Advice Needed Is there any point in having a TV aerial installed?

D

daro2096

Regular Member
My Satellite Setup
No setup at present
My Location
Consett, Durham
What with the possible switch off of Freeview in a few years is there any point in spending money on an installer installing a TV aerial?
 
Satellite TV is the future for now.
 
2030. Earliest digital terrestrial TV/Freeview closure date; If WRC-23 decides Freeview frequencies should be cleared for mobile services, then digital terrestrial television services will need to wind down from 2030.
 
As long as there is advertising revenue out there to be made, Ku band will be around for a while yet.

In terms of an aerial though, how much have you been quoted and how far is the nearest transmitter ?
 
In most parts of Britain, FTA satellite from 28 degrees east (e.g. Freesat) is able to deliver overall more broadcast content than DTT/Freeview, and more in HD too - there's no more room for Freeview to launch HD channels unless at least one more of the current DVB-T multiplexes converts to DVB-T2 and there appears to be no sign of that forthcoming - the time to have done that would have been around the 700 MHz clearances, but it looks like outside of the current HD channels ( and the BBC SD channels that have an otherwise reasonable bit rate) Freeview is destined to be a platform for low-bit rate SD channels for the foreseeable future. AFAIK the only service broadcasting on Freeview that isn't available on satellite at 28E is WildEarth TV.

In saying that, I still have terrestrial aerials as I need them to receive DTT services from the Republic of Ireland (Saorview) as they carry services that aren't FTA on 28E, including RTÉ 1 & 2 in HD as well as the Virgin Media stations. I could use Saorsat on the Ka Band at 9E, but it doesn't carry the Virgin Media channels (useful for European club & international soccer - yes they're only SD on Saorview but they're better than nothing) nor TG4 in HD either.

Ultimately your needs may very - it might depend on factors like how easy is it to run another cable or two from a multi-output LNB to a receiver in a bedroom, study etc. if you're not using a multiswitch, how easy terrestrial signals are to pick up locally (can you get away with a set-top style aerial in the room?) and so on.

I suppose the only guess is how long broadcasts on each platform, both satellite & terrestrial, are likely to continue? Terrestrial has two iff-ish dates of 2030 (currently the minimum guarantee under ITU regs, to be discussed at a WRC at Dubai next month if I'm right) & 2034 (when the licences are due to expire for the six national multiplexes). For satellite, the big problem is the requirement of a UK spot beam to allow for the main UK broadcasters like the BBC, ITV etc. to keep broadcasts FTA. Astra 2G is the youngest satellite up there & it's expected mission lifetime is scheduled to end around 2030, but of course this will be dependant or several factors inc. the health of the birds in orbit, wherever another satellite (SES or otherwise) could be brought in to fill in, wherever we might get new direct replacement birds (would seem unlikely at this point, especially if Sky ultimately decide to end DVB-S(2) services by 2030), or that an MEV might be put into place that could keep one or more of Astra 2E/F/G going for a few more years beyond their expected life.
 
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Fisty McB said:
In most parts of Britain, FTA satellite from 28 degrees east (e.g. Freesat) is able to deliver overall more broadcast content than DTT/Freeview, and more in HD too - there's no more room for Freeview to launch HD channels unless at least one more of the current DVB-T multiplexes converts to DVB-T2 and there appears to be no sign of that forthcoming - the time to have done that would have been around the 700 MHz clearances, but it looks like outside of the current HD channels ( and the BBC SD channels that have an otherwise reasonable bit rate) Freeview is destined to be a platform for low-bit rate SD channels for the foreseeable future. AFAIK the only service broadcasting on Freeview that isn't available on satellite at 28E is WildEarth TV.

In saying that, I still have terrestrial aerials as I need them to receive DTT services from the Republic of Ireland (Saorview) as they carry services that aren't FTA on 28E, including RTÉ 1 & 2 in HD as well as the Virgin Media stations. I could use Saorsat on the Ka Band at 9E, but it doesn't carry the Virgin Media channels (useful for European club & international soccer - yes they're only SD on Saorview but they're better than nothing) nor TG4 in HD either.

Ultimately your needs may very - it might depend on factors like how easy is it to run another cable or two from a multi-output LNB to a receiver in a bedroom, study etc. if you're not using a multiswitch, how easy terrestrial signals are to pick up locally (can you get away with a set-top style aerial in the room?) and so on.

I suppose the only guess is how long broadcasts on each platform, both satellite & terrestrial, are likely to continue? Terrestrial has two iff-ish dates of 2030 (currently the minimum guarantee under ITU regs, to be discussed at a WRC at Dubai next month if I'm right) & 2034 (when the licences are due to expire for the six national multiplexes). For satellite, the big problem is the requirement of a UK spot beam to allow for the main UK broadcasters like the BBC, ITV etc. to keep broadcasts FTA. Astra 2G is the youngest satellite up there & it's expected mission lifetime is scheduled to end around 2030, but of course this will be dependant or several factors inc. the health of the birds in orbit, wherever another satellite (SES or otherwise) could be brought in to fill in, wherever we might get new direct replacement birds (would seem unlikely at this point, especially if Sky ultimately decide to end DVB-S(2) services by 2030), or that an MEV might be put into place that could keep one or more of Astra 2E/F/G going for a few more years beyond their expected life.
Click to expand...

And to clarify, Freesat is not the only FTA service on Astra 2. Many TVs will allow additional content to be added to the EPG outside the Freesat listings, quite often accessed by scrolling down below BBC1 (channel 1)
 
IPTV/streaming, Satellite. I would say there's still value in having terrestrial television for now at least.
 
Apart from 1 week when we moved here to Kelso in 2017 we have been exclusively satellite with no connected aerials since DSO in 2008. Internet delivered tv isnt really an option seeing as we are still limping along at 6-7meg broadband speeds

That one week blip was because it took me a few days to get a Sky dish lashed up - being forced to watch the dismal channel line up on Freeview (we got half the service) drove me to spend a cold wet afternoon getting SOMETHING sorted at the first opportunity!
 
I havent had a tv aerial for at least 25 years, no pay tv here either ! fta is the fallback position and i am using the internet more.
 
purplemarina said:
I havent had a tv aerial for at least 25 years, no pay tv here either ! fta is the fallback position and i am using the internet more.
Click to expand...
Which introduces the other cost of fitting an aerial, the 'license' of which Capita take - the last time I checked, around 3% to cover 'costs' to keep their shareholders happy.

The BBC has renewed its controversial licence fee enforcement deal with the outsourcer Capita amid a squeeze on the broadcaster’s finances.

The contract, scheduled to last until the end of the BBC’s current Royal Charter in 2027, is worth £456m to Capita, making it one of the company’s most valuable.

It comes as Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries casts doubt over the future of the licence fee, following criticism of the pursuit of pensioners through the courts over non-payment. Last month she froze the fee for two years, saying it would help households cope with rising inflation.

Following the BBC's decision to end licence fee exemptions for the over-75s, an estimated 260,000 pensioners at risk of enforcement actions from Capita.

Previous statistics have shown Capita receiving around £60m a year for collecting the licence fee, with fees increasing when over-75's were asked to pay in 2020.

www.telegraph.co.uk

BBC renews licence fee collection contract with Capita

The contract to enforce the fee is worth £456m to Capita
www.telegraph.co.uk www.telegraph.co.uk

Include the tax on top of the install to keep live tv within the property, or consider catch up.
 
I'm still fitting and updating aerials, ip tv is still out of reach for a lot of elderly people and still will be in 2030, plus they prefer linear TV. Satellite TV is not for everyone and not everyoen want's HD, plus most TVs still sport a Freeview tuner. It's very often the case that if you are in reach of a transmitter, a loft aerial may be feasible, I do quite a few.
 
daro2096 said:
What with the possible switch off of Freeview in a few years is there any point in spending money on an installer installing a TV aerial?
Click to expand...

you can get decent indoor aerials now - i certainly wouldnt bother, in fact i removed our (inherited) loft aerial a few weeks ago when tidying up the space, as it was a proper trip hazard.

our lounge and kitchen downstairs rooms are fed by a "sky" dish \ quad LNB - bedroom TVs have indoor freeview aerials which sit nicely behind them. iplayer and itvx are mainly used on those anyway.
 
rolfw said:
I'm still fitting and updating aerials, ip tv is still out of reach for a lot of elderly people and still will be in 2030, plus they prefer linear TV. Satellite TV is not for everyone and not everyoen want's HD, plus most TVs still sport a Freeview tuner. It's very often the case that if you are in reach of a transmitter, a loft aerial may be feasible, I do quite a few.
Click to expand...
Same as Rolf. We are still fitting, servicing and updating aerials to old and new builds. Surprisingly the office phone was off the hook with the recent high pressure /reception issues the country faced a few weeks ago, meaning there are many still using terrestrial TV via a rooftop aerial.
 
We still have a communial aerial system shared between 100 properties,
I use it myself occasionally when I cannot be bothered to switch to the Satellite Boxes,

We still get ITV-1-HD Meridian Hampshire version :eek: in West Essex via this system strange from the Sandy Heath Transmitter o_O ITV-1-SD is Anglia West
 
Manikm909 said:
you can get decent indoor aerials now - i certainly wouldnt bother, in fact i removed our (inherited) loft aerial a few weeks ago when tidying up the space, as it was a proper trip hazard.

our lounge and kitchen downstairs rooms are fed by a "sky" dish \ quad LNB - bedroom TVs have indoor freeview aerials which sit nicely behind them. iplayer and itvx are mainly used on those anyway.
Click to expand...
Indoor aerials are not much better than they were 20 years ago, you have to be in a pretty good reception area and at the right side of the house for them to work effectively.
 
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