RTE Announce FTA Saorsat service

mbutler2007

zg3409 wrote: »

I tested Saorsat from the East Maidens Island, which is a good way East of Larne, between Northern Ireland and Scotland. A fine picture was picked up with my test setup.

Conclusion
Looks as if Saorsat should be receivable in all of the north, and possibly very west Scotland.

I did hear one report that the East Scotland beam is putting out a blank DVB-S carrier (as opposed to DVB-S2) on the EXACT same frequency as Saorsat which seems to be jamming the signal for one person in Manchester anyway. He received the DVB-S carrier fine, but nothing on it. It looks as if the East Scotland beam is not stronger than the Irish beam in all of the North anyways.

I might get up to Rathlin later this year and test there too.

Hi i am hoping to set up Saorsat here in Belfast. I was think of using a 60cm dish do you think this will be big enufe? Or should i look at a 70+cm dish.
What reviser would you recommend i am thing of get a saorsat freesat combi box. I already have a sky dish so can take the feed form that.
??

zg3409

mbutler2007 wrote:

Hi i am hoping to set up Saorsat here in Belfast. I was think of using a 60cm dish do you think this will be big enufe? Or should i look at a 70+cm dish. ??

According to this post:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=77571018&postcount=2256

You need a 1M dish for Saorsat in Belfast. A 40cm will work, but possibly not during heavy rain to the South.

mbutler2007 wrote:

What reviser would you recommend i am thing of get a saorsat freesat combi box. I already have a sky dish so can take the feed form that.

It depends. If you want to go Saorsat approved there is only one approved box that guarantees 7 day guide and all features on Saorsat. That's the triax TSC114.

However this does not give 7 day guide for Freesat.

For best non dual tuner box seems to be
http://www.powercity.ie/?par=10-24-WP75HD&pages=&prod=WP75HD&brands=WALKER&image=

Which seems to give 7 day guide on both, but is neither Saorsat nor Freesat approved.
Proof here:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=76461857&postcount=31

Powercity also sell the right KA LNB.

If dual tuner, with recording and 7 day guide for both Freesat and Saorsat is your plans, then there is no approved box and there may never be. Some others have hacked together firmware that seems to work OK.

I saw one person wo got it working. Can't find link nor make at the moment.

If you do go and install a 1M dish, you may as well get a 20 degree offset bracket for the normal 28.2 signal.

You will also need a minimum of 2 port DiSEqC switch to combine 28.2 and 9 East.

zg3409

Here is the dual tuner hacked version:

The fortecstar passion plus now shows both the 'Freesat' and 'SaorSat' EPG

Foretec passion isnt a Freesat box (Freesat is not just 7 day epg, but also proprietary software that autotunes and has proprietary MHEG menus - Red Button etc). The Fortec Passion just has a software patch that allows you to manually grab the EPG data from the Sky EPG transponder and populate 7 days.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=76343200&postcount=11

Combined TV guide
https://us.v-cdn.net/6034073/uploads/attachments/78041/187328.JPG

Additional program info
https://us.v-cdn.net/6034073/uploads/attachments/78041/187330.JPG

I am not sure how well the actual recording works. It may have problems recording one 28.2 program if the tuner was last on 9 East etc.

One box is reported:

With the hacked firmware you can add non-Freesat channels to the EPG. This includes channels on other satellites that require diseq. However, there is a problem with recording. If a non-Freesat channel is recording any Freesat recording will fail.

Time is likely to be 1 hour off during summer

More info on the thread:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056504229

Thanks for fkearney for this

Remember this box is not approved by anyone, so fancy features may not work and recording may not be 100% It probably has some glitches.

Hotblack Desiato

zg3409 wrote: »

If you want to go Saorsat approved there is only one approved box that guarantees 7 day guide and all features on Saorsat. That's the triax TSC114.

That box is Saorview approved not Saorsat. The intention is to use it with an aerial for Saorview and a dish for FTA UK channels. I'm not aware of any approved boxes for Saorsat or whether a Saorsat approval process exists at all. If that box was to be used with Saorsat (does it even support Diseqc?) then the DTT tuner would be redundant.

It's a combo box. No point buying a combo box for Freesat + Saorsat.

STB

Yes if you are looking for a cheap way to do both off satellite you should be looking for twin Sat inputs rather than a combo DVB-T/DVB-S2.

That Fortec Passion is only one Sat input (yes I know that diseq could be used, but same transponder would only be viewable in the context of recording as its a single tuner box).

The Technomates 6800 Super also does this as does the some of the Super range and the newer ones. A phantom patch is available to load the 7 day OPenEPG grab to the boxes memory for OTA for Astra 2. They would have the same limitations as recording goes as the Passions on the single tuner technomates.

However, the Technomate Twin TM range and Triple tuners also have the phantom patch and would allow for record Saorview and watch satellite channels, more PVR if you like..... As they are UK based, Technomate are the only other non linux like boxes that offer unofficial 7 day epg grabbing for 28.2, that I know off. Their German equivelants (Clarktech) have the same hardware (also made by Hubtech S.Korea) but not the same support.

Remember though whilst these do combined epg, they wont autoune (ala real Freesat software) or give you MHEG5.

A few other Linux boxes with UK support would also do the same (Vu+Duo for example).

Antenna

zg3409 wrote: »

They would need to install a new Saorview transposer, the old equipment simple will not work this November, not sure on the cost but it probably would be relatively expensive. They would also need to support it 24/7/365 for next 20 years.

There is no technical reason why there couldn't be some extenstion of analogue at many non-Saorview relays (depending on lack of Saorview coverage from other sites and demand), with a review maybe sometime next year. It is just a matter of installing a Saorview Set Top Box (for each channel RTE1/RTE2, TG4, TV3) feeding a modulator for each channel at the relay. Its false to say the EU requires ALL analogue TV transmission to cease this year. The UHF RF channels listed for Timoleague in Co. Cork are neither in the so-called 'Digital Divident Spectrum' nor are they required to improve digital coverage elsewhere.

Similar concerns about a self-help relay for Rockchapel in north-west Co. Cork also mentioned during this recent Saorview radio interview
http://soundcloud.com/tvlopt/saorviewonc103friday13thapril2
Its UHF channels (40,43,46,50) are not in the Digital Dividend Spectrum either.

zg3409

ninja900 wrote: »

That box is Saorview approved not Saorsat. The intention is to use it with an aerial for Saorview and a dish for FTA UK channels. I'm not aware of any approved boxes for Saorsat or whether a Saorsat approval process exists at all. If that box was to be used with Saorsat (does it even support Diseqc?) then the DTT tuner would be redundant.

It's a combo box. No point buying a combo box for Freesat + Saorsat.

Well yes and no. I was a bit confused, still am confused and another triax box (sat only) is due on the way.

The Triax TSC114 IS SAORSAT APPROVED. I was at the launch in Dublin and spoke to the rep etc. It is indeed a combo box too. I have not seen any approval specification, nor even sure there is such a thing. I think is is approved in so far as the transport stream from Satellite is handled the same as the terrestrial stream as far as possible. Whether the Saorsat box can/could re-tune if the satellite transponder settings were to change is unlikely.

You can read this in lots of places and actually see it in use on Saorsat here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UckXobTl-LU

E.g. here:
http://egansatellite.ie/saorview/

However at the same launch triax had a Satellite ONLY box with a blue display. This did not have a model number yet, and the sales staff said it was only a sample and the model number had not been decided. This box is also going to be Saorsat approved (and presumably cheaper that the TSC114.

Neither had a Saorsat Approved sticker but RTENL seem to be saying it is so too.

zg3409

Antenna wrote: »

There is no technical reason why there couldn't be some extenstion of analogue at many non-Saorview relays .

I think the point is to turn off analogue rather than extend it. When would it end? Also they can blame Europe on saying analogue is inefficient use of spectrum etc.

Antenna wrote: »

It is just a matter of installing a Saorview Set Top Box (for each channel RTE1/RTE2, TG4, TV3) feeding a modulator for each channel at the relay. .

I think most small sites use a tranposer, so there is no real transmitter as such at the moment. Also I assume teletext is going off on the 24th of October. A Saorview Set-top box is not suitable for a commercial application. Many may not power up automatically after a power cut, not tune to the correct channel etc.

Also these people will not have 3E. To do it properly a commercial quality digital receiver, or better still a microwave link is needed. Then the extra site specific details need to be added to the transport stream. Then the transport stream needs to be fed to a digital transmitter. Also this would need to be in place pre October 24th so people can transition. The support costs also need to be factored in, plus spares, site rental, ESB, insurance etc.

I think extending analogue, by buying extra digital receivers and analogue transmitters is a waste. They may also interfere with other sites.

The real effort should go to force the BAI to force TG4 and TV3 and 3E to be a must carry on Saorsat. If that happens then everyone North and South of the border will get what they want without wasting money un-necessarily and remember Saorsat covers more than every self help scheme combined.

And finally most people in areas with only 4 channels already have Sky, so the actual numbers affected often number only in the low hundreds.

STB

zg3409 wrote: »

The real effort should go to force the BAI to force TG4 and TV3 and 3E to be a must carry on Saorsat. If that happens then everyone North and South of the border will get what they want without wasting money un-necessarily and remember Saorsat covers more than every self help scheme combined.

I cannot see Tv3 or 3e as a "must carry".

For a start must carry is a term used for other networks such as UPC and Sky who must carry having asked for the "must offer" from RTE.

Tv3/3e have a contract with the BAI which in no way is the same as the PSB channels and their percentage obligations. As it is RTE are way above their population coverage obligations.

As a result TV3 are way above their service obligations under their BAI contract. I would guess that TV3 are not interested in anything bar the terrestrial coverage especially if it involves contributing!

As it is they a lot of money to the state.

Besides that UTV will never allow it happen in NI as they have the rights to many of the programs that TV3 have.

On the boxes issue, there is no Saorsat spec for boxes. The opportunity only arose when Eutelsat announced their intentions a few years back. The basic box requirements are quite obvious, DVB-S2 MPEG4 H264 and MHEG5.

The Cush

zg3409 wrote: »

I think the point is to turn off analogue rather than extend it. When would it end?

One of Saorview:Brian's few remaining posts here is very clear on the matter

Saorview: Brian wrote: »

...
I can say with 100% certainty that all analogue terrestrial television in the Republic of Ireland, VHF and UHF, will switch off on October 24th this year. There is no consideration being given in RTÉ or RTÉ NL, to any extension on that date, for any reason.

Regards,

SAORVIEW Brian.

zg3409

STB wrote: »

I cannot see Tv3 or 3e as a "must carry".

Well I kind of agree. Legally, the way it currently stands TV3 are not obliged to go on Saorsat and in fact it would be a waste of their money financially.

However in a perfect world, Saorsat would have been considerd when the original rules were drawn up and it might have said "same coverage as RTE Terrestrial and Saorsat"

I can't see TV3 agreeing unless it is included in a future clause like "you cannot launch in HD unless you agree to 100% coverage through Saorsat" or similar.

It would be good if such a clause was included in the future.

However if Saorsat had of been launched a year ago with TV3 and TG4 and a true PVR box with series link etc. then takeup of Saorsat would have been much higher and Saorsat probably would have been viable for TV3.

Also if people were all using Freesat/Saorsat boxes then less people would get Sky. This would benefit TV3 as people leaving Sky would mean less channel choice and more viewers per TV3 program.

RTENL have a slightly vested interest in low uptake of Saorsat. Their bread and butter is keeping the terrestrial network going, and being relevant. However I don't think Saorsat was really planned in conjunction with the reality it probably would not carry TG4 nor TV3 nor 3E. It's a pity, and it will cost the public a lot in terms of expensive PVR quad tuner combo boxes in the future.

TG4 is another matter. They rely on goodwill, politicians and TV licence money for their funding, also their target market is Gaeltacht areas in rural Donegal etc, many of whom may need Saorsat. If a whole Gaeltacht region lose TG4 on October 24th there will be lobbying to upgrade the infill transmitter or go on Saorsat. Saorsat would make more sense.

If TV3 was just allowed to go for only profit sure they would only broadcast to major cities, there is not much profit in low population terrestrial coverage. They need to be made play fair and not cherry pick some people over others.

Elmo

zg3409 wrote: »

If TV3 was just allowed to go for only profit sure they would only broadcast to major cities, there is not much profit in low population terrestrial coverage. They need to be made play fair and not cherry pick some people over others.

TV3 didn't want full coverage on DTV, they wanted the same coverage as they have on ATV, at 80% cost of DTV.

TG4 will end up being obliged to go on Saorsat. But then as I have said TG4 need to become the Irish Language, Children's and Film PSB of Ireland.

Also if people were all using Freesat/Saorsat boxes then less people would get Sky. This would benefit TV3 as people leaving Sky would mean less channel choice and more viewers per TV3 program.

Only that ITV is available on FTA Satellite.

Hotblack Desiato

zg3409 wrote: »

The Triax TSC114 IS SAORSAT APPROVED.

No it isn't. There are no Saorsat approved boxes listed on the Saorview (or Saorsat) websites. The 114 does not carry the Saorsat logo. It is intended for people who can receive Saorview. It would be pointless buying a combo box for use with Saorsat. It seems to work (at least for the basics - is the satellite side fully MHEG5 compliant etc??) but it is much more expensive than a sat-only box would be.

However at the same launch triax had a Satellite ONLY box with a blue display. This did not have a model number yet, and the sales staff said it was only a sample and the model number had not been decided. This box is also going to be Saorsat approved (and presumably cheaper that the TSC114.

Neither had a Saorsat Approved sticker but RTENL seem to be saying it is so too.

Where are they supposed to be saying that? Not on the Saorview site they're not, and it's been updated very recently.

A sat-only box would be logical for Triax to produce if it were to all intents and purposes the same as the 114 without the DTT side. So if that box were to pass Saorsat approval, then you could say that the 114 in effect does too. But that is only speculation. The 114 isn't marketed for use with Saorsat, and won't be either, as a Saorsat-only receiver would be cheaper. Saorsat viewers don't need to buy combo boxes.

At the moment, nothing is publicly known about the Saorsat approval process, or what boxes are or will be undergoing it, or whether they will pass, so until something is publicly announced then it is just speculation.

dbcool

FROM TG4 on facebook - TG4 also commented on their status update.
TG4 wrote: "Alex a chara, TG4 is currently considering this matter and in active dialogue with RTÉNL about the current test transmissions on Saorsat"

zg3409

ninja900 wrote: »

No it isn't. There are no Saorsat approved boxes listed on the Saorview (or Saorsat) websites. The 114 does not carry the Saorsat logo. It is intended for people who can receive Saorview. It would be pointless buying a combo box for use with Saorsat. It seems to work (at least for the basics - is the satellite side fully MHEG5 compliant etc??) but it is much more expensive than a sat-only box would be.

As you don't seem to believe me, and it is indeed confusing, here is a link to the statement by RTENL regarding the Triax 114 from 20th Feb last

http://www.isaa.tv/cgi-bin/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1329774054

We would draw to your attention that from the end of this month there will be a SAORVIEW and SAORSAT Approved combi box available to retail which will enable consumers decode the SAORVIEW and SAORSAT services as well as other free to air satellite services. The first combi box to get both SAORVIEW and SAORSAT Approval is the Triax TSC114.

It probably does not carry the logo as no logo may have been made at that stage. The other sat only box didn't even have a model number!

I presume Saorsat.ie will be updated at some stage with some info, or at least directed to the Saorsat section of the Saorview Website.

At the moment, nothing is publicly known about the Saorsat approval process, or what boxes are or will be undergoing it, or whether they will pass, so until something is publicly announced then it is just speculation.

Well triax and RTENL are saying it about the 114. Triax said it to me when I looked at the blue receiver with Sat only.

It also says it on page 19 of the Saorsat FAQ (Rev1.1) on the Saorview site.

You know boards.. we are normally a year or two ahead of everyone else!

zg3409

Taken from here:
http://www.isaa.tv/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/KD_Mailer_VISUAL-3.pdf

There is the Sat box with the blue display. Note the dish "launched" was just an 80cm dish with a multifeed bar. It did not have the logo on it on the day. The multifeed was normal triax one.

The LNB on the dish (which was indoors and not hooked up) was a twin LNB branded Triax, but I have not yet found out if they are re-badging the KA LNBs or if that was just an ordinary twin LNB they had lying around. I have yet to see a triax branded KA LNB for sale.

It does not make sense to use a combo box for Sarsat and 28.2, but RTENL wanted an approved box to launch Saorsat and the 114 fit the bill.

Hotblack Desiato

Thanks for that. As that was two months ago now, you'd think the Saorview/Saorsat sites would be updated to reflect that.
If they went to the trouble of putting that box through a Saorsat approval, it must have been with the intention of using the same sat tuner, software, etc. (just without a DTT tuner) for the sat-only box you described. Easy enough you'd think, so why hasn't it appeared yet? Maybe they're waiting for the question of TG4 (whatever about TV3) on Saorsat to be clarified before they launch the sat-only box. The 114 has a market anyway irrespective of take-up of Saorsat.

Weird seeing in the video both Saorview and Saorsat on the same box. I can't imagine anyone doing that in the real world - except some posters in this forum, maybe

watty

RTE don't really want any publicity about Saorsat, nor I think are much concerned till the Autumn.

The "launch" was a press release to a couple of European semi-broadcast/trade websites.

A combi box is totally pointless. The best solution IMO at the moment seems to be 80cm to 110cm Triax multifeed bar and Humax "Freesat+ HD" HDR PVR with the 3rd party channel editing and Diseqc enablement in Freesat mode. Since there are about 40+ decent free channels on Freesat and only 2.5 real channels on Saorsat (with perhaps Oireachtas TV & TG4 to come later) that makes more sense than supposedly "Saorsat" approved box that's crippled for Freesat. For Freesat you want the full compatibility so no howls if Cbeebies or CBBC etc moves transponder...

givecredit

watty wrote: »

A combi box is totally pointless. The best solution IMO at the moment seems to be 80cm to 110cm Triax multifeed bar and Humax "Freesat+ HD" HDR PVR with the 3rd party channel editing and Diseqc enablement in Freesat mode. Since there are about 40+ decent free channels on Freesat and only 2.5 real channels on Saorsat (with perhaps Oireachtas TV & TG4 to come later) that makes more sense than supposedly "Saorsat" approved box that's crippled for Freesat. For Freesat you want the full compatibility so no howls if Cbeebies or CBBC etc moves transponder...

Why would you recommend this?
1. This solution gives you no EPG for Saorsat channels. Not Even now and next.
2. Recordings of freesat channels will fail if you are tuned to a saorsat channel when a freesat recording is due to commence.

I would strong recommend no one gets a humax freesat+ hdr for saorsat purposes.

watty

What you are saying is that there is NO solution unless you only want to watch RTE1 & RTE2 (the other RTE so called "channels" are nearly pointless).

I said I'm recommending it for people that want UK TV. It's better than an out of Sub Sky box.

What 100% certified "Saorsat" solution is 100% Freesat compatible? None. Nor will there be. Whereas there is more likely to be (unofficial?) patches for Freesat HD boxes.

For Terrestrial the only decent solution is an Approved Saorview box, unless you can receive UK terrestrial TV, in which case a suitable (not all) Freeview HD box is a better solution.

At the moment I'd recommend no-one buy anything for Saorsat, maybe not till near ASO or even afterwards. It seems to be a solution for the truly desperate.

Antenna

zg3409 wrote: »

I think the point is to turn off analogue rather than extend it. When would it end? Also they can blame Europe on saying analogue is inefficient use of spectrum etc.

Due to no commercial DTT here there will be a lot of UHF spectrum lying unused anyway for the foreseeable future after the planned ASO date, if all analogue transmitters do close.

zg3409 wrote: »

I think most small sites use a tranposer, so there is no real transmitter as such at the moment. Also I assume teletext is going off on the 24th of October. A Saorview Set-top box is not suitable for a commercial application. Many may not power up automatically after a power cut, not tune to the correct channel etc.

I know what a transposer does, a modulator would also be used as I said. No further change of equipment is needed.
It doesn't have to be a Saorview box, a non-Saorview MPEG4 FTA terrestrial box could be used so long as its reliable to just receive one Tv channel
Licenced Deflectors of UK channels have used 'domestic' satellite receivers when they opted for that instead of UHF receive.
Cheap Satellite FTA boxs I have seen have a 'Start Up ' channel selectable in menu and come back up OK after a powercut.

RTE NL has in fact fed some relays by Sky boxes - look at this thread:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055741041

zg3409 wrote: »

They may also interfere with other sites.

I did say any extension of analogue on the relays concerned would be where its possible on a non-interference basis.

zg3409 wrote: »

And finally most people in areas with only 4 channels already have Sky, so the actual numbers affected often number only in the low hundreds.

They may or may not have Sky - they might have FTA satellite reception of UK channels rather than Sky (on gear that is totally incompatible with Saorsat). People may have given up Sky recently due to the recession.
The RTE Long Wave radio transmitter is said to have very few listeners, yet is being kept going after 2012?

To say there should be some extension of analogue at non-Saorview sites to serve people who otherwise will have to get Saorsat is not unreasonable.
I didn't say this should go on forever- I suggested there would be a review of the situation next year after the winter months. There is not enough experience of the reliability of Saorsat and the dishes suggested during bad winter weather. Its a lot different from 11GHz satellite reception we are well used to.
And it is highly unusual for a country to plan to close all analogue TV transmitters on the one day?!

If a percentage of viewers in Dublin, rather than only places beyond the Pale, had to get Saorsat you may be sure the situation would be looked at differently

watty

No, any self help schemes will have to be licensed DTT muxes. It's not that expensive if you have a transport stream to feed the DVB-T modulator.

That's totally clear.

What isn't clear is how easily they will get a licence from Comreg and how hard it will be to co-ordinate channel plan with RTE NL & Comreg.

Unlike the era of start of Deflectors and MMDS there will not be "political" interference on this. Analogue TV ends this year.

Apogee

Irish Examiner wrote:

Communications Minister Pat Rabbitte has ordered RTÉ to review its rollout of Saorview digital TV after claims that hundreds, if not thousands, of homes in West Cork will be denied the service, which is being switched on in October.

Concerns have been raised about the reception in parts of Rosscarbery, Reenascreena, Leap, Timoleague, Dunmanway, and Skibbereen.

[...]

"The people of West Cork are being discriminated against by virtue of the fact they would have to pay approximately €300 to get a satellite dish [Saorsat] and have it installed to avail of RTÉ 1 and 2. Saorview is free if you have a new television which is Saorview-enabled," said Mr Daly.

"But viewers forced to avail of the satellite cannot access TG4 and TV3."

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/rabbitte-orders-saorview-probe-over-signal-fears-191978.html

watty

He'd do better signing legislation to force TG4 & TV3 and anyone else to use ALL of RTE NL facilities. The Problem isn't RTE but
Government (where is Oireachtas TV?)
BAI
Comreg
TV3
TG4
In that order...

zg3409

Eric from http://Satsig.net has made up an interactive map, based entirely on RTENL's coverage map.

The third contour is where RTENL recommend a 1M dish


Here is the interactive map:
http://www.satsig.net/saorsat/saorsat-dish-pointing-ireland.htm
It shows elevation etc. if you click on a location.

It is based on his normal Tooway map which is here:
http://www.satsig.net/tooway/satellite-dish-pointing-ka-sat-tooway-europe.htm
This shows all the beams, but the Irish beam does not match RTENL's map

Whether RTENL's map is actual signal plots or not is unknown.

The beam centre is now moved to lat 52.8191, long –7.8439 to match RTENL's pdf document.

Diameter: at –3dB is 0.43 deg diameter circular.
Above can be amended if more accurate information comes available.
-1, –2, –3, -4, –5, –6 dB contours are shown.

All thanks go to Eric

The Cush

This from a topical issues debate in the Dáil last Wed on the issue of Saorview coverage in the west Cork area once analogue is switched off next Oct - TG4 to be available soon on Saorsat, TV3 has made no decision yet on Saorsat carriage. Posted here recently that TG4 on their facebook page, said they were in discussion with RTÉNL regarding Saorsat

Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (Deputy Pat Rabbitte): [...]

In addition to Saorview, RTE has developed Saorsat, a new free-to-air satellite service unique to Ireland to ensure the RTE television services are available to the remaining 2% of the population. Currently, Saorsat provides access to the RTE channels. TG4 will be available shortly. TV3 has not yet made a decision on carriage of the service. As soon as the decision is made, I will let the House know. RTE is not obliged to provide this satellite service and is doing so on its own initiative. I am informed that with this satellite service, Ireland will have a national TV network covering 100% of the population for the first time

http://debates.oireachtas.ie/dail/2012/04/25/00019.asp

The Minister also gave the same information in a written reply to a question in relation to Saorview/Saorsat coverage in west Cork the next day

Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (Deputy Pat Rabbitte): [...]

In addition to SAORVIEW, RTÉ has developed SAORSAT, a new ‘free-to-air’ satellite service unique to Ireland to ensure the RTÉ TV services are available to the remaining 2% of the population. Currently, SAORSAT provides access to the RTÉ channels. TG4 will be available shortly. TV3 has not yet made a decision as to their carriage on the service. RTÉ is not obliged to provide a satellite service and is doing so on its own initiative. I am informed that, with this satellite service Ireland will have a national TV network covering 100% of the population, for the first time.

http://debates.oireachtas.ie/dail/2012/04/26/00130.asp#N2

Apogee

dbcool wrote: »

FROM TG4 on facebook - TG4 also commented on their status update.
TG4 wrote: "Alex a chara, TG4 is currently considering this matter and in active dialogue with RTÉNL about the current test transmissions on Saorsat"

The Cush wrote: »

TG4 to be available soon on Saorsat

De réir a chéile a thógtar na caisleáin...


Perhaps with enough needling, Rabitte might eventually be persuaded to put Saorsat on an equal legal footing with Saorview, thereby requiring TV3 to play ball.

Sam Russell

If Saorsat costs €1.5m per year, the extra cost for an SD channel (assuming one mux is 10 SD channels) is €150,000 per year. That is 25% of a top RTE presenter, or 15 TV3 presenters.

No wonder they are not keen.

Elmo

Sam Russell wrote: »

If Saorsat costs €1.5m per year, the extra cost for an SD channel (assuming one mux is 10 SD channels) is €150,000 per year. That is 25% of a top RTE presenter, or 15 TV3 presenters.

No wonder they are not keen.

TV3 don't pay presenters 10,000 and RTE have yet to fork out €6m. which figure are you talking about?

no news of OTV on either SaorPlatforms.

Sam Russell

Elmo wrote: »

TV3 don't pay presenters 10,000 and RTE have yet to fork out €6m. which figure are you talking about?

no news of OTV on either SaorPlatforms.

I do not know how much TV3 pay their presenters, but if they do not even pay €10,00 as you say then they are very bad payers indeed and a lot worse than I suspected.

RTE do pay their top presenter in excess of €600,000, which, if you take 25% of that you will get €150,000 - which is the figure I quoted. Where the €6m comes from I cannot guess.

It would be simple if Rabbitte ordered the Saorsat to be a copy of Saorview and that be an end to this continuous sniping by McRedmond and his employees against RTE and the injustice of the Broadcasting Act.