RTE on Sky Free-To-View : Could it happen ?

Mr McBoatface

Hi Folks ,

With the endless delays with roll-out of a Irish DTT service I was wondering if Sky where to introduce an Ireland only Free-To-View card like the ones available in the UK would you avail of it ? And does anybody know of any legal obstacles to them introducing such a card here in Ireland ?

By Free-To-View I mean the Irish channels will remain encrypted but a viewing card would be sold to the customer for a once off fee 30 Euro or so , the card would then decrypt the Irish channels for viewing to people in Ireland only.

I'd personal get such a card where one to be introduced by Sky at least then RTE would be available to most of the country for a minimal fee.

I think for Sky it would also be a win win situation as they currently don't charge for the Irish channels and if this approach was adopted they might get extra customers at a later stage converting from Free-To-View to pay packages.

John mac

Nope. never happen .

John mac

jobyrne30 wrote: »

I think for Sky it would also be a win win situation as the currently don't charge for the Irish channels

They do charge as you cant get them on their own! a min sub of ~€20 per month is required.

Mr McBoatface

Do you know of any particular commercial or legal reason why not ?

Mr McBoatface

John mac wrote: »

They do charge as you cant get them on their own! a min sub of ~€20 per month is required.

That's a fair comment but Sky describe the channels as bonus channels for taking out a sub , the same way a Fiver and Five USA are bonus channels. I'm not a Sky fan and don't have a Sky sub but I would get a free-to-view card if the Irish channels where on it.

The_Conductor

jobyrne30 wrote: »

That's a fair comment but Sky describe the channels as bonus channels for taking out a sub , the same way a Fiver and Five USA are bonus channels. I'm not a Sky fan and don't have a Sky sub but I would get a free-to-view card if the Irish channels where on it.

Ditto- I'd get an Irish Free-to-view card in a heartbeat if one was available. I'm using HD Freesat at the moment, along with analogue terrestrial- and for all intensive purposes I don't have an RTE/TG4/TV3 reception (I'm sure I'm the same as thousands around the country).

If someone wants to start a petition- I'd be more than happy to sign it.......

Mr McBoatface

Let's see how this thread runs and you never know I might just start one

Tony

It would not be in sky's interest for this to happen so unless they are forced to implement it I dont see it happening. Another platform such as the one fortec are working on might be interesting though. I've read some comments over on digital spy about this.

Mr McBoatface

Thanks for the input Tony. I've never been able to understand why the RTE/Government didn't make it a condition of allowing Sky to carry RTE. At the time when they where new to the Irish market I'm sure Sky would have agreed to RTE Free-To-View just to make inroads here.

It might be in Sky's interests to do so now, It could kill pay DTT and a potential if unlikely competitor before it even got started. That said pay DTT might be dead as it is.

Tony

jobyrne30 wrote: »

Thanks for the input Tony. I've never been able to understand why the RTE/Government didn't make it a condition of allowing Sky to carry RTE. At the time when they where new to the Irish market I'm sure Sky would have agreed to RTE Free-To-View just to make inroads here.

It might be in Sky's interests to do so now, It could kill pay DTT and a potential if unlikely competitor before it even got started. That said pay DTT might be dead as it is.

Absolutely right on both points. When RTe joined sky they just jumped at the chance of free carriage without thinking of the long term implications. If I understand correctly there is a "must carry" clause now in the latest broadcasting bill. Interesting discussion on this over in the terrestrial forum.

120_Minutes

I'd rather remove rte from my epg altogether and not pay a tv licence.

Minstrel27

120_Minutes wrote: »

I'd rather remove rte from my epg altogether and not pay a tv licence.

You are not paying a licence to view RTÉ.

Mayo Exile

If a dedicated FTV card system for the Irish channels won't happen, at least what should happen is that an Irish Sky card should continue to receive these channels even when a subscriber finishes with Sky's pay channels.

Minstrel27

Mayo Exile wrote: »

If a dedicated FTV card system for the Irish channels won't happen, at least what should happen is that an Irish Sky card should continue to receive these channels even when a subscriber finishes with Sky's pay channels.

I agree 100%. It is a ridiculous situation that RTÉ have found themselves in. Hopefully the viewer benefits when the contract is up.

Tony

Again this would not be in sky's interest so they will not allow this unless forced to do so.

The_Conductor

Mayo Exile wrote: »

If a dedicated FTV card system for the Irish channels won't happen, at least what should happen is that an Irish Sky card should continue to receive these channels even when a subscriber finishes with Sky's pay channels.

I imagine you'd all of a sudden discover a remarkable resale market for 2nd hand cards in Portugal/Spain

homelink

Tony wrote: »

Again this would not be in sky's interest so they will not allow this unless forced to do so.

In my opinion it would be in sky's interest to give an ftv option for Ireland as it would indeed kill off any subscription dtt service (if we ever get one).Also it opens up another market for people who will pay a one off fee (for box & card) but don't want a subscription service.The main issues for Sky I think would be regulatory & an epg for Ireland only. I don't think they could put English channels on an Irish FTV system without paying the Broadcasters.

Tony

homelink wrote: »

In my opinion it would be in sky's interest to give an ftv option for Ireland as it would indeed kill off any subscription dtt service

Sky would see it as being detrimental to their subscription service.

MACHEAD

smccarrick wrote: »

I imagine you'd all of a sudden discover a remarkable resale market for 2nd hand cards in Portugal/Spain

ditto the six counties!

MACHEAD

120_Minutes wrote: »

I'd rather remove rte from my epg altogether and not pay a tv license.

If the irish TV license is anything like the UK one we have up here in the north, it's not for 'watching RTÉ/BBC', it's for operating equipment capable of receiving TV signals. So it doesn't matter if the channels you watch originate in Ireland, the UK or outer Mongolia, you need a license.

Sam Russell

MACHEAD wrote: »

If the irish TV license is anything like the UK one we have up here in the north, it's not for 'watching RTÉ/BBC', it's for operating equipment capable of receiving TV signals. So it doesn't matter if the channels you watch originate in Ireland, the UK or outer Mongolia, you need a license.

There is a difference between the two licenses. In the UK, you have to be caught using the TV to contravene, while in the Republic, you just have to be in possession of the equipment. That is why the UK used to use detector vans with a huge aerial on top to catch people using their tellies, whereas here they use advertisements to shame peolple into paying, and then the occasional letter.

Mr McBoatface

Thanks for the input lads, points well made, but can we try and keep it on subject. Would you avail of a Sky free-to-view card for RTE should one be available ?

Thanks

MACHEAD

Yes, dam straight I would. Paying €56.00 a month at the moment!

Cherrycola

Sam Russell wrote: »

There is a difference between the two licenses. In the UK, you have to be caught using the TV to contravene, while in the Republic, you just have to be in possession of the equipment. That is why the UK used to use detector vans with a huge aerial on top to catch people using their tellies, whereas here they use advertisements to shame peolple into paying, and then the occasional letter.

Well said, and the fact that the BBC only make their money from licence fees, and NOT advertising, changes things too.
Here we have to pay a fee for a channel we may or may not even have, or watch, knowing that all the fees ONLY go to this channel, and that they also make us sit through scores of advertising during movies, plus they use the money to make really bad copies of BBC/ITV reality shows!

Minstrel27

Cherrycola wrote: »

Well said, and the fact that the BBC only make their money from licence fees, and NOT advertising, changes things too.

You are joking right? I think you should learn about the BBC and all it's non UK activities, their 50% stake in UKTV (these channels all have advertising), DVD sales and the sale of programming to other broadcasters.

Licence fee only is completely wrong.

Guell72

RTE on Freesat would kill Sky too.

Apogee

RTÉ being available FTV on Videoguard, or on a separate encryption system, ultimately hinges on their contract with Sky - its duration and conditions. Try submitting an FOI request on the very same contract and you'll be refused on the basis of commerical sensitivity.

RTÉ readily proclaim themselves as the nation's public broadcaster but are quick to hide behind the veil of a commercial entreprise when it suits them. And not just on this issue - example.

Indeed, they appear to have a culture of secrecy in marked contrast to the BBC. Anyone following the development of Freesat and BBCHD, for example, will have noted the regular interaction of BBC personnel with posters of various blogs and forums. RTÉ are happy to use the reports from posters here when it comes to the DAB and DTT transmissions, but there is little or no information flow in the opposite direction.

Mr McBoatface

Thanks for your input Apogee, I agree 100% with what you say. I've searched everywhere for information and asked RTE/Minster of Communication for information on the length of the remaining contract RTE & Sky have and when I got a response it was "Sorry can't discuss that subject" or words to that effect. That's pretty much the reason why I opened the discussion here on boards, there are some people on this forum who I'd say know more about RTE and their runnings/contracts than the Minister for Non-Communication.

I find the current situation with RTE digital services to be very frustrating and to be honest don't care in what DVB format RTE digital is carried on as long as it's free after installation/set-up.

@Guell72 : I don't think RTE/TV3 as we know them can ever be free-sat, there would be rights issues that would prevent that, RTE/TV3 would have to remain encrypted. I do think that if Sky created an Irish Free To View like that in the UK they would gain business. I could see many people sitting at home watching RTE on a newly installed Sky Free-To-View system opening up the Sky TV guide/epg and upon seeing the extra programs that could be available to them if they subscribe, deciding to subscribe. Along with an increase in the take-up of box office events I could see Sky gaining business. I'm sure some current customers would downgrade to a FTV system but I'd say more new FTV customers would later upgraded to subscription services than they'd loose. It would be interesting in getting any stats from the UK on this.

Edit:-The now scraped RTE international could have been free-sat, I believe it was going to be it's a shame it was dumped.

Cherrycola

Minstrel27 wrote: »

You are joking right? I think you should learn about the BBC and all it's non UK activities, their 50% stake in UKTV (these channels all have advertising), DVD sales and the sale of programming to other broadcasters.

Licence fee only is completely wrong.

Im talking about the BBC channels only, and what they provide for the licence fee, and how they dont subject their licence fee paying viewers to ad breaks every 15mins.

RTE make money from licence fee, advertising, dvd sales, sale of programming also, and god knows what else, and we are still subjected to crap programming, repeats of movies that are donkeys years old at christmas, and shockingly bad copies of other channels programme ideas!
At least the BBC provide a decent level of programming to their viewers!

The_Conductor

Cherrycola wrote: »

Im talking about the BBC channels only, and what they provide for the licence fee, and how they dont subject their licence fee paying viewers to ad breaks every 15mins.

RTE make money from licence fee, advertising, dvd sales, sale of programming also, and god knows what else, and we are still subjected to crap programming, repeats of movies that are donkeys years old at christmas, and shockingly bad copies of other channels programme ideas!
At least the BBC provide a decent level of programming to their viewers!

They have a population base of almost 15 times ours though- is the BBC 15 times better than RTE? I don't think so........

Cherrycola

I would have to say yes, but thats my opinion.
I watch BBC way more than i do RTE, but yet am obliged to pay for their programming and only their programming, while paying a sub to Sky to even receive the channel in digital format.