Now, the BBC is looking to bring the Red Button well and truly into the modern digital era. Today, the Red Button gets you alternative broadcasts, say, during sporting events, or text-based information on the day’s biggest sports or news stories. But what about the BBC Red Button?įirst introduced in 1999 as BBC Text, the Red Button constitutes part of the BBC’s digital TV offering, replacing its analogue Ceefax service. You will not get a proper electronic programming guide though on the satellite though.When discussing the BBC’s digital services, iPlayer and its website will likely feature highly in the conversation agenda. You can plug both cables into the TV : A normal aerial cable, and a coax (satelite) cable, of which you can then switch between the two Freeview and satellite channels. You will not get a proper electronic programming guide though on the satellite though.

You are picking up the channels via the transmitters on the ground. Freeview is the name given to the Digitial Terrestrial Transmission. You are picking up the channels from the satellites in orbit.

Using a sky dish - is not freeview and is not freesat.

This gives you iPlayer via the red button (but can access it via the TV's applications too).

If you then connect the TV to the internet (using your home network), you can then access what the BBC call the 'Connected Red Button' service. However to complicate things even futher, the BBC red button will not work on BBC HD channels, only the SD channels. The red button channel will then work on BBC channels. Yes, if you use a normal aerial cable, which is connected to a freeview aerial (normally on the roof/attic etc) you will be able to get Freeview HD.

How to watch bbc red button