the next 14 days.

Affected by this issue? You might want to look at the Re-instate the 4TV EPG Petition,which has over 750 signatures at the time of writing.

Looking for a replacement Freeview hard-disk recorder? See our Freeview PVR page

We’d also love to hear from you if you’ve lost your Freeview programme guide as a result. Please comment below

Placeholders for Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 2 have been added to the Freeview channel lineup today, the 5th of July 2010.

The channels, currently labelled BT 1 and BT 2, are placeholders for the Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 2 service to be offered by BT Vision from August 2010. They can be found on channels 41 and 42 respectively.

As a reminder, with BT Vision, you will be able to get Sky Sports from £6.99 a month, as part of their ongoing campaign to offer cheaper sports than Sky. Sports service ESPN is also on BT Vision (free on some packages)

For full information on BT Vision and Sky Sports, go to BT Vision’s Sports site.

If you’re after details of how BT Vision works, try our new 15 minute podcast review of BT Vision – Listen to our BT Vision Review

More on BT Vision at btvision.bt.com

A number of small changes were made on the 1st of July 2010 affecting Freeview channels. Here is a summary:

• Dave Ja Vu and Big Deal have changed multiplex (rescan needed).
• Russia Today (channel 85) is now 24 hours a day
• Al Jazeera English has appeared on channel 89
• TV News and TV News 2 have been removed
• The DirectGov text service on channel 106 has been removed

For the revised list, please see our Freeview Channel List

If any of these channels are of interest, you’ll need to perform a channel recan to get the changes.

106 DirectGov – Mux 2 (D3&4) Also in Freeview Lite areas. This service has now been discontinued. Government advice is still available via the direct.gov website.
> DirectGov Discussion Thread

We’ve just had reports that Sky is planning to pull Sky Sports News from the Freeview lineup. The sports channel will be replaced by a “+1″ timeshifted version of the Sky Three channel.

The removal of Sky Sports News from Freeview is expected to occur later in 2010 (exact date not confirmed)

It seems that many owners of the new Philips DTR5520 Freeview HD boxes are having trouble.

Users are reporting box lock-ups and freezes, as well as unexpected pop-ups appearing when in the EPG. Message appear indicating that recordings aren’t possible, even though this model is a simple zapped not a hard-disk recorder.

We’re guessing that the software used in the box is shared with the new Philips Freeview PVR, the Philips HDT8520, and in Philips’ rush to get the boxes into market, a few glitches appear to have crept in.

Having problems with your Philips HD box?

We understand that Philips have got a fix for at least some of the problems. They have booked a slot with the DTG for an over-the-air update to the HDT8520 – This is scheduled to be transmitted to boxes from Wednesday 2nd June to Friday the 4th of June 2010. There’s also a software fix that you can install via USB at the Philips Tech Support site.

The joys of early adoption…

For those looking for the first Freeview HD PVR, the wait is over. The Philips  HDT8520 is now available.

Priced just under £300, the HDT8520 boasts one-touch record, series link, twin HD tuners, 8-day EPG and ultra-quiet operation.

The 500GB hard drive will allow for up to 125 hours of HD recording, or 250 hours of standard definition TV

More details, and a summary of stockists: Philips HDT8520 Information

Fans of Humax Freeview boxes and recorders will be pleased to know that the wait for a Freeview HD recorder is about to be over.

We’ve today heard details of the new HD recorder, to be called the Humax HDR-Fox T2.

The box will reportedly be priced at £349, and won’t be available until July 2010 – too late for the World Cup.

The HDR Fox T2 will have two DVB-T2 tuners and a 500GB hard disk – for up to 125 hours of HD.

The box will also have an Ethernet socket, for online services such as BBC iPlayer, will support streaming media, and can play certain media types via USB. It will have an 8 day EPG.

More details will be added to our Humax HDR Fox T2 page as soon as we get them…

TV services in parts of Oxfordshire are off-air today (13 May 2010) as a result of a serious transmitter fire at the Beckley transmitter site.

Beckley serves Oxford, Banbury, Bicester, Abingdon, Didcot, Witney and parts of Aylesbury. The transmitter broadcasts Freeview and analogue TV, as well as some radio services. It’s estimated that 400,000 viewers may be affected. Hopefully, services should be up-and-running again on Friday.

Freeview HD viewers in Wales will find a new channel on Freeview channel 53. S4C HD launched today, 30th April 2010 from Welsh Freeview transmitters.

More on Freeview HD on our Freeview HD site.

In the coming months, you’ll be able to get premium Sky content on Freeview HD boxes.

Sadly, this doesn’t mean that a bunch of Sky channels will actually be coming to Freeview (the Sky “Picnic” proposal), Sky content will be delivered to Freeview HD set-top boxes made by Humax in the form of Sky’s online service, Sky Player.

The Sky Player service is already available on the PC and Mac, and Sky’s keen to expand this service to games consoles and Internet-enabled TV hardware. Deals are already in place with Fetch TV and the 3View box, but the new deal between Sky and the leading Freeview HD box manufacturer Humax is a great step forward for getting Sky’s premium channels out there. It’s likely that the Humax Fox T2 Freeview HD box (pictured) will be getting a software update in the next couple of months to enable it to access Sky Player

Griff Parry from Sky says: “In providing both new and existing customers with more choice and control over how they access Sky content, we continue to harness secure and high-quality distribution platforms like Humax. We know that many Sky homes also have Freeview in other rooms, and this provides a great way for them to enjoy Sky away from their Sky box. And for new customers, particularly those in Freeview homes, it provides an innovative new access point to Sky’s high-quality pay TV content.”

Sky Player content is delivered via Broadband, and you’ll need to connect your Humax Freeview HD box to your Broadband router to get Sky’s content on your telly.

The service is set to become available “within months”, according to Sky.

ITV’s HD channel, ITV 1 HD, is finally available on Sky Digital and Virgin Media.

ITV HD launched in June 2008 as an exclusive to Freesat, but now is available to a wider audience.

The ITV 1 HD  channel has recently become available on Freeview HD, and as of the 2nd of April 2010, ITV 1 HD is available on Channel 178 of Sky, and on channel 113 on Virgin Media.

ITV 1 HD also gets its own channel on Freesat, channel 119, after previously only being available via the Freesat red button.

The channel Men and Motors will cease to broadcast, to free up resources for the ITV1 HD channel.

ITV 1 HD in Scotland and Northern Ireland: ITV does not have a licence to broadcast in Scotland or Northern Ireland -The companies STV and UTV hold the Channel 3 licences for those regions (respectively). STV will apparently be launching their own HD channel in the future. As a result, ITV 1 HD is not available on Freesat Channel 118 in Scotland and Northern Ireland. The workaround appears to be to put in an English postcode into your Freesat receiver (postcodes decide which regions you’ll be assigned). You’ll lose regional programmes, but gain ITV 1 HD.

Channel 4 has today, 30th March 2010, launched its HD service on Freeview.

If you’re in a Freeview HD coverage area, and have a Freeview HD receiver, then you’ll find Channel 4 HD on Freeview channel 52.

Channel 4 HD is also available on Sky and Virgin’s HD service.

Mainstream broadcaster Five was set to launch its HD channel on the Freeview platform later this year, but it’s just been announced that the regulators have withdrawn Five’s Freeview HD licence.

It seems that Ofcom has been chasing Five for information about their plans and schedules for the Five HD service, and these have not been forthcoming, a clear indication that Five is not in a position to launch an HD offering any time soon.

It appears that the HD licence now reverts to the BBC. In 2011, another Freeview HD slot will be up for offer, so in theory if Five can get it together, they could apply for a licence then, and start broadcasting in 2012.

A quick heads-up to anyone looking to buy a Freeview HD box. You could opt for the Humax Fox T2, priced £150 – or save yourself £50 and go for a Bush Freeview HD box.

This Freeview HD box is available for £99.99 on pre-order, with estimated availability on 31st March 2010

Full details: Bush DVB680 at Argos

Two new Freeview HD TV sets have gone on sale today at Comet.co.uk. The Sony KDL32EX403U (32 inch) and Sony KDL40EX403U (40 inch) Freeview HD sets use the Bravia engine for top picture quality, support 7 day EPG, have a built-in Freeview HD receiver and support “full” 1080p HD resolution.

Available today for a reasonable £549 (32 inch) or £749 (40 inch) from www.comet.co.uk/shopcomet

More information: Freeview HD Advice

A few days ago, we announced the arrival of the first Freeview HD set-top box, the Humax HD Fox-T2. Mere days later, we’re able to announce the first integrated TV with Freeview HD.

The Panasonic TX-P42G20B has built-in Freeview HD and Freesat HD receivers. It’s a 42 inch plasma TV that goes up to 1080p resolution, with a refresh rate of 600Hz. An optional wirelss dongle offers Internet access, and there’s an SD card to let you view photos and videos.

The Panasonic TX-P42G20B Freeview HD TV set

The Panasonic TX-P42G20B is available now in the UK from Comet.co.uk

For a limited time, get £60 by using the code AW60 at the online checkout. Code expires 27 Feb 2010.

The race to get the first Freeview HD receiver to the UK market has been won – by Humax.

The Humax HD Fox T2 is now available, offering subscription-free access to BBC HD and ITV 1 HD.

The Humax HD Fox T2 has an 8-day EPG, HDMI socket, 2 x SCARTs, Dolby Digital Audio Output plus Subtitle and Audio Description support. It has a USB socket for playback of xVid, MP3 and JPG from a conected memory stick or external drive. It supports contents sharing with other devices such as PC and NAS through Home Networking, and has an Ethernet port for connection to online services as BBC iPlayer (coming soon).

It’s important to note that at the moment, Freeview HD is only available in the Granada and London regions.

The Humax HD Fox T2 is on sale now, but hard to find. We’ve listed online suppliers and the best prices on our dedicated Fox T2 page.

More details, photos and specs at http://www.radioandtelly.co.uk/humaxhdfoxt2.html

UPDATE: Our podcast team has released an audio file of their first impressions. Take a listen at Humax HD Fox T2 First Impressions

Freeview has just launched its first iPhone app, offering access to TV listings for over 50 Freeview channels, including BBC HD and ITV 1 HD.

The Freeview HD App includes a “top ten channel list”, a powerful search option, the ability to re-order your channels, and access to Freeview’s Twitter feed for news and programme recommendations.

When you view a listing, you’re also presented with “if you like this, we also recommend”, which throws up some rather interesting results on occasion!

An odd choice to call it “Freeview HD” when Freeview HD‘s availability is currently so limited, but this may mark the start of Freeview’s big push to increase HD awareness.

All-in-all, a well designed and powerful little app, great for iPhone and iPod Touch wielding Freeview fans.

“Freeview HD for iPhone” is available for free from the iTunes App Store

Our podcast lads have been hard at work again, and a new audio podcast has just been released.

Catch up on the latest with Freeview HD, the new BT Vision box, more HD channels, some Freesat updates, plus your latest email feedback.

Listen online or download the update from www.frequencycast.co.uk/update.html. Or, if you have an iPod or iPhone, get us from the FrequencyCast Podcast page on iTunes.