Will Virgin media channels ever go HD on saorview?

micks_address

Hi folks,
As per title. Any sign of the vm channels to go HD?
Cheers,
Mick

JDxtra

No. They have had every opportunity to sort this mess out over previous 10 years (almost) of Saorview and have done nothing.

micks_address

JDxtra wrote: »

No. They have had every opportunity to sort this mess out over previous 10 years (almost) of Saorview and have done nothing.

What's the obstacle though? Also why isn't tg4 HD or the other plus one channels?

Was tv3 in hd?

JDxtra

Technically, there's no reason.

However there is no interest from the broadcaster, the dept., the minister or Saorview themselves. Its as if nobody is in charge or actually cares about viewers.

They must be all happy at home with Pay TV subscriptions.

byte

I guess Virgin Media, and their predecessors, don't want to pay for the extra bandwidth. Personally, I think that from the start, all Saorview channels should have been HD by default and Soarsat being a full copy of Saorview, but no real odds now.

I do think TG4 HD should be on Saorview though. Who knows if it will ever be, I'd like it to be.

I'm not a fan of timeshift channels on DTT but I suppose something might as well use the unused bandwidth.

Atlantic Dawn

What's the position in UK? The 5 terrestrial channels have been in HD for 10 years plus, is the obstackle in Ireland the broadcasting fees that Saorview charge or is it Virgin Media wanting to keep the HD on subscription only platforms?

JDxtra

Watched some RTE 1 +1 on Saorview yesterday. I have 100% signal but video was jittery and audio was awful. Waste of bandwidth. This is what annoys people.

Flick over to Netflix, tons of 4K content streaming instantly.

JDxtra

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

What's the position in UK? The 5 terrestrial channels have been in HD for 10 years plus, is the obstackle in Ireland the broadcasting fees that Saorview charge or is it Virgin Media wanting to keep the HD on subscription only platforms?

In Ireland, he viewer is not a consideration. They could do it tomorrow if someone banged their heads together.

dxhound2005

byte wrote: »

I guess Virgin Media, and their predecessors, don't want to pay for the extra bandwidth. Personally, I think that from the start, all Saorview channels should have been HD by default and Soarsat being a full copy of Saorview, but no real odds now.

I do think TG4 HD should be on Saorview though. Who knows if it will ever be, I'd like it to be.

I'm not a fan of timeshift channels on DTT but I suppose something might as well use the unused bandwidth.

This is from 3 years ago, on one of the many previous threads. So no progress unless someone knows otherwise, and the questions is about money as it often is.

A chara
Our discussions with Saorview regarding HD carriage are ongoing. You will appreciate that these are commercial negotiations and that the "availability" of any service is subject to mutually acceptable terms for the parties involved.

I cannot, at this stage surmise when our negotiations might conclude but it is our wish too that we have HD versions of our service available on all platforms, including Saorview.

Le meas

Pádhraic Ó Ciardha
TG4

Atlantic Dawn

How much extra per TV licence would it cost to put TG4 and Virgin Media 1 in HD? €5 or so, same price 2FM costs a year.

JDxtra

In real terms, it would cost nothing. There's bandwidth there to get them on the platform in HD today.

micks_address

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

How much extra per TV licence would it cost to put TG4 and Virgin Media 1 in HD? €5 or so, same price 2FM costs a year.

Just seems daft they not all in HD at this point. Especially when they are available off sky etc. I just cancelled my sky subscription and have a combo box running saorview and free to air UK sat channels. Its all we ever watched on sky anyway. Can record etc on box so it's pretty much the same..the nice thing is I don't have all the You don't subscribe to this service messages or channels I don't pay for on epg.

Have Amazon prime and Netflix so not to badly off for content.

micks_address

JDxtra wrote: »

In real terms, it would cost nothing. There's bandwidth there to get them on the platform in HD today.

Any chance we could start s petition to get them on? Maybe get Mary Lou on the case

micks_address

Which minister is responsible for saorview? Media or communications?

JDxtra

micks_address wrote: »

Which minister is responsible for saorview? Media or communications?

Eomon Ryan - the current Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment.

Atlantic Dawn

JDxtra wrote: »

Eomon Ryan - the current Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment.

FFS, he will probably want us to go back to B&W tv's to save electricity, he certainly won't be in favour of anything that burns 1 extra watt of power

Johnboy1951

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

FFS, he will probably want us to go back to B&W tv's to save electricity, he certainly won't be in favour of anything that burns 1 extra watt of power

He must be very upset so with the blank channels on Saorview and those with test cards

lgs 4

It will cost Virgin and TG4 money to be in HD on Saorview .Sky are subsidizing HD versions.To keep Irish subscribers .Sky do it for ITV 2,3,4 ,UK Gold ,Dave so on . Sky have ruined entertainment TV and sports coverage ,paying outrageous money to Premiership.Out bidding any competitors .Reselling the Premiership rights .

rodge123

You have to pay for a €8 add-on to get all channels in HD ok sky. They offer a few out of the box - RTÉ, BBC and maybe few others..think it’s the ones that are already available on free to air.
Watching standard def virgin media on Sky is painfull, particularly sports..shocking picture quality for this day and age.

dxhound2005

We are still very much in the age of SD on 28 East.

https://en.kingofsat.net/hdtv-28.2E.php

Hotblack Desiato

lgs 4 wrote: »

It will cost Virgin and TG4 money to be in HD on Saorview .

Won't cost any of them a cent if they each consume the same proportion of the used bandwidth. That's the really annoying thing. They're all paying (nominally in the case of RTE, who own 2RN, but still...) for the whole bandwidth that's being broadcast, even though much of it is doing nothing. It's crazy, and it's obvious that successive ministers don't have a clue about broadcasting and don't care either.

JDxtra

Hotblack Desiato wrote: »

Won't cost any of them a cent if they each consume the same proportion of the used bandwidth. That's the really annoying thing. They're all paying (nominally in the case of RTE, who own 2RN, but still...) for the whole bandwidth that's being broadcast, even though much of it is doing nothing. It's crazy, and it's obvious that successive ministers don't have a clue about broadcasting and don't care either.

Exactly, well said. There is nobody who stands up for the viewer and what is best for them. It's a game of pass the parcel if you ask any of them about it.

Gerry Wicklow

We're paying the electricity bill either way. :mad:

micks_address

Why don't we start a petition or something?

Capt'n Midnight

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

FFS, he will probably want us to go back to B&W tv's to save electricity, he certainly won't be in favour of anything that burns 1 extra watt of power

That's the whole point of Digital. It uses the same amount of power no matter what is transmitted on the two multiplexes.

It's really annoying that TG4 can't be shown in HD because TV3 fought to get charged by bandwidth in order to save a few shillings. This is the same TV3 that didn't get nationwide coverage in the old days because they couldn't be arsed to get coverage on all the transmitters because in the old analog days you could save 100% of the power on every channel not transmitted.


Get Freesat. You get most of what's on Virginmedia earlier and you don't pay extra HD.

micks_address

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

That's the whole point of Digital. It uses the same amount of power no matter what is transmitted on the two multiplexes.

It's really annoying that TG4 can't be shown in HD because TV3 fought to get charged by bandwidth in order to save a few shillings. This is the same TV3 that didn't get nationwide coverage in the old days because they couldn't be arsed to get coverage on all the transmitters because in the old analog days you could save 100% of the power on every channel not transmitted.


Get Freesat. You get most of what's on Virginmedia earlier and you don't pay extra HD.

We have a Vu satellite box with terrestrial tuner as well. Best of both worlds being able to record and have seven day epg with channel 4hd etc..just a pity virgin media isn't hd as we watch the odd match on it and virgin am the odd morning and the picture quality on a 55 inch TV is atrocious..

Machinehead

I haven't checked it for myself yet but I've seen reports that Virgin Media have now pulled their sports channels from the Eir platform. This spat goes on & on & on. First up the regulator needs to step in here & lay down a 'must carry' for HD channels if they are available on other providers. Secondly this tit for tat thing between Eir & VM for the past few years is getting a bit tiresome & withering. Can't the overpaid suited execs get their sh*t together & get the best overall product for their customers, otherwise this is how you lose business guys. Also there's plenty of other providers willing to take up the slack that you're leaving around the place due to bad service. So VM give the HD version to Eir & Saorview & they both should do what's necessary to make it so. International rugby is starting up again soon & it would be a great shame not to have it in HD, so VM give it to someone who can. Why can Eir & VM strike up cross supply deals, only for them to collapse within 12 months.

dxhound2005

Machinehead wrote: »

. First up the regulator needs to step in here & lay down a 'must carry' for HD channels if they are available on other providers.

They can be made available but whoever wants them has to pay. As per the information provided by TG4 three years ago. It's all about the money.

A chara
Our discussions with Saorview regarding HD carriage are ongoing. You will appreciate that these are commercial negotiations and that the "availability" of any service is subject to mutually acceptable terms for the parties involved.

I cannot, at this stage surmise when our negotiations might conclude but it is our wish too that we have HD versions of our service available on all platforms, including Saorview.

Le meas

Pádhraic Ó Ciardha
TG4

Machinehead

That just re-iterates my point, we've got the Suits sitting on their fat wallets who after 3 years still can't come up with a resolution to the HD carriage problem (what in Gods name do they do all day). TV3/VM couldn't sort a deal with Saorview and I'm not sure which Eir customers are affected by no VM HD & intermittent +1 service on Eir. Perhaps it's older Eir Vision customers who are affected & maybe not the new Eir TV/AppleTV one's. Subsequent to the change Eir's mobile service went to trash. I'm still on the Eir Vision package & prior to the change the mobile service was almost a mirror of the channels included in my TV subscription, now it's just sports & TG4. VM HD channels are all gone from my subscription:mad: The only sweetener is the Amazon Prime service which runs out in a few months.

Mickey Mike

Most of us pay for the TV licence, I would be happy to pay another €10 or €15 pm for proper HD content on Saorview

RTE1 (1920×1080i) RTE2 (1920×1080i)

VM1 (1920×1080i) TG4 (1920×1080i)

All others upgraded to 720×576i from 544×576i, except for +1's and information channel.

micks_address

you'd think at some point they will almost end up being HD by default... anyone have any news in the last 2 years?

Capt'n Midnight

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118412903#Comment_118412903

I'd be happier if we just stopped subsidising the commercial channels.

Without them we'd only need one MUX and those non-PBS channels aren't paying anything close to what it costs to keep the second MUX on air.

Hotblack Desiato

There's no reason for us to be paying extra to get HD on these channels - an extra mux is not required so no extra costs (I'm presuming the secondary Virgin channels already have HD feeds for their cable - I'm thankfully not a customer of theirs)

Should be made a condition of them getting any BAI funding to go full HD.

TG4 not being HD is even more ridiculous due to the level of state support it gets.

ForestFire

Saorview should be forced (Gov) to cease their SD options at this stage, and only offer HD as the minimum option for transmission.

Then let Virgin pay up and leave the service, and any others!!

Also any chance any of them can go 1080P ion the future?

Or what about 4K in the future, does Saorview have the technology and bandwidth capable of this?

Mickey Mike

We are only bearly getting HD, I just don't see 4k on saorview at all at all.

Capt'n Midnight is right about not subsidising the commercial sector, so here I go one more time.

RTE1 Full HD, RTE2 Full HD

RTE3/jr Full HD, TG4 Full HD,

At least that much, and all the rest a higher standard definition ie. 720×576i.

lertsnim

TG4 should definitely be HD on Saorview seeing as they are subsidised by tax payers. It's outrageous that they are HD on pay tv platforms only.

munsterdevil

I visited my parent who only have saorview, and for the first time in a long time I switched on a Virgin Media channel. I thought something was wrong with the TV setup until I googled and found this thread.

FFS, this is a ridiculous situation.

lgs 4

Problem 1

The whisper is Virgin is selling its tv and broadband interests in Ireland ( looking for a buyer ). When that sale happens Eamon Ryan should step up to the mark and insist the new owners must broadcast only in HD on Saorview.  Previous Minister of Communications are quite happy. To do nothing about the license fee funding for RTE. All talk and no action The only minister that did anything about broadcasting in Ireland was Pat Rabbit and set up the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland. Which! today is a bit outdated.

Problem 2

Is the marketing of Saorview.When it comes to the marketing of Saorview it's only Saorview boxes and being subscription-free that get the attention. What Saorview should be emphasizing is its channel selection. This is where 2rn needs to approach European broadcasters that broadcast free to air with English programming on satellite . With the powers to offer broadcasters good deals to broadcasters on Saorview in the higher end of standard definition and HD. Like MTV Germany , Nickelodeon Austria, Germany, NASA tv, and Euronews HD. To promote Saorview as a real alternative to sky and virgin. The broadcaster rights are already there for satellite viewers. It may need some legislation broadcasting change. In licensing and advertising. This is the norm in Europe for cable companies. Carrying neighing tv channels. To me, this would be a real alternative to sky and virgin.

Mickey Mike

Isn't it a kind of odd that Sky News is available on saorview, especially when Sky took so many TV & Radio channels off their Irish Sky subscription, and seprately, the UK not allow RTE Radio1 broadcast on their DAB+ network.

We can get British tv on satellite instead of taking up scarce room on DTT.

Hotblack Desiato

2rn are not allowed to offer any broadcasters "deals". You pay the same as everyone else per megabit used. If they thought the viewership would justify the cost they'd be on it already. You mention two Austrian/German channels which already have UK & Irl equivalents which are not free to air. Certainly not going to happen with those two.

Millltown

My God you’re all so polite. It’s a disgrace. I moved back from the uk 4 years ago having been there for 18 years thinking these things might have improved but Christ nothing has changed. We don’t matter.

Mickey Mike

No doubt it is embarrassing to say the least, surely at this stage a government minister or someone like that would have this resolved, we are a quite nation.

Capt'n Midnight

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118522658#Comment_118522658

Saorview tariffs Jan 2022 https://about.rte.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/RTE-Saorview-Wholesale-Access-Reference-Offer-Appendix-B-01-Jan-2022.pdf

HD channels at an average of 6,130 kbps Circa. €1,500,000 per year

SD channels at an average of 2,530kbps Circa. €619,000 per year

The reason UK TV is Free To Air is that it was cheaper to take the hit on the overspill of the UK beam than to pay for the cards and encryption.

Saorsat is also Free To Air, but different satellite and much smaller footprint so very little overspill. Some stuff is still blocked to prevent it being seen abroad. And even thought it only carries Public Broadcast Channels you still don't get TG4 on HD on it. VM weren't ever going to broadcast on it.

Atlantic Dawn

Saorsat apparently costs €1.5 million a year to run, that's enough to finance free subscriptions for 4,000 users who can't access Saorview. Have we any figures on how many homes in the country can't actually access Saorview?

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118522658#Comment_118522658

Sky didn't take those channels off for the hell of it. They failed to get EU broadcasting licences.

Ballycommon Mast

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118563027#Comment_118563027

I'm still surprised that sky news were all of a sudden willing to cough up 620k per year for Saorview carriage this late in the day. AFAIK "Saorview only" households have declined year on year in recent years, that will surely excellerate when the whole country gets fibre broadband?

Ballycommon Mast

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118563194#Comment_118563194

I have always thought that saorsat was a strange white elephant, RTE launched it completely on their own accord even though Saorview had better coverage than Analogue ever had.

micks_address

I think there was a legal obligation to ensure everyone has access to digital tv so that's why saorsat was introduced

Mickey Mike

With a €1.500.000 to run saorsat, you would imagine it would be cheaper to fill in the gaps with repeater txs, although its great for the people in the north of Ireland.

Capt'n Midnight

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118574512#Comment_118574512

It would, unless everyone and their dog lined up to ask for a free subscription on spurious grounds.

It also provides coverage in NI.

Bandwidth halved recently so costs may have come down

Glaceon

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118575578#Comment_118575578

We'd need a system where someone would independently assess whether it is possible to receive Saorview or not. Only then could a sub be signed off.