BBC refutes digital campaign 'frustration' over Top Up TV

The BBC has issued a statement in response to reports that Top Up TV Chairman David Chance had claimed many Freeview purchasers were frustrated when they realised their choice of set top box could not be upgraded to receive Top Up's services.
According to the BBC statement the remarks were reported following a Broadcasting Press Guild lunch. It was reported that "the focus of their frustration" was the BBC's currently running digital access campaign.
A spokesperson for the BBC said: "The purpose of the BBC's digital advice campaigns is to tell viewers how they can get the BBC's six extra channels, and importantly to let them know how they can get them without paying a monthly subscription.
"Contrary to Top Up TV's claims, our own extensive research and feedback from these campaigns provides no evidence that people feel they have been misled by this message.
"In fact the success of Freeview demonstrates the appeal of this no-subscription message to many of the audience. Other BBC research has shown that 80% of Freeview buyers would recommend the service to friends.
"Clearly, some people will decide they would like pay services too and want to buy equipment that can receive it, but that is their choice and a matter of advice from retailers."
Running on the UK’s DTT TV platform, Freeview, Top Up TV was launched in April this year to provide access to a further ten channels previously only available to Sky and cable subscribers.
However, only the older ON Digital/ITV Digital set-top receivers, those that accepted a viewing card, could receive the extra subscription channels on offer from Top Up TV. Plugging the gap a specific new set-top box capable of taking the Top Up TV viewing card was launched by Thomson earlier this year.
For a initial £20 connection fee and £7.99-a-month thereafter, the Top Up TV package provides access to E4, Discovery, UK Gold, Discovery Home & Leisure, UK Style, Turner Classic Movies, UK Food, Bloomberg, Cartoon Network and Boomerang.
Led by two former Sky TV execs, David Chance and Ian West, Top Up TV has a breakeven business plan that requires 250,000 subscribers.
However, with negotiations between ITV and Sky on the currently encoded conditional access satellite feed ongoing and the BBC copyrighting the term "Freesat" there is speculation that some form of rival satellite service may be on the cards, if ITV like the BBC negotiates an unencrypted multi-regional feed on Sky.
It is estimated that around 20% of the UK population cannot receive the DTT Freeview signal.
(SP)