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There is the David Elstein contention that digital terrestrial TV is already as good as dead and that ITV Digital should have been allowed to rest in peace and never disinterred in such a straggly form.

He believes that the technology and the choice is simply inadequate and will always lose out to satellite and cable and it is a classic case of throwing good money after bad.

Andy Duncan, the BBC's director of marketing and communication is equally an extremist. The 30 services of Freeview are going to be a great success.

There are millions out there who have consciously rejected paying more for television and can never be signed up for subscription television.

But many of those millions are enthusiastic for freebie TV, a simple, easily understood offering that you can get with the purchase of a single piece of equipment for less than £100.

The obvious truth is that David Elstein is far too negative and Andy Duncan far too positive. Freeview will never challenge BSkyB or even cable, but it is not trying to be an ITV Digital Mark II either. The cost structure is vastly different and it's mainly a case of paying for the transmission of channels that already exist and have been paid for in one form or another.

Even the new channels such as UK History or the pop music channels will largely feature material made for another purpose.

For those who have only four or five channels the proposition that you can get an extra 30 services for a single payment of £99.99 will be attractive to some.

So Freeview is worth a shot and, over time, it would be nice to see a sub-sector of the media emerge - advertising-supported digital terrestrial television.

The reality is that although it will happen, it could be a very slow job. For some time there will be the taint of ITV Digital about the project.

The increase in power levels and change of broadcasting mode will improve picture reliability, but still only half the country will be able to get the service without an aerial upgrade.

We are then into very fine judgements about relative attractiveness and consumer behaviour. Thirty channels for a £99 plug-in box? Maybe. But add a further £90 and, above all, the inconvenience of getting a new aerial fitted with no absolute guarantee that you will get a picture and it starts to be a bit more problematic.

There is also a worry about the channel offering. Thirty channels may sound good, but consumers will quickly move on from marvelling at the number of channel to asking what they are actually going to see.

Already we see a fragmentation of marketing effort. The BBC will mount a large marketing campaign - but only for its own channels. Crown Castle will have to get on with marketing the rest.

That may actually be rational. Freeview may well have to be marketed as channels for particular demographics - news, BBC Four and UK History for the over-50s and round-the-clock pop for the young. Worth doing but it won't set the world alight.