So will we(ROI subscribers) be able to add the BBC channels to 'other channels'?

Zhane

just wondering.....


i hope so, i want BBC3

Mossy Monk

you shall have BBC3 via Other Channels

Zhane

coolo

LegacyUser

On a similar note, my bro has moved into a house where the Sky dish was left behind. Is there a sat decoder (not a Sky Digibox) you can get just for the FTA channels in ROI, where do you get them, and how much do they cost?

watty

Yes
www.satellie.ie

But a subsidized Sky install and cancel the sub after 1 year might be cheaper and better. BBC Interactive and Sky News Interactive need a Digibox.
You can use a Digibox without subscription.
A non-digibox is the thing if you want free hard Disk recording or FTA from other Satellites.

The ideal is both and only have the Sky sub when you want (minumum of a month after your initial contract)

Richard

My sky sub is being cancelled from the 5th July. The BBC thing has nothing to do with it, but I presume there will be no problem in being able to receive BBC NI on 214 and 215 from the 10th?

Also, Watty, why did you change your picture? The previous one was much better!

Charles Slane

Watty,

that link doesn't work. I guess it should be www.satellite.ie

By the way I prefer the new picture. (Maybe we should take a poll).

watty

Originally posted by Richard
My sky sub is being cancelled from the 5th July. The BBC thing has nothing to do with it, but I presume there will be no problem in being able to receive BBC NI on 214 and 215 from the 10th?

Also, Watty, why did you change your picture? The previous one was much better!

Sorry about mistyped link.
Though I do have a beard a bit like Brutus, I thought some of my posts are abrasive enough without the scowling icon.

I wouldn't bet that 214 and 215 will work (on cancelled sub, though should), but if all the BBC is on FTA EPG, makes more sense to use Card upside down and get ALL the free stations on EPG

LegacyUser

So, the BBC FTA plan isn't exaclty cheap. I see in today's times (see below) that there's a one-off payment of E500 for the service, which gives you the eight BBC channels and 90 others "including CNN and QVC". LOL. Presumably they're all the God channels and shopping channels



RTE worried over BBC satellite move
Emmet Oliver_ _
_
RTÉ has expressed serious concern about an announcement by the BBC that from July 10th it will broadcast its eight TV channels unencrypted to anyone with a satellite dish and a decoder in Britain and Ireland.

Irish viewers will for the first time be able to receive eight BBC channels, plus up to 90 others, free once they have a satellite dish and a decoder for a once-off cost of about €500. The BBC named the date for the new development on Friday.

An RTÉ spokeswoman said the announcement had major implications for RTÉ. The station is concerned a significant number of people will ditch their cable or satellite contracts and pay the one-off cost for the eight BBC services and other channels, among them CNN and QVC.

These viewers will still be able to access Irish channels like RTÉ via old-fashioned aerials or "rabbit ears" free. While this should help the Irish channels maintain their viewing figures, Irish stations are worried people will fall out of the habit of switching between their satellite service and an aerial.

Viewers who choose the satellite option would only have to pay once, whereas RTÉ channels on digital are currently available on Sky, a subscription-based service.

This deal with Sky continues for another four years and some sources in RTÉ are concerned about being tied to this arrangement when a relatively cheap alternative will be available for viewers who purchase their own satellite dish.

The Astra 2D satellite covers Ireland and Britain and that is why viewers in Ireland can pick up the BBC channels via a satellite dish. Until now, such channels were encrypted or scrambled in the Republic, but now they will be "in the clear" or unscrambled.

Meanwhile, the Minister for Communications, Mr Ahern, in a Daíl reply has promised to meet television companies on the issue and discuss what action, if any, should be taken.

In reply to a question from Labour's Mr Tommy Broughan, Mr John Browne, answering on behalf of the Minister, said: "The BBC's decision, especially if other UK terrestrial broadcasters follow suit, has implications for Irish television audiences, Irish broadcasters and for those who sell television services in the Irish market."

"The Minister has had discussions with representatives of the industry in Ireland on its implications. He will shortly meet representatives of both the broadcasters and platform operators to give them a further opportunity to outline their concerns and to listen to their views on what action, if any, should be taken," he added.

On Friday, after months of squabbling, the BBC and BSkyB finally settled a protracted row in Britain over an £85 million (€120 million) deal that guarantees distribution of the BBC's channels to 6.7 million Sky homes.

They have agreed a new deal, believed to represent savings of tens of millions of pounds, which will ensure BBC1 and BBC2 remain the first channels Sky viewers see on the electronic TV listings that appear on screen automatically when they switch on their sets.

The deal has been described in Britain as a U-turn by the BBC director general, Mr Greg Dyke, who announced in March he was severing all links with Sky. While Mr Dyke is prepared to work with Sky, he has decided that BBC channels will be unencrypted and that is what is concerning the Irish television industry.



© The Irish Times

maisflocke

€500 once-off cost?

I take it the dish and receiver will be gold-plated then.

LegacyUser

That 500 is only the subscription - it doesn't even cover the cost of the dish or box.

jez

Does anyone think there is anything Mr "spoilsport knee jerk reaction" Dermot Ahern can do to block the channels(BBC) being received in Ireland??!!! After all he's said he's concerned...

watty

There is no subscription.

€500 is just a round figure for unsubsidized Sky Digital box, dish, LNB and install.

The article is not 100% accurate either.

Obviously if you already have a Digital Satellite system (any kind) the cost is zero.

If you subscribe to Family pack for a year and cancel the cost is under €400.

If you go for "Sky World" and cut back to value pack the min cost to get setup is about €250.

Unless you want a NON-Sky digital receiver the best deal is to subscribe for a year. The gear is yours from day 1. Only once per household though.

Non-Sky options won't do BBC interactive, or Sky News Interactive, but do include Hard Disk recording.

60 Radio and about 16 decent TV channels with ITV likely next year is not to be sneezed at, but since anyone that wants BBC etc has already got NTL, Chorus, Sky or a BIG aerial long since the article is stupid, it's not a threat to RTE etc, but Chorus/NTL.

Most folks will go for a Digibox as for BBC without Hard Disk recording this gives best feature and lowest price. Sky will pick up a lot of these as subscribers. How many will downgrade to "Value Pack" or cancel after 1st year?

Once ITV goes FTA next year the MMDS in particular is doomed. Analog cable will survive beacuse it is cheap and multi-TV channels at once. Digital Cable will struggle, but not as doomed as MMDS.

maisflocke

You could always get a Humax receiver for Sky & BBC active Watty, they do offer at least 1 model with OpenTV middleware.

watty

Yes, but I don't beleive it actually works with Sky Active or BBCi.

Personally with 4 dishes, 8 LNBs, 2 Analog, 2 Digbox and 1 PC Sat system I have enough.. And there are a lot of Amatuer Radio aerials and Wireless Lan Antenna also. (The things that look like they are for MMDS on my house arn't)

Mossy Monk

Originally posted by Buckfast
RTE worried over BBC satellite move

why get worried now?

RTÉ brought BBC to areas served by Cablelink (now NTL)
BBC has been widespread for years due to deflectors
most people who go for satellite tv do so for multi channel television

West Briton

Yet another recycled article in the IT with less than impressive technical knowhow.

The major difficulty for viewers pressing the "tv" button then 1 to 4 for the Irish channels. Rabbit's Ears, for God's sake. And where does the figure of €500 come from? Plucked out of the air most likely.

Richard

Originally posted by West Briton
And where does the figure of €500 come from? Plucked out of the air most likely.

This may be the price of a FTA Non-Sky decoder. I think Sky brought back their deal for non-subscribers, now it costs about £120 IIRC.