The big next-gen telly conundrum

Filling your eyes with the latest TV shows used to be as simple as plugging in an aerial and flicking between four channels. But not any more. Between Sky, Freeview, Freesat and cable, there’s a mind boggling choice.

With so many hoops to jump through, just to keep up with your favourite shows, which is the best option? As usual, it depends what you’re looking for.

In the “free corner”, there’s Freeview and Freesat, delivering telly without a monthly charge through an aerial or satellite dish. Both offer the major channels, as well as several ropey ones, but that’s the price you pay for paying, well, no price at all.

What’s unique about them is their ability to be shifted at a moment’s notice, say if you move house. You just unplug the equipment and take it with you. They’re the most flexible, and Freesat even offers HD channels from the BBC and ITV.

Of course, you won’t get premium offerings from a free service, and that’s where Sky really comes into its own.

Although pricey compared to Freeview and Freesat, its the only way to nab channels like Sky One, which has exclusive rights to first showings of popular shows, like Lost.

Virgin has similar exclusives, and also serves up on-demand programmes, but they’re not on a par with Sky.

And there’s the rub. Each platform has its benefits, but without installing a pile of boxes under your TV there’s no way to watch the lot.

It’s like a conspiracy, but one with no real winner, whichever way you look at it. But you can combine your options to get the best of everything.

The simplest way is through brand new integrated TVs. Panasonic’s PZ81 range packs a Freeview and Freesat tuner into the telly itself, so you won’t need any separate boxes to grab free show. Add a Sky subscription and digibox, which can share a dish with the Freesat tuner, and you’ve got close to the ultimate set-up.

All that’s missing is the on-demand abilities of cable, although Freesat equipment comes packing a network socket, ready to be hooked up to broadband when its on-demand services launch in the near future. Freesat reckons it’ll offer BBC content on demand without a charge, so it’s worth investigating.

But is it the best TV set-up available? Not really. You still run the risk of missing shows from cable, and will continue to fork out a hefty amount each month. Until there’s a broadband-delivered TV system open to all channels, we’re a long way from entertainment neutrality, and telly fans will continue to get a raw deal.

Visit the Panasonic PZ81 product range page >>

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