RTE 1 HD on Sky box

bbability · 08-10-2014 5:13pm #1

Is there any sign of RTE 1 HD coming on stream on Sky platform

ftakeith · 08-10-2014 5:19pm

its on saorview

why on sky for love hate

I have sky but I have rte1hd through saorview

irishgeo · 08-10-2014 8:09pm

bbability wrote: »

Is there any sign of RTE 1 HD coming on stream on Sky platform

the rte transponder is full so it cant launch.

bjp1967 · 09-10-2014 9:57am

irishgeo wrote: »

the rte transponder is full so it cant launch.

"Seriously!!!!

lertsnim · 09-10-2014 11:41am

If Sky want it then I guess Sky will have to find room for it on another transponder. There is no way that RTE should be footing the bill.

irishgeo · 09-10-2014 7:39pm

lertsnim wrote: »

If Sky want it then I guess Sky will have to find room for it on another transponder. There is no way that RTE should be footing the bill.

i think sky covered the cost of the first transponder.

lertsnim · 09-10-2014 9:55pm

irishgeo wrote: »

i think sky covered the cost of the first transponder.

They did and they should cover the cost of the second one too.

decor58 · 12-10-2014 12:53pm

why is rte news now not on sky, there is room for improvement on the service but I am sure it would be welcome by irish community abroad, no copyright issues.

JDxtra · 12-10-2014 5:42pm

Hardball between RTE and Sky. The loser is the viewer.

pegasus1 · 20-10-2014 5:06am

Aren't sky launching a new satellite in the next couple of months as an upgrade to the existing one..so that will have room for rte1hd as well as utv ireland hd..

Mayo Yid · 20-10-2014 7:22am

pegasus1 wrote: »

Aren't sky launching a new satellite in the next couple of months as an upgrade to the existing one..so that will have room for rte1hd as well as utv ireland hd..

You don't understand, the problem isn't that the satellite is full, it's that the transponder carrying Irish channels is full. Each transponder (and there is over 100 of them) has a limited amount of bandwidth. RTE One HD would need to be carried on another transponder, meaning they would have to pay or do a deal for two. See, scroll down to the third one, 10744.00

http://en.kingofsat.net/pos-28.2E.php

The Irish channels are already on a new satellite, Astra 2e, only launched last year.

20-10-2014 10:40am

Does that mean that UTV Ireland will go on the transponder where the other ITV/UTV channels are?

pegasus1 · 20-10-2014 11:01am

There is enough space if they converted the transponder to s2 but thats not going to happen..

I thought i read somewhere that there was something going to happen in the next few months..

lertsnim · 20-10-2014 11:53am

pegasus1 wrote: »

Aren't sky launching a new satellite in the next couple of months as an upgrade to the existing one..so that will have room for rte1hd as well as utv ireland hd..

Sky don't own any satellites. They rent transponders from the likes of Astra.

pegasus1 · 20-10-2014 12:48pm

lertsnim wrote: »

Sky don't own any satellites. They rent transponders from the likes of Astra.

Astra are the satellites owned and operated by SES..

Astra 2G is launching 4th quarter '14 which we are now in...

So maybe...

mad muffin · 23-10-2014 10:58am

I got an update yesterday to my box, where i can now send pictures from my phone to the box... still no rte 1 HD though :rolleyes:

pegasus1 · 23-10-2014 2:26pm

mad muffin wrote: »

I got an update yesterday to my box, where i can now send pictures from my phone to the box... still no rte 1 HD though :rolleyes:

what version box...

lucky you...

mad muffin · 23-10-2014 2:41pm

pegasus1 wrote: »

what version box...

lucky you...

I want to say 895. Is that right? The 500gb version or is it 890?

pegasus1 · 23-10-2014 2:57pm

we have the samsung 500gb one...it has a slow fit every few days then it speeds up again...epg software update wont make a difference to channel selection..
i wonder is rte holding back on putting rte1hd on the epg to get more saorview boxes sold....

scart · 23-10-2014 2:59pm

mad muffin wrote: »

I got an update yesterday to my box, where i can now send pictures from my phone to the box... still no rte 1 HD though :rolleyes:

Its a nice new feature.
Great for showing the relations all your holiday snaps:D

DRX-895 running R010.070.58.13P
IOS Sky+App Version 5.0

mad muffin · 23-10-2014 3:05pm

Yes, it is a nice feature. Except I have many other ways I can accomplish the same. The only way I will be able to watch rte 1 HD is through sky.

scart · 23-10-2014 3:17pm

mad muffin wrote: »

The only way I will be able to watch rte 1 HD is through sky.

Yeah same here.
Hopefully RTE/Sky can get this sorted soon with the launch of Astra 2G.

I have sent an e-mail to RTE and called their switchboard twice voicing my annoyance at not been able to receive RTE1HD on the Sky platform. I recommend other Sky customers do the same...

murpho999 · 24-10-2014 9:57am

scart wrote: »

Yeah same here.
Hopefully RTE/Sky can get this sorted soon with the launch of Astra 2G.

I have sent an e-mail to RTE and called their switchboard twice voicing my annoyance at not been able to receive RTE1HD on the Sky platform. I recommend other Sky customers do the same...

Who is responsible for this? Is it Sky or RTE?

I find this "transponder" issue hard to believe.

pegasus1 · 24-10-2014 10:20am

murpho999 wrote: »

Who is responsible for this? Is it Sky or RTE?

I find this "transponder" issue hard to believe.

search other threads...in short, sky paid for a transponder that rte and other irish channels use..its full at the moment..

imo rte are to blame...not paying for a transponder in the first place..

Kensington · 24-10-2014 10:25am

murpho999 wrote: »

Who is responsible for this? Is it Sky or RTE?

I find this "transponder" issue hard to believe.

Hard to say.

The only reason RTÉ is on Sky in the first place, is because Sky offered to cover the cost of transponder leasing, as well as providing EPG slots and carriage.
In turn, you need an active Sky subscription in order for the channels to clear, there is no Free-to-View option.

Presumably this was done because, at the time, Chorus/NTL had the huge advantage of carrying the Irish channels, as well as the BBCs, UTV, Ch4 etc. (which at the time were not FTA), and it was a big negative dragging sky's marketing drive down.

As it stands, I see the situation repeating, and we will only see RTÉ 1 HD on Sky when Sky feel that the cost of gifting a second transponder to RTÉ outweighs the loss of revenue from subscribers deflecting to other avenues/providers for RTÉ 1 HD (and any ancillary services that may launch). As it stands, all of the other main platform operators, SaorView, UPC and Eircom, carry RTÉ 1 HD.

If RTÉ were to go it alone on a second transponder at 28.2E, the cost would cripple them, a transponder lease costs multiple €100,000s per annum, on top of that there are EPG carriage fees, platform contribution costs and encryption fees payable to BSkyB for inclusion on the Sky service. Now, if 2rn could sublet the second transponder, e.g. to Setanta, 3e, TG4 HD, UTV Ireland, they might be able to subsidise it somewhat but the costs would still be enourmous compared to the nothing they currently pay under the Sky deal.

There is nothing on RTÉ 1 HD you cannot see on RTÉ 1 SD (save for the few hundred thousand pixels of course) so the cost is not justifiable to RTÉ just for a HD variant of an existing channel, and on a closed platform pay TV operator at that.

irishgeo · 24-10-2014 11:23am

Kensington wrote: »

Hard to say.

The only reason RTÉ is on Sky in the first place, is because Sky offered to cover the cost of transponder leasing, as well as providing EPG slots and carriage.
In turn, you need an active Sky subscription in order for the channels to clear, there is no Free-to-View option.

Presumably this was done because, at the time, Chorus/NTL had the huge advantage of carrying the Irish channels, as well as the BBCs, UTV, Ch4 etc. (which at the time were not FTA), and it was a big negative dragging sky's marketing drive down.

As it stands, I see the situation repeating, and we will only see RTÉ 1 HD on Sky when Sky feel that the cost of gifting a second transponder to RTÉ outweighs the loss of revenue from subscribers deflecting to other avenues/providers for RTÉ 1 HD (and any ancillary services that may launch). As it stands, all of the other main platform operators, SaorView, UPC and Eircom, carry RTÉ 1 HD.

If RTÉ were to go it alone on a second transponder at 28.2E, the cost would cripple them, a transponder lease costs multiple €100,000s per annum, on top of that there are EPG carriage fees, platform contribution costs and encryption fees payable to BSkyB for inclusion on the Sky service. Now, if 2rn could sublet the second transponder, e.g. to Setanta, 3e, TG4 HD, UTV Ireland, they might be able to subsidise it somewhat but the costs would still be enourmous compared to the nothing they currently pay under the Sky deal.

There is nothing on RTÉ 1 HD you cannot see on RTÉ 1 SD (save for the few hundred thousand pixels of course) so the cost is not justifiable to RTÉ just for a HD variant of an existing channel, and on a closed platform pay TV operator at that.

Is it true HD or upscaled SD

Thurston? · 24-10-2014 11:45am

pegasus1 wrote: »

There is enough space if they converted the transponder to s2 but thats not going to happen..

Why do you think this wouldn't happen? Are there still so many old Sky boxes out there with subs?

channelsurfer2 · 24-10-2014 3:02pm

forgive my ignorance but surely if RTE1 HD is encrypted what difference does it make what transponder it is on? people in the UK are not going to get it so i think thats not much of an excuse. I presume only the SD version is a must carry station for Sky so the HD version dosent have the same status.

Kensington · 24-10-2014 3:38pm

channelsurfer2 wrote: »

forgive my ignorance but surely if RTE1 HD is encrypted what difference does it make what transponder it is on? people in the UK are not going to get it so i think thats not much of an excuse. I presume only the SD version is a must carry station for Sky so the HD version dosent have the same status.

Because if they went it alone, they'd have to pay the standard ratecard:
http://corporate.sky.com/documents/about-sky/policies/bskyb-and-sssl-published-price-list.pdf

Then rent transponder capacity from an existing leasing agent, and figure out how to get the channel feed to the teleport uplinking to that chosen transponder (primarily UK, France, Belgium).

RTÉ uplinks directly to the current transponder from Nutley Lane since all content on it can be muxed locally in Donnybrook.

Kensington · 24-10-2014 3:46pm

irishgeo wrote: »

Is it true HD or upscaled SD

Some native, remainder upscaled.

Kensington · 24-10-2014 3:52pm

Thurston? wrote: »

Why do you think this wouldn't happen? Are there still so many old Sky boxes out there with subs?

If Sky could switch every transponder to DVB-S2 with H.264 encoding they would do so in a heartbeat, all things being equal, it'd cut their current bandwidth usage by more than a half. There are still a considerable number of "non-HD" subscriber equipment (including a lot of multiroom installs), presumably too, a lot of broadcast equipment is only DVB-S MPEG-2 capable.

lertsnim · 24-10-2014 5:44pm

OSI wrote: »

Why?

Sky is a private company and would be the only beneficiary so should cover the cost unless the channels are provided on at least a FTV basis (which will never happen). RTE One already exists in SD so RTE wont be losing viewers.

TAFKAlawhec · 25-10-2014 12:20am

The potential launch of the new Astra 2G satellite won't really give much extra capacity compared to what is currently available at 28 east already - it's main mission will be to replace both the ageing Astra 2A & Eutelsat 28A satellites for Europe as well as increasing capacity for West African transmissions at the same position. Both Astra 2E & 2F have capacity currently available for another transponder to be lit up if needed.

The current transponder being used for RTÉ, TV3 & TG4 television broadcasts (Transponder 43, 10744 MHz, Horizontal polarity, Symbol Rate 22000, FEC 5/6) has a net bitrate of nearly 33.8 Mbit/s. Apart from associated data, it currently carries 6 SD channels, 1 HD channel and four radio channels. They could probably fit in one more HD stream, but the quality of all other TV channels on the transponder would suffer at least a little bit. Rejigging the transmission characteristics to DVB-S2 isn't an option as non-SD receivers would not be able to "see" the transponder.

bbability · 25-10-2014 8:34pm

Would it not be a better option to have a RTE HD channel on Sky broadcasting a bit of both from RTE 1 & 2? The BBC did this when they launched their HD transmission.

pegasus1 · 25-10-2014 9:01pm

bbability wrote: »

Would it not be a better option to have a RTE HD channel on Sky broadcasting a bit of both from RTE 1 & 2? The BBC did this when they launched their HD transmission.

it would take brains to schedule that..

good idea..

TAFKAlawhec · 26-10-2014 7:22pm

bbability wrote: »

Would it not be a better option to have a RTE HD channel on Sky broadcasting a bit of both from RTE 1 & 2? The BBC did this when they launched their HD transmission.

That's because the original BBC HD channel was a trial service.

A separate RTÉ HD channel would require its own playout facilities which still would only need to be temporary (it's surely a case of when, not if RTÉ One HD will be available via Sky) and would not help when shows on both RTÉ One and RTÉ 2 are both HD sourced - who gives in there?

As I've said, bandwidth at the satellite position itself isn't the problem - it's simply the (little known of in public) commercial agreement between RTÉ and Sky that appears to be the hold up. I'd assume there would be nothing to stop RTÉ One HD appearing on another transponder with other services broadcast as 3e and Newstalk are if an agreement involving all parties was reached.

icdg · 27-10-2014 8:55pm

TAFKAlawhec wrote: »

A separate RTÉ HD channel would require its own playout facilities which still would only need to be temporary (it's surely a case of when, not if RTÉ One HD will be available via Sky) and would not help when shows on both RTÉ One and RTÉ 2 are both HD sourced - who gives in there?

Its only a month ago when we had complaints here when the All-Ireland Hurling Final and the first Republic of Ireland UEFA Euro 2016 game clashed. One had to be shown on RTE One (the GAA IIRC ) and the GAA fans who only had Sky complained. Had the channels been reversed the football fans would have complained. Thankfully clashes like that are rare but it demonstrates the difficulties.

3rdDegree · 06-11-2014 3:51pm

icdg wrote: »

Its only a month ago when we had complaints here when the All-Ireland Hurling Final and the first Republic of Ireland UEFA Euro 2016 game clashed. One had to be shown on RTE One (the GAA IIRC ) and the GAA fans who only had Sky complained. Had the channels been reversed the football fans would have complained. Thankfully clashes like that are rare but it demonstrates the difficulties.

Yes, but when they showed the reply of the All-Ireland hurling final (this time on RTE2-HD), it wasn't in HD. In fact, a very large amount of content available in HD and shown on RTE2-HD is not broadcast in HD. So what's the point in RTE having any HD channels when they wont use them?

When it comes to HD, RTE is a complete joke.

lertsnim · 06-11-2014 6:39pm

3rdDegree wrote: »

So what's the point in RTE having any HD channels when they wont use them?

But they do use them. As pointed out already both the all Ireland final and soccer were available in HD. If Sky choose not to have the RTÉ One HD channel, it is nobody else's fault but Sky.

Will I Amnt · 06-11-2014 6:44pm

lertsnim wrote: »

But they do use them.

Disregarding the Sky factor there is still not a lot of HD programming on RTE. The amount of upscaled content is ridiculous.

JDxtra · 06-11-2014 6:53pm

Agree. Most movies are shown upscaled when there are definitely HD versions available.

byte · 06-11-2014 11:48pm

Could it be that they may have to renegotiate rights deals for HD content like movies, etc.?

Will I Amnt · 07-11-2014 1:20am

lertsnim wrote: »

They show quite a bit of HD programming. And you are assuming that they have access to everything in HD. The moaning on this place at times is something else.

I'm not assuming anything and I'm not moaning, I rarely watch RTE, just stating my opinion. There were games during the World Cup that were upscaled and some GAA Championship games, movies etc.
No need to get offended on their behalf.

3rdDegree · 07-11-2014 10:45am

lertsnim wrote: »

But they do use them. As pointed out already both the all Ireland final and soccer were available in HD. If Sky choose not to have the RTÉ One HD channel, it is nobody else's fault but Sky.

No they do not and I think you missed my point. What I was saying was that even though they show something on a HD channel that is available in HD, they frequently show that content is SD. There are many examples, such as US shows, movies, live events and in the case I mentioned above, when they showed the All Ireland hurling final replay on RTE 2HD. In fact, the majority of such content is shown in SD on RTE 2HD.

As for "moaning", it's a valid moan. We're discussing RTE's extremely poor implementation of HD. That is something that deserves derision. It certainly doesn't deserve any praise! It's a complete joke.

JDxtra · 07-11-2014 10:56am

I've always said (including to RTE) that they should remove the HD logo when the content is not HD. But maybe they like misleading the viewer into thinking they are better than they are at HD.

irishgeo · 11-11-2014 4:40pm

JDxtra wrote: »

I've always said (including to RTE) that they should remove the HD logo when the content is not HD. But maybe they like misleading the viewer into thinking they are better than they are at HD.

what bitrate are they using?

is it better than sky?

sky bitrate on the sd channels is awful lately

icdg · 12-11-2014 6:46pm

JDxtra wrote: »

I've always said (including to RTE) that they should remove the HD logo when the content is not HD. But maybe they like misleading the viewer into thinking they are better than they are at HD.

It's userul on UPC/Sky where there are seperate HD and SD versions. Then again, the EPG will tell you which is which as easily

Remind Me Tomorrow · 18-12-2014 12:12pm

Kensington wrote: »

There is nothing on RTÉ 1 HD you cannot see on RTÉ 1 SD (save for the few hundred thousand pixels of course) so the cost is not justifiable to RTÉ just for a HD variant of an existing channel, and on a closed platform pay TV operator at that.

The quality is brutal on a 45" screen, 55" - 65" is fast becoming the norm and SD video is simply unwatchable imo. Sky have decreased the SD picture quality on the modern boxes so people will be urged to upgrade to HD.

Sky have been screwing their Irish customers for years. They know that the vast majority of their Irish customers have no other alternative to Sky and they can get away with whatever they like. What they don't realise is that the competition is set to explode with broadband services getting into TV and as soon as there are alternatives Sky will be fcuked no matter what they try to do about it. We may not go out on the streets protesting much, but when the time comes we pounce. Ah come on lads, here's a new transponder for free, we're all friends now right? No, fcuk you sky...fcuk you.

icdg · 18-12-2014 12:31pm

please don't attempt to circumvent the langauge filter

lertsnim · 18-12-2014 12:53pm

Remind Me Tomorrow wrote: »

The quality is brutal on a 45" screen, 55" - 65" is fast becoming the norm and SD video is simply unwatchable imo. Sky have decreased the SD picture quality on the modern boxes so people will be urged to upgrade to HD.

Sky have been screwing their Irish customers for years. They know that the vast majority of their Irish customers have no other alternative to Sky and they can get away with whatever they like. What they don't realise is that the competition is set to explode with broadband services getting into TV and as soon as there are alternatives Sky will be fcuked no matter what they try to do about it. We may not go out on the streets protesting much, but when the time comes we pounce. Ah come on lads, here's a new transponder for free, we're all friends now right? No, fcuk you sky...fcuk you.

Most people do have an alternative to throwing a fortune at Sky every month. The most watched channels on satellite are FTA. I know the following isn't true for everyone, especially if you want live sport, but most people wouldn't miss pay TV if they ditched it for something like a Freesat/Saorview combination.

corm500 · 18-12-2014 4:03pm

lertsnim wrote: »

Most people do have an alternative to throwing a fortune at Sky every month. The most watched channels on satellite are FTA. I know the following isn't true for everyone, especially if you want live sport, but most people wouldn't miss pay TV if they ditched it for something like a Freesat/Saorview combination.

I am living proof of this as I ditched Sky a few months back after years of loyal service, I dont miss it one bit which has surprised me tbh. To the extent that when Sky rang me a few weeks back and offered me all channels for free for 3 months , I turned them down as I coudnt be bothered taking the box down from the attic

RTE 1 HD on Sky box

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