Freeview digital to switch off eventually?

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RustyViewer

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#325263 1-Aug-2026 21:32

It appears now in the UK that they are considering switching off Freeview digital and going to streaming only, though I think it's a few years away. Will it happen here one day?
https://inews.co.uk/news/how-online-only-tv-will-kill-the-uks-favourite-cult-channel-4678666

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BDFL - Memuneh
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#3516009 2-Aug-2026 01:07

Freeview will adopt DVB-I, but no word on retiring terrestrial or satellite yet.

There's a discussion here: https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=83&topicid=324347

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Behodar

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#3516013 2-Aug-2026 08:13

Well, logically, yes, it will be turned off eventually, but whether that's in ten years or five hundred years remains to be seen. The analogue TV network ran for about fifty years, I believe, so turning digital off in half that seems a bit hurried to me, especially given that there are still areas without fibre. Plus Freeview is free (apart from hardware and electricity costs), whereas streaming requires a monthly payment to an ISP.

But I have no insider knowledge :)

geek3001

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#3516019 2-Aug-2026 09:00

Putting my cynic's hat on, given the financial pressure FTA channels face to bring in advertising income, and their advertisers desire to ensure that viewers actually watch the advertiser's ads and then buy the advertiser's products, I would say the move to streaming-only may happen quite quickly. Advertisers do not want to spend money on ads if no one is watching them and they don't convert to sales.

At present using certain hardware we can record and watch programs later, and FFWD / skip past the ads if we wish. We have been doing that since VHS tape recording was a thing. Advertisers do not like this.

With streaming only, we will likely be forced to watch ads unless we walk out of the room, as FFWD / skip functionality does not seem to be offered too much with present streaming platforms. Advertisers will like us having to watch their ads.

PolicyGuy

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#3516021 2-Aug-2026 09:12

geek3001:

With streaming only, we will likely be forced to watch ads unless we walk out of the room, as FFWD / skip functionality does not seem to be offered too much with present streaming platforms. Advertisers will us having to watch their ads.

Yes!

This is why I won't watch anything on TVNZ+ - I just can't stand the inescapable adverts

richms

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#3516024 2-Aug-2026 09:59

I can see that there would be a reduction in available channels for it and we will probably see some consolidation of broadcasts into fewer muxes as things are removed from it and made streaming only. The frequencies are much better used for 5G and whatever comes after that IMO.

There still needs to be some form of FTA service, but I don't see why that couldn't be a low quality stream on a single mux (like the ones we have now) for everyone with it kicking you over to the decent quality 4k or whatever one if you have internet to the device. This is apparently something supported on that new DVB standard they are talking about. Broadcasters are not keen on that because they want their own apps on devices so they control the whole experience tho.

What ever happened to band 3 after analog switch off? It seems totally clear as I have a couple of modulators on it sending to my portable TVs and there is zero interference from anything else that I have noticed. I cant use the UHF band for that because even if I send over a wire to the RF input the noise is too high and the picture is bad.

Richard rich.ms

DjShadow

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#3516040 2-Aug-2026 11:48

In my mind they need to make the streaming channels superior to DVB-T and S first

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zaptor

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#3516056 2-Aug-2026 13:58

DjShadow:

In my mind they need to make the streaming channels superior to DVB-T and S first

Unfortunately, I doubt the issue of like-for-like quality/experience is really much of a priority nowadays - well, not to those in corporate board rooms.

I suspect they'll keep the terrestrial and satellite systems during a "transition" period. Then discover just how "different" a point-to-point (IP based) vs genuine broadcast (radio) transmission system operates at scale - especially with live content.

Even with pre-recorded stuff, one is still stuck with peer-to-peer communication. But, I think people just put up with low-bit rate transcoding and accept it. Just the way things are these days.

Would not surprise me, if even after encountering significant quality issues with DVB-I that Freeview still drops DVB-T/DVB-S.

gzt

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#3516141 2-Aug-2026 16:17

For emergency communication AM radio is simply not available in many households. Imo TV broadcast freeview will be needed until LEO satellite bandwidth is virtually free and easy to utilize for emergency 'broadcast' purposes.

DjShadow

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#3516142 2-Aug-2026 16:42

If they can make streaming qual good then I’d be happy to have both the Sky dish and UHF antenna removed from my place and do internet stream only, but feel they will be there for a while yet.

RustyViewer

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#3516184 2-Aug-2026 22:17

As regards avoiding ads on streaming, I've stumbled across one way sort of.

I have an Amazon Firestick which can be plugged into a TV HMDI slot. When the ads start, if you switch to say live TV or another HMDI slot with a device then the ads pause, so they can't be avoided that way. However, I plugged my firestick into a multi-HDMI switcher plugged into the TV. This tricks it into thinking you are still watching it when you switch to live TV. So that's one way to avoid the ads. If you don't return to the streaming program in time, you can rewind a bit and, depending on the service, it doesn't normally play the ads again though sometimes it does which is annoying.

SmartVU11 didn't like my HDMI switcher though so it doesn't work with every stick.

MikeAqua

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#3516264 3-Aug-2026 09:04

Logically they should retire terrestrial in favour of streaming (DVB-i and OD). Terrestrial spectrums could then be reused for something else.

Satellite should be kept for areas without good internet access. Although ... you have to wonder how long that will be necessary, as internet satellite availability increases.

Mike

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alasta

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#3516276 3-Aug-2026 09:25

My elderly parents will never transition to streaming, simply because they refuse to use anything that they don't understand. The question is, how long will it take for that demographic to decline to the point where it is no longer justifiable for Sky to pay terrestrial broadcasting fees to Kordia?

muppet

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#3516278 3-Aug-2026 09:30

PolicyGuy:

This is why I won't watch anything on TVNZ+ - I just can't stand the inescapable adverts

Strange. We have a Terrestrial TV in our kitchen and a TVNZ Apple TV App in the lounge.

The Apple TV spends most of its "ad" time playing "Stuff you can't miss this month" and then the odd totally irrelevant ad.

I don't know if it's because we have a DNS adblocker or if they just don't have any information om my wife's TVNZ Account (Which is what we use to watch) but the difference between the two is amazing. The Apple TV is 50% less product ads and 50% more "Look at this hot garbage you can watch" ads.

RunningMan

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#3516281 3-Aug-2026 09:37

PolicyGuy:

This is why I won't watch anything on TVNZ+ - I just can't stand the inescapable adverts

For all the many faults with TVNZ+ (there's an entire thread on it), excessive ads is not one of them to me. You get 1-3 ads inserted several times into a show, you can see where they are coming up in the timeline and they are generally not too invasive. Given there is no subscription fee, I think they have the balance about right.

richms

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#3516291 3-Aug-2026 10:11

alasta:

My elderly parents will never transition to streaming, simply because they refuse to use anything that they don't understand. The question is, how long will it take for that demographic to decline to the point where it is no longer justifiable for Sky to pay terrestrial broadcasting fees to Kordia?

I would have thought that it already was declined to that point. All the oldies I know are perfectly happy with their apple tv to watch things in the apps, its only when things go wrong and they have to log in again or something that it all turns to crap.

Richard rich.ms

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