Oireachtas TV

Charles Slane

According to today's Sunday Times, Oireachtas TV will launch in September on Sky (and continue to broadcast on UPC) with broadcasts of the banking inquiry. It will broadcast 24/7.

Sky will carry it at a "discounted" fee of €250,000.

It will not be on Saorview due to demands from RTE for the full market rate fee of €900,000.

channelsurfer2

thats nice of sky to provide such a public service at a discounted fee for us all to watch.:D

Elmo

Charles Slane wrote: »

According to today's Sunday Times, Oireachtas TV will launch in September on Sky (and continue to broadcast on UPC) with broadcasts of the banking inquiry. It will broadcast 24/7.

24/7 = They have no idea.

We assume a full launch rather than the current "trial" period.

Will sky be giving all their customers a discount?

why not start this month.... Oh! wait! 24/7 of the following

h7nlrp2v0g5u48

Looks like RTE 2rn are determined to limit the amount of channels outside of the RTE bundle of channels launching on Saorview. Let's wait and see if they feck things up for UTV Ireland.

Elmo

natashaob6 wrote: »

Looks like RTE 2rn are determined to limit the amount of channels outside of the RTE bundle of channels launching on Saorview. Let's wait and see if they feck things up for UTV Ireland.

It is a case of Oireachtas not wanting to buy a slot. Why not ask for 12 hours a day at least with the other 12 provided by The Irish Film Board.

Cust Pay for Pay TV = a payment from the provider to the TV station
Cust don't pay for TV = TV station pays to be on the network

watty

natashaob6 wrote: »

Looks like RTE 2rn are determined to limit the amount of channels outside of the RTE bundle of channels launching on Saorview. Let's wait and see if they feck things up for UTV Ireland.

Total rubbish

2RN will take money from anyone with BAI licence.

Comparing costs of Satellite and Terrestrial Transmission the €250,000 is very expensive. Terrestrial INHERENTLY costs very much more than Satellite and there would be outrage from every other customer if 2RN gave a discount. Saorsat is very much cheaper.

The Oireachtas has been cheeking the Electorate over this since 2008. It's an absolute disgrace and an insult to the Irish Electorate that they will only fund foreign Pay TV.

They should pay the €900,000 and they'd find they'd get Sky for free.

Write and complain to your TD about the TDs. NOT 2RN!

h7nlrp2v0g5u48

I suppose if Oireachtas TV and the Irish Film Board sat down together with 2rn they could possibly come to some agreement and share a channel.

h7nlrp2v0g5u48

watty wrote: »

Total rubbish

2RN will take money from anyone with BAI licence.

It's not total rubbish it's my opinion and I'm entitled to it.

icdg

Calm down everyone

h7nlrp2v0g5u48

icdg wrote: »

Calm down everyone

Apologies will do.

Elmo

natashaob6 wrote: »

It's not total rubbish it's my opinion and I'm entitled to it.

You are but you'll find many here are very dissappointed at all broadcasters for their lack of vision when it comes to DTT.

There are many things that the Oireactas can do to get on Soarview

1. Go 24/7 and it will cost €900,000 like all other SD channels
2. Split the Channel with another broadcaster and it will cost €450,000 like all half channels
3. Go on Soarview as a radio station
4. Have RTÉ run Oireachtas TV

I am surprised Sky are charging the Oireachtas how much money does RTÉ, TV3 and TG4 pay to be on Sky? Can we have a source? I also thought they were on the system for free.

How much to go FTA on Satellite also, Keep asking that question

h7nlrp2v0g5u48

Elmo wrote: »

You are but you'll find many here are very dissappointed at all broadcasters for their lack of vision when it comes to DTT.

There are many things that the Oireactas can do to get on Soarview

1. Go 24/7 and it will cost €900,000 like all other SD channels
2. Split the Channel with another broadcaster and it will cost €450,000 like all half channels
3. Go on Soarview as a radio station
4. Have RTÉ run Oireachtas TV

I am surprised Sky are charging the Oireachtas how much money does RTÉ, TV3 and TG4 pay to be on Sky? Can we have a source? I also thought they were on the system for free.

How much to go FTA on Satellite also, Keep asking that question

I agree a lot of what you say makes perfectly good sense but as you say there just doesn't seem to be any vision going forward.

L1011

Elmo wrote: »

I am surprised Sky are charging the Oireachtas how much money does RTÉ, TV3 and TG4 pay to be on Sky? Can we have a source? I also thought they were on the system for free.

They are free as far as I know; but they're actually channels people want to watch - outside of the banking inquiry, there's about 400 people in the country who'll watch Oireachtas TV and most of us have broadband...

They were going to have to pay for carriage regardless; 250k is a lot for carriage but less than carriage + a Sky EPG slot.

Infoanon

I think the 250k needs to be clarified - RTE have previously reported Sky carriage as costing 250k in reference to the Irish opt outs - thus 'distribution costs INCLUDING discounted Sky carriage is 250k' would make more sense???

Hope its encrypted - what would our neighbours think of the carry on in the Oireachtas !

The Cush

This from the article today

Mark Mulqueen, a spokesperson for the Oireachtas, said: "It is still hoped RTÉ, our public broadcaster, will change its mind and join UPC, Sky and Eircom in recognising that this is not a commercial opportunity but instead a genuinely civic initiative".

Mark, Sean Barrett and the others in the Oireachtas that keep pushing for the channel to be carried free or at a discounted rate seem to forget about the legislation they passed on this a few years ago, the Broadcasting Act 2009, and particularly this section

"130(4) The Commission of the Houses of the Oireachtas shall make to RTÉ such periodic or other payments in respect of any service provided by RTÉ for the purposes set out in subsection (1) (a) of broadcasting by digital means the Houses of the Oireachtas Channel as the Minister, after consultation with the Communications Regulator, RTÉ and the Commission of the Houses of the Oireachtas, may direct."

The Commission together with the Dept of Communications have to power to change the Act to allow for the channel to be carried at a reduced or no charge on the transmission network but as it currently stands there is nothing in the act that allows them to give preferential treatment to the Oireachtas Channel over RTÉ, TV3, TG4 or the future UTVI channel.

After years of consultation and discussion RTÉ and 2RN published their wholesale access reference offers relating to transmission and multiplexing late last year which gives transparency to the tariffs - http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=89755449

The Dept and the Oireachtas will soon have the chance to amend the Broadcasting Act, if they wish, to allow the channel to be carried at a reduced rate via the planned Broadcasting (Amendment) Bill whose purpose is to replace the TV Licence fee with the Public Broadcasting Service Charge.

lertsnim

If this is encrypted on satellite then it is an absolute shambles.

Elmo

lertsnim wrote: »

If this is encrypted on satellite then it is an absolute shambles.

Of course will be Encrypted.

Copyerselveson

watty wrote: »

Total rubbish

2RN will take money from anyone with BAI licence.

Comparing costs of Satellite and Terrestrial Transmission the €250,000 is very expensive. Terrestrial INHERENTLY costs very much more than Satellite and there would be outrage from every other customer if 2RN gave a discount. Saorsat is very much cheaper.

Indeed Saorsat is cheaper but then again how many hundred viewers would a Saorsat exclusive channel have? Of course Saorsat's advantage is that it is carefully engineered to ensure no one outside the official footprint can watch it, unlike Sky.

Elmo

Copyerselveson wrote: »

Indeed Saorsat is cheaper but then again how many hundred viewers would a Saorsat exclusive channel have? Of course Saorsat's advantage is that it is carefully engineered to ensure no one outside the official footprint can watch it, unlike Sky.

Footprint won't matter with oireachtas as they won't show imports or anything outside oireachtas coverage. They could go on Astra

lertsnim

Elmo wrote: »

Of course will be Encrypted.

Why so? Programming rights?

Copyerselveson

Sky are VERY unlikely to let Oireachtas TV on a FTA basis.

icdg

To be fair, there's no real reason why, from anyone's point of view (including Sky's) that it would need to be encrypted. I'm not saying it won't be anyway, only that there's no reason it needs to be.

formerly scottish paddy

What the TD's seem to forget is that RTÉ/2RN built the existing DTT network after the BAI and the government failed over many years to get an alternative structure in place. They borrowed the money and built this in record time in order to fulfil this country's obligation to ASO, meanwhile the government pocketed the "digital dividend" from the sell off of RF spectrum. To expect a commercial return on this investment and enable the repayment of loans is not an unreasonable expectation. For TD's to question the amount payable for Saorview is laughable when you look at the expenditure on their "expenses" in the course of one year! For them to consider paying a foreign Pay TV platform (that doesn't even pay tax here) any money, discounted or not is a disgrace, with potential viewers having to pay Sky again to watch. This service should be available as a matter of course on the primary broadcast network in the country, freely available to all citizens, anything else is a travesty. :mad:

Copyerselveson

icdg wrote: »

To be fair, there's no real reason why, from anyone's point of view (including Sky's) that it would need to be encrypted. I'm not saying it won't be anyway, only that there's no reason it needs to be.

Well I certainly hope Oireachtas TV will be FTA and not encrypted but I would expect Sky will lump it in with the other Irish channels on the same transponder. As an ex pat who does not have a Sky sub it would be great to see it here in England on a standard FTA receiver.

lertsnim

Oireachteas TV is not going to be a subscriber driver and Sky do have some of their own channels FTA already. Challenge, Pick and Sky News

Elmo

lertsnim wrote: »

Oireachteas TV is not going to be a subscriber driver and Sky do have some of their own channels FTA already. Challenge, Pick and Sky News

True but this is Ireland and Sky are sky $$$$$$$$$$$€€€€€€€€€€€€€£££££££££££

The Cush

From the Indo - http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/bank-inquiry-shown-live-but-not-on-rte-30411459.html#sthash.CDTOmHLr.dpuf

When asked about the charge being applied to the new channel an RTE spokesperson said: "Saorview is a wholly owned subsidiary of RTE and as a public service media organisation we are not in a position to offer subsidised or discretionary tariffs."

and the journal.ie - http://www.thejournal.ie/oireachtas-tv-launch-1557822-Jul2014/

With regards to a dedicated Oireachtas channel and carriage costs on Saorview, RTÉ said it is not in a position to offer subsidised or discretionary tariffs.

Access to Saorview is determined by the provisions of the Broadcasting Act, 2009 as well as ComReg: "RTÉ is obliged to treat all customers on a similar basis in terms of access and tariffs charged irrespective of who those customers are. This comes with the specific ComReg obligation on RTÉ which is non-discrimination."

Elmo

The Cush wrote: »

From the Indo - http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/bank-inquiry-shown-live-but-not-on-rte-30411459.html#sthash.CDTOmHLr.dpuf

When asked about the charge being applied to the new channel an RTE spokesperson said: "Saorview is a wholly owned subsidiary of RTE and as a public service media organisation we are not in a position to offer subsidised or discretionary tariffs."

RTÉ easy target for Newspapers.

PacMan

Recently, I have received several calls from Sky and Milford Browne (Survey) regarding the availability of having the RTE player on Sky.

.....Would I like the idea.... and would I be more likely to recommend Sky to others with the availability of the RTE player.
Questions of that nature.

Another question was, would I watch the RTE News Now channel on Sky.

Maybe its possible that all may appear soon...I hope

expectationlost

if rte can't get the oireachtas on tv then what's the point of it?

Elmo

expectationlost wrote: »

if rte can't get the oireachtas on tv then what's the point of it?

The question should be if The Houses of the Oireachtas can't get the Oireachtas TV on Soarview then what's the point of it?

We're to quick to suggest that RTÉ are in the wrong. Have the Oireachtas ask to go FTA on satellite with the owners of Astra at a reduced rate?