BBC TRUST FREESAT CONCLUSION.

AS REPORTED BY THE BBC TRUST IN APRIL 2007.

They also strongly believe that increased competition will be beneficial to consumers,
offering a choice of service and introducing competition in the subscription-free satellite TV
market, as shown by answers to Question 7.
Question 8 asked whether the launch of “Freesat” would lead to the market exit of
alternatives from commercial suppliers, and while recognising that the proposal does
increase competition, respondents did not consider it likely to do so.
Finally, Question 9 asked if the proposition went far enough in limiting the impact of the
proposition on the market. Again, responses here were resoundingly in agreement that theproposal did go far enough.
Respondents clearly believe that the proposal will not have a detrimental effect on the
market, that it is fair to current and any future competitors, and that the introduction of
competition in the market is desirable.
Conditions
Questions 10 and 11 look at the conditions the Trust could impose if it approves the
proposal.
The response to Question 10 is still strongly in favour of imposing conditions to prevent
other participants in the JV benefiting from Licence Fee money, and to ensure appropriate
separation between Freeview and “Freesat”.
Question 11 presented an opportunity to suggest any other conditions the Trust should
consider imposing if it approves the proposals. Key themes here were limiting the cost to
viewers, not allowing pay-per-view TV to beincluded, and that a future-proof capabilities
should remain free for all.
Other responses
Finally, Question 12 invited any other commentsrespondents might have on the proposals.
The majority of these were a summary of the respondents overall view, either supportive or
critical. Many of these responses reiterated a certain element of the consultation, such as
improving access, incorporating HD and introducing competition. This question was also
used to give a more personal element with, for instance, respondents citing personal
experience of poor reception and other issues. 

BBC TRUST FREESAT CONCLUSION.

AS REPORTED BY THE BBC TRUST IN APRIL 2007.

Appendix A – Consultation Methodology
The Questions
The BBC Trust invited responses on the following questions:
1.Is current access to the BBC's digital services acceptable, and should the BBC be
taking action to improve access to its digital services in the lead up to digital
switchover?
2.Should licence fee payers have a choice of subscription-free means of access to digital
services?
3.Are the BBC's “Freesat” proposals likely to be valuable and attractive to licence fee
payers? (You may wish to comment on whether there is a value for all licence fee
payers or just those currently unable to receive Freeview).
4.Should the BBC seek to future-proof the “Freesat” proposition by offering a range of
set-top boxes so that users can choose either standard definition (the standard that
BBC channels are currently broadcast in) or a box that would be capable of receiving
high definition broadcasts in the future?
5.Do you agree with the Trust's conclusion that the BBC's “Freesat” proposals are
consistent with the BBC's Public Purposes because they will improve access to its
digital services?
6.Has the Trust correctly identified those markets that may be affected by the launch
of “Freesat”?
7.Do you agree with the Trust's conclusion that launching the “Freesat” proposition
will have a beneficial effect for consumers by increasing choice and introducing
competition in the subscription-free satellite TV market?
8.Do you agree with the Trust's conclusion that whilst launching “Freesat” will affect
other participants in the market, it is not likely to lead to exit from the market of
existing participants or to create a barrier to future innovation? (Any figures for the
likely effect on other participants' revenues would be particularly welcomed).
9.Does the proposal to establish a joint venture and to limit its activity to marketing
and technical co-ordination, leaving set top box manufacture, retailing and installation
to the market go far enough to minimise the impact of the proposition on the
market?
10.Is it appropriate for the Trust to impose conditions to prevent licence fee money
benefiting other participants in the proposed joint venture and to ensure appropriate
separation between Freeview and “Freesat”?
11.Should the Trust impose any other conditions if it approves the proposals in its final
decision?
12.What other comments would you like to make about these proposals?
Timing
The consultation on “Freesat” ran from 27 February 2007 to 5pm on 27 March 2007.
Methods of Response
The Trust offered a variety of methods in which people could respond. These were:
•An online form via the Trust website•Post
•Email 

BBC TRUST DECIDES.

AS REPORTED BY THE BBC TRUST IN APRIL 2007.

Data Collection and Analysis
Responses from the Trust website and via emailwere received into a central email folder.
Postal responses were directed to the Trust Unit team conducting the analysis. This data
was then manually extracted and analysed.
Questions 1 and 3 were split as follows to enable accurate conclusions to be drawn without
distorting the consultation.
1(a) – Is current access to the BBC's digital services acceptable?
1(b) – should the BBC be taking action to improve access to its digital services in the lead up
to digital switchover?
3(a) – Are the BBC's “Freesat” proposals likely to be valuable and attractive to all licence fee
payers?
3(b) – Are the BBC's “Freesat” proposals likely to be valuable and attractive to licence feepayers who are unable to receive Freeview?
The data was analysed in two ways. Firstly, responses were distilled to give basic yes/noanswers to each question. This data was used to generate the numbers for the quantitative
analyse. Secondly, a representative sample of the detailed comments from each question was
included to form the basis of the qualitative analysis.
Responses from key stakeholders were analysedcarefully as part of this process. Trustees
were given access in full to these responses.
In some instances the responses received were not relevant to the consultation. Some of
these were general enquiries which were referred to BBC Information. Others were
requests for printed copies. Finally, some responses did not answer any of the consultation
questions. These responses were not included in the final analysis.
Confidentiality
The consultation made clear the Trust’s intention to publish responses. Respondents were
given the option to submit a confidential response, in whole or in part. Where respondents
request confidentiality in whole no element of their response will be published. Where
respondents request confidentiality in part the relevant information will be withheld.
Publication
It is expected that the Trust will publish all responses made on behalf of organisations,
except as discussed above. The responses from individuals have been analysed as part of this
report.

BBC FREESAT TRUST DECIDES.

AS REPORTED BY THE BBC TRUST IN APRIL 2007.

Appendix B – Raw data
Overall
The following table gives the overall number responses to each question.
Question Yes No No response
351(a) 211 351 112
1(b) 432 34 208
2 594 34 46
3(a) 463 76 135
3(b) 502 36 136
4 537 50 87
5 576 41 57
6 432 31 211
7 540 48 86
8 475 51 148
9 400 49 225
10 408 108 158
11 184 206 284
Results by Nation
The following table gives a breakdown of responses to each question for respondents from
England only.
Question Yes No No response
1(a) 157 253 78
1(b) 316 23 149
2 431 24 33
3(a) 345 52 91
3(b) 368 23 97
4 389 34 65
5 420 26 42
6 327 23 138
7 393 34 61
8 355 37 96
9 298 39 151
10 289 84 115
11 140 154 194
The following table gives a breakdown of responses to each question for respondents from
Northern Ireland only.
Question Yes No No response
1(a) 1 4 1
1(b) 3 0 3
2 6 0 0
3(a) 4 1 1 

BBC FREESAT TRUST DECIDES.

AS REPORTED BY THE BBC TRUST IN APRIL 2007.

3(b) 6 0 0
364 6 0 05 6 0 06 4 0 27 5 0 18 4 0 29 3 1 210 3 0 3
11 1 1 4
The following table gives a breakdown of responses to each question for respondents from
Scotland only.
Question Yes No No response1(a) 17 34 6
1(b) 38 3 16
2 56 0 1
3(a) 41 6 10
3(b) 48 1 8
4 49 2 5
5 53 1 3
6 34 1 227 52 0 0
8 42 3 129 38 2 1710 39 6 12
11 28 16 23
The following table gives a breakdown of responses to each question for respondents from
Wales only.
Question Yes No No response1(a) 8 23 2
1(b) 25 0 8
2 32 0 1
3(a) 20 2 11
3(b) 26 1 6
4 27 1 5
5 31 1 1
6 19 1 137 28 0 5
8 22 2 9
9 20 3 1010 23 5 5
11 8 10 15


Results by Representation
The following table gives a breakdown of responses to each question for respondents
representing themselves only.
Question Yes No No response1(a) 186 298 85
1(b) 369 25 175
2 512 23 34
3(a) 398 62 109
3(b) 434 26 109
4 459 38 72
5 498 29 42
6 376 21 172
7 468 35 66
8 417 40 112
9 355 44 170
10 351 91 127
11 160 180 229
The following table gives a breakdown of responses to each question for respondents
representing someone other than themselves (e.g. a company or industry
organisation) only.
Question Yes No No response1(a) 3 18 3
1(b) 18 2 4
2 19 1 4
3(a) 16 1 7
3(b) 19 1 4
4 16 1 7
5 17 0 7
6 9 4 117 14 1 9
8 9 1 149 7 1 1610 9 4 11
11 8 1 15 

BBC TRUST FREESAT CONCLUSION.

AS REPORTED BY THE BBC TRUST IN APRIL 2007.

Appendix 2
Note of licence fee payer concerns over subscription-free
access to BBC digital services
This note was prepared by the BBC Trust Unit.
Lack of access to digital services is an important issue for many licence fee payers. When
they are given the opportunity to pose questions to the BBC, for instance at public meetings
or through unsolicited correspondence, it is a subject that frequently features in the top
three or four most-asked categories. The main issues raised are:
1.Viewers’ inability to receive BBC digital services
2.Their aversion to paying Sky for access to BBC services
3.The common misconception that access to BBC digital services is only available
through a Sky subscription service19The analysis presented below illustrates the issues raised by licence fee payers through both
quantitative analysis of BBC data and qualitative research. We have also included what we
have selected as a representative sample of comments and questions from licence fee payers.
Data analysis
Digital Terrestrial Television through a TV aerial (Freeview) is currently available to only
74% of the UK population. From the beginning of 2005 to the end of 2006 the BBC was
contacted by nearly 1000 people about the lack of digital coverage in their local area. Thesecontacts were as follows:
Complaints 412
Comments 520
Enquiries 27
Total 959
Unsolicited contacts fromthe public via BBC website, phone, email and letter 05/01/2005 – 29/12/2006
The BBC held five public meetings between July 2005 and July 2006, in Belfast, Cardiff,
Glasgow, Norwich and London. In the run up to each public meeting, licence fee payers who
were unable to, or didn't want to, attend the meetings were invited to send in questions via
the website (Suggest a Question). This facility was only open in the 3 to 4 weeks
immediately before the public meeting and not continuously over the year. The BBC
received 2,001 responses via this internet facility, with 200 of these (10%) concerning thelack of digital services. The breakdown of these figures is as follows:
Public Meeting Location Number of Number relating to Percentage
19 Freesat from Sky, a non-subscription service, is available for a one-off fee of £150, with 98% UKcoverage

BBC TRUST FINAL CONCLUSIONS.

AS REPORTED BY THE BBC TRUST IN APRIL 2007.

complaints digital reception
London (ran from 2/7 to 19/7 2005) 1425145 10%
Glasgow (ran from 1/11 to 23/11 2005) 122 20 16%
Cardiff (ran from 25/1 to 22/2 2006) 195 21 11%
Belfast (ran from 1/3 to 29/32006) 135 6 4%
Norwich (ran from 13/6/ to 13/7 2006) 124 8 6%
Unsolicited contacts20 to the BBC – a sample of comments
“I am annoyed that digital terrestrial television is not available to the entire population of the
UK”
“I am paying a full licence fee but I’m not provided with a full service. This is totally
unacceptable and scandalous”
“I am very annoyed that the BBC expects me to pay a full licence fee when I cannot receiveFreeview in my area yet. This is disgraceful.”
“I am very unhappy that I cannot get the same services when I pay the same licence fee”
“I cannot get BBC services on DTT. I believe the analogue signal is being switched off this
year in the Borders area and I believe I will be left without any television signal”
“I find it ridiculous that we have to pay for SKY to get the extra BBC channels that we also
pay for”
“The only way I can watch digital television in my area is through NTL which I’m charged for
and I don’t think this is fair.”
“I live in an area where the only way to obtain digital tv is by subscription to Sky or Cable,
which I am not prepared to do.”
Public Meetings21 – a sample of commentsLondon public meeting July 2005 (submitted to meeting via email)
“What are the BBC doing to ensure that everyone is able to receive their new digitalchannels? I live in a dead spot with no suggestion that the relay transmitter will be upgraded
until the analogue signal is switched off. It seems there is now a digital divide developingthrough certain parts of the country, and I feel I am not getting my money's worth. I wouldlove to watch some of the programming on BBC3 and BBC4 but don't see why I shouldsubscribe to SKY just because I am geographically challenged”
Cardiff public meeting February 200620 Unsolicited contacts are when a member of the public uses either email, the website, phone or post tocontact
the BBC unprompted. Sample from Marketing, Communications andAudiences internal report
21 Sample from BBC Trust Audience Team’s analysis of BBC data 

BBC TRUST FREESAT FINAL CONCLUSIONS.

AS REPORTED BY THE BBC TRUST IN APRIL 2007.

“Can it be justified that the Rhondda licence payers pay a full rate when we only have a
reduced service which has no Channel 4, no Channel 5 or no digital services whatsoever?
People who have gone over to digital television in Wales via transmitters cannot get BBC
Two. They get 2W only and for most of the evening it is different to BBC Two.”
“With the proliferation of digital Freeview channels, why can't viewers in Wales have a
choice of the full range of BBC One and BBC Two programmes available in England as wellas regional productions?Do the board members think it's fair that you pay the full cost of
the TV licence with no end reward for that outlay, without having to subscribe to BSkyB?
We have no reception whatsoever in our village, no analogue, no Freeview, no nothing. And
we have to pay twice to get one picture. Do you consider that fair?”
Belfast public meeting March 2006“I live in an area of Northern Ireland which does not have a digital signal. All I get is analoguesignal. I'd like to know what the BBC are going to do it provide for areas like mine to get a
signal.”
“In 2012, the Northern Ireland region and London region are the last two proposed regions
of the UK to go digital. What lessons or improvements particularly to high definition
broadcasting could Northern Ireland expect to receive from BBC?”
Norwich public meeting July 2006"As a TV licence payer I am fed up with seeing a TV service advertised on the TV, namely
Freeview which I can't receive."
“The reception that we do get in King's Lynn which is very poor. For years we have hadpoor reception. We have had to buy mast-head amplifiers, and we have had to put up withthe poor signal. But the problem is that as each new service comes out, we're also last in the
queue. We don't get Freeview. We don't get digital radio, and yet we pay exactly the same
licence fee as all those people who might be called the chattering classes in London who getthe lot. This seems dramatically unfair”
BBC Trust Unit
29 January 2007 

ITV HD TV CHANNEL AND BBC HDTV IN LINEUP FOR FREESAT TV LAUNCH DATE.

It has been reported elsewhere that the ITV HD Channel will be on the FREESAT TV EPG when it starts its UK based SKY TV Rival Service sometime around late March 2008.

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FREESAT FREE HDTV SERVICE STARTS IN MARCH 2008.

FREESAT'S FREE HDTV SERVICE TO START IN MARCH 2008.

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