Freeview facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

This article is about British digital television service. For the digital television service in New Zealand, which is also called Freeview, see Freeview (New Zealand).

Freeview is a free television service available in the United Kingdom. It lets people watch many TV channels and listen to radio stations without paying a monthly fee. Freeview sends its programs using a special digital signal. This modern signal is clearer and allows for more channels than older analogue TV signals.

The Freeview service started on October 30, 2002. It replaced an older service called ITV Digital, which had stopped working.

How Freeview Works

To watch Freeview, some newer TVs have it built-in. For most older TVs, you need a special box called a "set-top box" or "Freeview box." This box connects to your TV and helps it receive the digital signal. By March 2006, over 6 million homes in the UK were using Freeview.

The Digital Switchover

Freeview played a big part in the UK's "digital switchover." This was when all TV broadcasts in the United Kingdom changed from the old analogue signal to the new digital signal. This change happened completely by 2012. After this, only digital signals were used for TV, making Freeview an important way for people to keep watching television for free.

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