Regular listeners to our podcast will be well aware of the story featured on tonight’s Watchdog. In July and August, Freeview boxes around the UK started packing up. The reason? Older Freeview boxes can’t cope with the increasing number of channels, and when the boxes scan for new channels, they lock up, effectively trashing the [...]

Lads channel Nuts TV is set to vanish from early 2009. Channel owner Turner Broadcasting has confirmed that the 9pm to 1am Freeview slot taken up by Nuts TV will be replaced by CNN International from next year. Nuts TV is also set to vanish from Sky’s line-up from January. Fans of Rude News, Overexposed [...]

Show 32 of FrequencyCast, the UK’s TV and Tech podcast, has just been released. Be one of the first to listen to this bumper show. Here’s what we cover: News Updates: Freesat PVR details revealed, Freeview HD next year, and lots more. Focus: We’re looking at three items in our focus – the only digital [...]

FrequencyCast Show 32 [ 30:58 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The company behind the Discovery Channel has secured a slot on Freeview. Using content from the existing Discovery-branded channels, the new channel on Freeview apparently won’t carry the Discovery name, and will be free-to-view from early 2009. The slot on the Freeview network was put up for auction by SDN (owned by ITV) in June [...]

Show 31 of FrequencyCast, the UK’s TV and Tech podcast, is online now. Here’s what we cover: News Updates: TV and Radio re-brands, half-price HD, Google phones, and Nuts loyalty. Focus – eBook Readers: Like the idea of an electronic book? We explain about eBooks. Hands on: We look at the updated Cowon media player [...]

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Show 30 of FrequencyCast, the UK’s TV and Tech podcast, is online now. Here’s what we cover: News Updates: HD news from Freeview, Sky & BT Vision. Also news on the Skypephone 2 and Freeview PS3. Focus – Power consumption: How much power do your gadgets consume? Any how you can save the planet. Smartphones: A look at [...]

FrequencyCast UK Show 30 [ 30:47 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Freeview’s coming to the Playstation 3 from the 19th of September. For £70, you can buy PlayTV, which supports Freeview, has a 7 day EPG, and turns your PS3 into a digital recorder. You can use the PlayTV box to export TV content easily from the PS3 HDD to the Sony PSP, so you can [...]

Show 29 of FrequencyCast, the UK’s TV and Tech podcast, is online now. Here’s what we cover: News Updates: Freeview boxes breaking, new Freesat channels, Sporting deals, Top Up news and a KITT sat nav. Focus – Digital TV Roundup: A long-verdue look at the digital TV options, and what’s best for you. i-GotU GPS: [...]

FrequencyCast UK Show 29 [ 30:53 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

On Tuesday 29th July, a transmitter update for Freeview viewers in Cheshire, Greater London, Lancashire and South Yorkshire will break a number of older Freeview boxes. This update has already knocked out boxes in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Tyne Tees, Border, Granada, Anglia, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Hampshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, Devon and Cornwall. Freeview set-top boxes [...]

On Wednesday the 23rd July, a transmitter update for Freeview viewers in Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Hampshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, Devon and Cornwall will break a number of older Freeview boxes. This update has already knocked out boxes in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Tyne Tees, Border, Granada, Yorkshire and parts of the Anglia regions. Freeview set-top boxes [...]

It’s already happened in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Tyne Tees and Border, and apparently the Granada and Yorkshire regions, plus some parts of Anglia… are next, with the planned upgrade today – the 15th July 2008. Freeview set-top boxes from Bush, Daewoo, Labgear, Triax and Portland can’t cope with a transmitter upgrade that’s creeping across the [...]

It’s been a busy week for FrequencyCast, and we’ve just released a 9 minute audio update – covering faulty Freeview boxes, us on national radio, the clamour for Apple’s 3G iPhone, and a summary of sporting TV services in the UK. Available from http://www.frequencycast.co.uk/latest.html

FrequencyCast Update 09 July 2008 [ 8:12 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The story of older Freeview boxes around the UK packing up… continues. After the story broke in the Daily Record at the weekend, BBC Radio picked up on the story, and our very own Pete was on BBC Radio 5 Live at 1:30pm, and on the Chris Evans show on Radio 2 at 5:40pm More [...]

Show 26 of FrequencyCast, the UK’s TV and Tech podcast, is online now. Here’s what we cover: News Updates: Freeview HD, iPhone price cuts, FreeSat rumours, and the return of Blake’s 7. Focus – BBC iPlayer: Carl and Pete explore Auntie Beeb’s catch-up TV service, now available on PC, Mac, Wii and iPhone. Virgin Media: [...]

FrequencyCast UK Show 26 [ 31:02 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

No fooling – it’s the first of April, and Show 25 of FrequencyCast has just been released. Here’s what we cover in the latest UK TV and Tech radio show: News Updates: The Phorm controversy, National Local Freeview, phones on a plane, backing up your mobile, iTunes TV, and the perils of roaming. Focus – [...]

FrequencyCast Show 25 [ 31:25 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Plans are being drawn up for “Channel 6” – a nationwide local TV service. The group United for Local Television is campaigning for a UK-wide network of local TV stations to fill the void in local TV news and content that’s not being servced by the BBC and ITV. Campaigners include local TV operators, voluntary [...]

A new channel is coming to Freeview. “National Lottery Xtra” has appeared in the Freeview channel lineup, on Channel 45. But is it actually a channel? It seems that National Lottery Xtra will broadcast for one hour a day, from  08:45 to 09:45, seven days a week. Does this really consistitute a TV channel? To [...]

A quick mention for the TVonics MFR-200, as mentioned by a couple of our listeners. This is a tiny Freeview box that’s designed for tellies that don’t have a SCART socket. This is an ultra-small Freeview receiver that has an RF modulator (in English – it works with TV sets that don’t have a SCART [...]

It’s the first of the month, and Show 23 of FrequencyCast has just been released to the world. FrequencyCast Show 23 covers a whole bunch of TV and tech topics, including: News Updates: An update on the HD DVD format wars, some BT Vision news, two national radio stations departing DAB, the iPhone software update, [...]

FrequencyCast Show 23 [ 32:00 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

If you’re living in Birmingham or parts of the West Midlands, you may find that any old onDigital/itvDigital boxes you’re using will stop working from the 3rd of March 2008 Work on the Sutton Coldfield transmitter means that some early pre-Freeview boxes won’t. According to the announcement at www.freeview.co.uk, boxes affected include: Daewoo DS608P, LabgearDTT100, Triax DVB2000T, [...]