BBC proposal to launch FTA Satellite package

carrolls

Interesting story.
http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/story.jsp?story=515640

Genghis

Excellent news for Irish viewers. The natural next step for the BBC / UK Terrestrial TV to take, I think.

Sky must be more than a little concerend - no encryption revenues, and the prospect of substantial numbers of viewers to the free platform, using the equipment Sky gave them! I would think that anyone on a family-pack type subscription must look at the value proposition and conclude 'is the subscription worth it if the top 5 channels are free anyway?'.

Where does this all leave the Irish DTT strategy?

watty

This is what BBC has always said.

If "rights" Issues can be solved then ITV *WILL* be next when current contract ends Aug 2004. They have already said so.

Five is unlikely and may in fact become a Pay TV channel.

A more sensible artical than many stupid ones in the "Medya Gridiron" (Munged incase they might sue me).

Sin e an Fear

If "rights" Issues can be solved then ITV *WILL* be next when current contract ends Aug 2004. They have already said so.

They did look at going FTA in 2001. Channel 4's Andrew Baxter told me the channels had no plans to go FTA, even though that shouldn't affect FilmFour, E4 etc.

Mike 1972

If ITV did go FTA the momentum would probably force Channel 4 (and perhaps five) down that route too. C4 would proably start losing viewers if they ended up being the only FTV channel.

As for five being a pay channel It sounds like its about time they made up their minds what side of the fence theyre on. If five ARE a pay channel what the hell are they doing with an analouge netwok along with a "must carry" cable/freeview and EPG status (Including a legally mandated prime EPG slot 105) They should hand their terrestrial licence back to OFCOM (so that it can be awarded to someone else) and sign distribution deals with sky etc just like any other "pay channel"

At the moment theyre trying to have it both ways

lawhec

Originally posted by Mike 1972
As for five being a pay channel It sounds like its about time they made up their minds what side of the fence theyre on. If five ARE a pay channel what the hell are they doing with an analouge netwok along with a "must carry" cable/freeview and EPG status (Including a legally mandated prime EPG slot 105) They should hand their terrestrial licence back to OFCOM (so that it can be awarded to someone else) and sign distribution deals with sky etc just like any other "pay channel"

At the moment theyre trying to have it both ways

If Five had to or did hand back their analogue terrestial licence I would seriously doubt it would be readvertised as such in the current climate whereby all the talk is switching analogue off.

Mike 1972

It is hardly a secret that by the time Channel five came on air the ITC were regreating giving out a fifth analouge licence but had to under the UK's 1990 Broadcasting act. They would have much prefered to allocate 35 and 37 for a DTT SFN which would have given near nationwide DTT coveraggefor all existing services and then some.

Unfortunately digital TV hadnt been around (outside the lab at least) in 1990 when the legislation was drafted and the ITC had to go ahead and licence C5

If C5 were to hand back/have revoked the analouge licence current legislation wouldnt require the ITC to readvertise it and it could be given to freeview

watty

Ch5 was meant to be Digital only, but was given analog because DTT was behind hand. That is why C5 alone was on Sky Analogue.
So yes the analog would not probabily be advertised again.

David Robinson

Just as a matter of interest, what happens at the moment if you use a non-Sky receiver on 28.2°? To what extent does the EPG work? What about subtitles and interactive services?

brian boro

Using a non-Sky box you will only receive a Now and Next banner for FTA services on Astra 2 such as the BBC.

However, the BBC is at the moment testing a 7-day listings EPG for Freeview in the parts of the UK and it will only be a matter of time before this becomes available on satellite particularly in light of the proposal to start a FreeSat service with ITV, Ch 4 etc.

Interactive services can only be accessed using a Sky Digibox.

I'm using a TechniSat DigiCorder S1 PVR (as a value for money alternative to the Sky Plus rip off) for recording BBC programmes off Astra 2. Despite the limited EPG, it has an excellent Timer facility which gives the recorded programme's name and information.

Roll on FreeSat with ITV.

Stiabhna

According to an article (see link below) in the Sunday Business Post, RTE "will indeed be forced to go on FreeSat".

Can anyone explain the reasoning behind this argument?

http://thepost.ie/web/Sitemap/1.9did-445962808-pageUrl--2FBusiness-2FComment-and-Analysis-2FAll-Comment-and-Analysis.asp

Tony

I think the rationale is that if significant numbers of people choose Free to air satellite then RTE may come under pressure from its advertisers as they could no longer guarantee the kind of viewer figures which advertisers would demand given the current rates.

It is also interesting that the job losses predicted in many quarters have not materialised .

Tony

Originally posted by Stiabhna
According to an article (see link below) in the Sunday Business Post, RTE "will indeed be forced to go on FreeSat".

Can anyone explain the reasoning behind this argument?

http://thepost.ie/web/Sitemap/1.9did-445962808-pageUrl--2FBusiness-2FComment-and-Analysis-2FAll-Comment-and-Analysis.asp

byte

RTE will indeed be forced to go on FreeSat, and this will make negotiating Irish rights for programmes more difficult. But it will also make it almost impossible for British channels to eat into RTE's revenue by selling ads to be broadcast only to Ireland. In other words, RTE's future may be far brighter than it believes, but only if it begins to embrace the real world.

That's a good paragraph, though whether RTÉ take heed is another matter. :rolleyes: