E4 is coming to Freeview in time for 24hour Big Brother next month.Fantastic, Freeview gets better and better.

where did u hear this?, u got a link?. are u sure its not part of the top up package u can get for freeview?

E4 (http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/article/ds20877.html) Hope this helps and dont forget Men & Motors starts on Freeview next week ;)

Yeah, but freeview-for-free ? Or Freeview-I-gotta-pay-for-it-and-don't-care ?

Originally posted by Captain_Scarlet
Yeah, but freeview-for-free ? Or Freeview-I-gotta-pay-for-it-and-don't-care ?

exactly!!

E4 will cease on Freeview in the autumn to make way for More4 which will be free to watch (C4 has given notice to top-up that it's pulling E4 from tutv)

From Media Guardian,

Jason Deans, broadcasting editor
Tuesday April 26, 2005


E4: increased ad revenue likely to compensate for lost subscription fees

Channel 4 will give its digital entertainment channel E4 a major ratings boost by launching it on Freeview ahead of the new series of Big Brother next month.
E4's slot on the digital terrestrial service will increase its distribution by at least 4.5 million homes which, combined with its round-the-clock coverage of the Big Brother house, will immediately increase its viewing figures.

Andy Duncan, the chief executive of Channel 4, who is credited with helping to make Freeview a digital success, said an increase in advertising would more than make up the subscription fees E4 will lose by appearing on the free-to-air service.

"Freeview is still growing fast and we're forecasting an uplift in ratings and advertising revenues, which we expect to exceed lost subscription revenues," he said.

Channel 4 had been expected to take E4 free to air this autumn. The decision to bring this forward comes as the growth of Freeview's customer base continues to outstrip industry expectations.

E4 +1, the time-shift service that broadcasts the E4 schedule delayed by one hour, will launch on Freeview at the same time.

E4 will continue to be available to pay-TV customers subscribing to Sky Digital and cable TV but Channel 4 will no longer receive subscription revenues for it.

E4 was already available to viewers with Freeview boxes - but they had to pay a £7.99 monthly subscription fee to Top Up TV to receive it.

The loss of E4, one of the biggest draws among Top Up TV's 10 channels, is likely to come as a blow to the subscription operator.

It is believed More4, the factual programming service scheduled to launch later this year, will take the extra Freeview slot Channel 4 hopes to secure from the digital terrestrial operator, Crown Castle.

E4 launched as a pay-TV service in amid much fanfare in January 2001 and was an immediate success, offering UK viewers the first chance to see new episodes of Friends and ER. Its ratings increased further once the channel began to broadcast live, 24-hour coverage of Big Brother.

E4 will not cease on Freeview in the Autumn as they have spare capacity on Freeview for More4 and one other channel.
ITV 4 should lauch in the Autumn along with ITV Kids.
I am so glad i cancelled my Contrat with Sky two years ago and i dont miss it one jot.

More from today's Guardian,

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TV advertising shows growth spurt

John Plunkett
Wednesday April 27, 2005

Television advertising revenue grew at its fastest rate for five years in the first quarter of 2005, with retailers desperate to make up for poor Christmas sales.
Ad revenue rose by 13% in the first three months of the year, with the surge in demand led by food and household stores, according to media buyer Starcom.

Some of the biggest growth was enjoyed by Channel 4, now gearing up for the launch of E4 as a free-to-air channel on Freeview.

Rival broadcasters were today assessing the impact of the switch, with ITV's digital channels likely to be hardest hit, according to analysts.

E4 will go free-to-air in around 5m Freeview homes at the end of May, just in time for the start of the sixth series of Big Brother. It will compete head-to-head with the other entertainment channels on Freeview, including ITV2, ITV3 and BBC3.

The move may also hit Sky's subscriber take-up rates, with viewers who want to watch E4 now able to pay a one-off fee for Freeview rather than having to subscribe to Sky.

However, investment bank Credit Suisse First Boston warned today that the ITV family of digital channels was likely to suffer most.

"While a long time in coming, we think that the inclusion of E4 in Freeview's line-up significantly strengthens the platform's general entertainment offering," the bank said in a statement.

"While bad for sentiment on Sky, we doubt this will cannibalise net additions for Sky going forwards. Rather, the impact may be more marked for ITV given the likelihood of audiences fragmenting further away from the ITV channels on Freeview as the line-up continues to strengthen."

Starcom said ITV had lost a "significant proportion of audience across all demographics" in the first quarter of 2005, but said ITV2 and ITV3 had delivered "strong growth".

The two ITV digital channels - with ITV4 in the pipeline - will be able to take on E4 from a position of strength. ITV2, thanks to spinoff shows from ITV1 hits like Hell's Kitchen and I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!, has increased its audience by 57% over the last 12 months and is the most watched Freeview channel outside of the five terrestrial channels, with a 2.8% share.

Classic drama and comedy channel ITV3 is the second most-watched non-terrestrial channel, with 2.1%, nearly double its nearest rival, children's channel CBeebies, which has 1.2%.

E4 had a share of 0.92% in digital satellite and cable homes last week, rising to around 1% when timeshift channel E4+1 is taken into account. However, E4 hugely reliant on Big Brother, which last year accounted for 37% of its total viewing over just a 10-week period, up from 32% in 2003.

As a result, Channel 4 bosses have timed the switch to coincide with the sixth series of Big Brother, due to begin at the end of May. Credit Suisse said it expected the channel's share "would grow significantly after next month".

"It's very clever timing in terms of getting it done before Big Brother," said Paul Richards, media analyst at Numis Securities. "A lot of Freeview's growth is weighted towards the third and fourth quarter. You don't usually see the summer months as a big time when people are looking to take out new TV packages."

The E4 deal is a blow to Top-Up TV, the pay-TV service on Freeview that offered a bundle of extra channels including E4 to viewers who pay £7.99 a month. But Mr Richards said it was unlikely to have an impact on Sky.

"If you look at the type of person who is going to get Sky, a lot of people are still getting it for sport and movies," he said. "E4 is a reasonably important element but I would be very surprised if it had a material impact. The [basic package] offers 300 channels on Sky."

Any loss in ITV's audience share may feed directly through to its advertising revenue under the complicated terms of the contract rights renewal mechanism, or CRR. Under its terms, agreed as part of the merger of Carlton and Granada, advertisers can reduce their level of advertising in line with declining viewing figures, without damaging the basic terms of the deal they signed with ITV two years ago.

"There are two issues," said one analyst. "Does E4 make Freeview a more attractive offering relative to Sky? And what does it do to the ITV channels in Freeview homes? We are not going to know the answers to these questions for some time."

interesting, E4 and sky one are the main reason we have cable.

but i do want a tivo like device that telewest are supposed to be bringing out later in the year...