Saorsat
| Free-to-air satellite television promotions company | |
| Industry | Media |
| Founded | 3 May 2012 |
|
Area served
|
Ireland |
| Products | Equipment to receive free-to-air digital satellite television channels |
| Website | www |
Saorsat (/ˈsɛərsæt/ SAOR-sat; the Irish word Saor, meaning free, therefore implying Freesat in English) is a free-to-air satellite service in Ireland. The service launched on 3 May 2012.
The RTÉ Network Limited (RTÉNL) analogue terrestrial television (ATT) network was never capable of providing 100% population coverage in Ireland. Prior to the digital switchover, ATT population coverage amounted to 98% for RTÉ One and RTÉ Two, 95% for TG4 and 85% for TV3. Saorview DTT faces a similar difficulty.
Broadcasting the channels unencrypted from the Astra 2 satellites at 28° East was not considered an option due to its large footprint covering the UK, France and many other countries. Irish broadcasters acquire rights on the basis that programming is broadcast to Irish audiences (i.e some 4.5 million people) and not to approx 100 million people within the Astra footprint. The Board of RTÉ approved the Saorsat approach developed by RTÉNL from early 2010 to enable the 1-2% of Irish households not covered by Saorview to access free-to-air digital television services.
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Wikipedia