5* and 5USA coming to Freesat by Christmas

The extra narrow beam capacity provided by the new Astra 1N satellite is going to allow Channel 5 to provide their two other channels, 5* and 5USA on Freesat by the end of 2011.
This is good news for Freesat viewers, as Channel 5 have been talking of launching the channels for some time, both are currently available on Freeview and Freesat from Sky (currently free-to-view).
Channel 5 have confirmed that “work is already under way to introduce unencrypted versions of both 5* and 5 USA to the (BBC and ITV) Freesat service, following the creation of extra narrowbeam capacity”.

A launch date for the start of these two services on Freesat has not yet been announced, Channel 5 says that they “anticipate that these will be broadcasting before the end of the year, but are unable to confirm specific dates at present.” There has been to mention as yet of Channel 5 HD joining Freesat, or if 5*+1 and 5USA+1 are to be included.