There was one key player missing from the room when Freeview officially launched the Freeview HD service this week. It was Sky.

Remember that Freeview is the working name for DTV Services Ltd, the company set up in October 2002 after the collapse of the UK's first DTTV services, OnDigital and ITV Digital. Freeview is owned and run by five shareholders - the BBC, Channel 4 and ITV, BSkyB and transmitter network Arqiva.

The clear message from the launch event at Channel 4's HQ in London was that Freeview HD hopes to steal viewers from Sky's paid-for HD service.

Representatives from the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Arqiva were all present to speak or answer questions, along with 12 manufacturers showing 16 Freeview HD set-top boxes, PVRs and IDTVs. But there was no one from BSkyB speaking and no one present to answer questions.

Freeview managing director Ilse Howling promised "HD goes Freeview" with STBs costing from under £100, free HD for 50 per cent of the population in time for the football World Cup in June and no monthly bills.

"High-definition television comes of age," says Freeview.

"Freeview is in 18.2 million homes with 10m using Freeview as their main set. Fourteen out of 15 of the most-watched TV channels are on Freeview and so are 99 of the 100 most-watched programmes," Ilse Howling noted before using a 103in Panasonic HD plasma screen to show upcoming TV adverts that will sell the "free HD" message with a £6m campaign based on the slogan "It feels good to Freeview". 

"BBC HD (already available on Sky, Virgin cable and free-to-air satellite service Freesat) is already the ninth most-watched of all TV channels and the most- watched HD channel," she went on. "Unlike other HD products, we are for everyone. HD is going free, into the mainstream. Maybe viewers on other platforms will consider switching. With the World Cup just around the corner, there is no better time for viewers to embrace high-definition TV."

"We are really excited about YouGov market research that shows that the appetite for Freeview HD is high. One fifth broadly across all viewer areas (Freeview SD, Sky, analogue, cable) are really interested."

So far, Sky has been strangely silent. But for some weeks now, Curry Digital shops have been running a demo loop that uses a split screen to compare Freeview SD unfavourably with Sky HD. Now the elephant has been poked with a stick, I reckon we can expect some fun and games.

Barry Fox