# Freeview and Sky FTV channel duplication



## TivoTown (Mar 21, 2003)

I have a Tivo with Freeview via RF and Free-To-View Sky via Scart.

I find working out which channels to put in 'Channels I receive' very time consuming and confusing. As time has gone by I have also noticed that most of the good stuff on Freeview is now appearing on Sky FTV.

Anyone know what is on Freeview that isn't available on Sky FTV ?

Is there a spreadsheet somewhere listing all current UK channels, their platform and their FTV/FTA status?

Could the removal of Sky duplicated channels in Freeview 'Channels I receive' be automated somehow ?


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## TCM2007 (Dec 25, 2006)

Cue Pete...


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## mikerr (Jun 2, 2005)

I'm not pete (no,really!), but:

Here's a list of FTA channels

FTV i.e. ex-contract or freesat sky card required + sky box:
C4 ,five, five Life, five US

On freeview but not on satellite for free:

The Hits, TMF, Sky Sports News, UK History, UK Bright Ideas, FTN, E4 & ABC1


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## TivoTown (Mar 21, 2003)

Thanks Mike. That is very useful !

Looking more closely, it's mostly there but I think both lists are a bit out of date.

I think that's my main gripe really - it's very difficult to know what the current status is.


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## Pete77 (Aug 1, 2006)

mikerr said:


> Here's a list of FTA channels
> 
> FTV i.e. ex-contract or freesat sky card required + sky box:
> C4 ,five, five Life, five US
> ...


That list is significantly out of date and/or just plain wrong. As its not a proper Wikipedia page I can't edit it.

Most notably they omit to mention Sky Three from their list of channels you can't get on a Sky box without a working FTV Sky viewing card and Five Life has now become FIVER. Also you still can't get normal regionalised (ads are regionalised) C4 on a Sky box without an FTV viewing card but there is a non regionalised FTA version of C4 available on BBC/ITV Freesat. Or rather you can get that FTA version of C4 on a Sky box only the hard way under Add Channels (so its not in the Sky EPG and also therefore has no channel number) but there is no point in doing this so long as you have a working viewing card for FTV channels on a Sky box.

UK Bright Ideas has been replaced by Dave on Freeview, which also takes away the evening viewing time of UK History on Freeview. ABC1 has also vanished - I think to allow ITV4 to become 24/7. FTN has now become Virgin 1 on Freeview and on satellite.

However I don't see why Tivo Town actually finds all this so difficult. There have always been less than 10 channels you can get on Freeview that are not available on a Sky box with an FTV card. You just have to adjust the list in Channels I Receive on your Tivo as things change, but there are far less changes than there are in the total Sky FTA channel list, which usually has loads of changes every single month.

Surely TivoTown should just feel fortunate to be able to fill in the odd missing Freeview FTA channel not on Sky Freesat via Tivo's ability to support Sky Freesat and Freeview boxes at the same time. Eventually I would expect probably all of the Freeview channels to also be FTA on satellite if BBC/ITV Freesat is successful. That's because those channels would then not want to lose the potential advertisement revenue from all those extra Freesatters.


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## TivoTown (Mar 21, 2003)

Lol.


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## TCM2007 (Dec 25, 2006)

I'm guessing you've not seen CIR when it's configured for Sky then Pete. It takes 10 minutes just to page down through the list! Keeping it up to date is a right pain.


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## Pete77 (Aug 1, 2006)

TCM2007 said:


> I'm guessing you've not seen CIR when it's configured for Sky then Pete. It takes 10 minutes just to page down through the list! Keeping it up to date is a right pain.


Wrong. I have a joint Sky Freesat and Freeview Tivo setup just like TivoTown. That is a larger Channels I Receive list than just the Sky list alone as it has the 80 or so Freeview radio, tv and interactive channel numbers added to it.

When I am notified of any new Sky channels by a Tivo Message I always go to the Sky box and see if they are FTA/FTV if they are numbered below 599. If they are at channel 600 or above I usually don't bother as they are sure to be shopping or aimed at the Asian language market. Only if the channel is FTA and I want to receive it do I then go to Channels I Receive to add it. If you will recall changes of channel numbers and deletions from the list for channels you have already set up are handled automatically by Tivo.

TivoWebPlus 2.1 also has a module that lets you alter Channels I Receive directly in TivoWebPlus in one fell swoop without going to Channels I Receive at all.

It also doesn't take 10 minutes to go through the whole Channels I Receive list in Sky. It takes about 2 or 3 minutes. But then never let the facts get in the way of a good story TCM.


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## TCM2007 (Dec 25, 2006)

Sigh. 

I found it a complete PIA when I dropped off the full package. You have just described the process, and it is tediuus. If you enjoy maintaining these things then great, whatever floats your boat. But I sympathise with the OP.


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## Pete77 (Aug 1, 2006)

TCM2007 said:


> I found it a complete PIA when I dropped off the full package. You have just described the process, and it is tediuus. If you enjoy maintaining these things then great, whatever floats your boat. But I sympathise with the OP.


If you simply had every Sky channel going always in your Channels I Receive when you had the full package then I can only assume you never used Wishlists given that these then pick up endless repeat showings on the likes of UK Gold and UK People etc. I would never have such channels in my Channels I Receive, even if I paid for the full Sky lineup, for that very reason.


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