Is any digital TV free?

For a one-off payment and no subscription, you can get digital TV through an aerial or satellite dish.

Digital terrestrial television - Freeview

The brand name of digital terrestrial TV is Freeview.

What's good about it:

• You only buy the decoder box and you can watch more than 40 TV channels and listen to more than 20 radio stations for free
• It plugs into your telly and aerial so there's no need for a satellite dish or to have cables installed
• Depending on the type of digital box you get you may be able to subscribe to extra channels too

What's bad about it:

• Some of the boxes don't let you subscribe to extra channels so you could find yourself stuck with the freebies
• The boxes still don't work in about 25% of the country, and even if you can get it you might need to upgrade your rooftop aerial

Satellite dishes - Freesat

There are two free digital satellite services - Freesat, which is provided by the BBC and ITV, and Freesat from Sky, which is provided by Sky.

As well as having a digital box you'll need to have a satellite dish installed.

What's good about it:

• Freesat offers more than 100 TV channels and 30 radio stations
• Freesat from Sky boasts more than 200 TV channels and 80 radio stations as well as offering you the chance to subscribe to extra channels

What's bad about it:

• There may be a restriction on putting up satellite dishes where you live.
• If you have Freesat, you're stuck with the free channels as you can't subscribe to extra channels at the moment