This weeks Ariel (internal BBC magazine/intranet) states that the Beeb will start “on air trails in support of its digital services commencing on November 4 across television, radio and online”.
Here’s the text from the rest of the article if anyones interested 
It’s fresh, it’s simple, it’s… FREEVIEW
October 30 sees the re-birth of digital terrestrial television. Under the Freeview banner, the BBC, Crown Castle and BSkyB are offering a broad range of programming from 30 channels plus a selection of digital radio services and interactivity.
The signal quality has been improved and the coverage increased. But will it be enough to appeal to viewers who have yet to be attracted to digital television? Tony Matthews reports
Four new television channels and five commercial digital radio stations have been added to the Freeview line-up, adjustments to the transmission mode and power doubling have increased the number of UK households that can receive the signals and the launch date has been confirmed.
On October 30, digital terrestrial television gets a second chance following the collapse of ITV Digital in May.
So what makes Freeview, a package put together by the BBC, the transmission company Crown Castle and BSkyB, a better proposition?
Price for a start. Buy a digital tv adapter for £99 and 30 channels will be available free-to-air, there’s no subscription. In turn, says Andy Duncan, director of marketing and communications (pictured right), there will be no ‘churn’ –the rate at which ITV Digital’s subscribers gave their rented set top boxes back. Freeview is not seeking to justify and maintain subscriptions; the BBC’s digital channels will always be there.
Then there’s the reliability of the signal. ITV Digital suffered considerable problems with interference and poor reception quality. Freeview has reduced the number of channels on the DTT platform, changed the way the signals are transmitted and doubled the power to make such problems negligible. Peter Davies, director of strategy and distribution, said a further 1.5m households will be able to receive th signal. ‘Effectively, half of the country can get the Freeview signal without difficulty, a further 25 percent can get it with some kind of aerial upgrade, while 25 percent will not be able to get it until analogue signals are either significantly reduced or switched off altogether.’
And perhaps most important of all is a concerted drive to give people hitherto unmoved by the charms of digital a simple message – that there’s no pay element to Freeview; once you’ve bought the adapter you don’t have to subscribe to any thingelse.
Since the original announcement of Freeview’s line-up, four new channels have been signed up by Crown Castle .
Two music services – Smash Hits from Emap Performance and The Music factory from MTV – join UKTV’s daytime showcase UK HomeStyle and F tn, a Flextech showcase for content from its Bravo, Trouble, Living TV and Challenge? channels. In addition, five national digital commercial radio stations – Smash Hits, Kerrang!, Kiss, oneword and jazz fm – join the BBC’s digital stations.
‘The radio services will be a bonus for people,’ believed Duncan .
One slot remains available at time of writing and Berwyn Roberts, Crown Castle ’s sales and business development director, confirmed that several companies were bidding for it.
It is possible the slot will be split between different channels operating at various times of the day.
Most of the channels, Roberts said, had been signed up for terms of between six and 12 years. The BBC, Crown Castle andBSkyB each committed funding of between £3m and £5m to support the launch.
This is being used to provide support for the training of retail staff, along with point of sale materials, an information helpline, a website and a specifically produced consumer guide.
Peter Davies added that the Freeview consortium had reviewed the postcode database, through which retailers and viewers can check if they can get the signal or will need an aerial upgrade, to improve its accuracy.
The BBC is also planning a major on-air campaign in support of its own services. Duncan said: ‘We want people to have access to all of the BBC’s content and we will be running our biggest ever series of on-air trails.
‘We are also committing between £1mand £2m to press and publicity. It won’t be a one-off campaign, further activity will follow in the months and years to come.’
