RTÉ on Sky Digital for Free?

DMC

http://www.unison.ie/business/stories.php3?ca=80&si=650166

Well, this article does'nt exactly expand on its first paragraph much, but its an interesting read all the same......

RTE goes free on Sky network

RTÉ has won a significant victory by clinching a deal to transmit its channels on the Sky satellite network without paying the Rupert Murdoch-owned TV company.


In Britain, television production companies handed over huge sums in return for Sky rebroadcasting their programmes over satellite.


The revelation about the deal with RTÉ comes following extensive speculation that the Irish semi-state paid Sky £6m in return for transmitting Irish channels on the satellite network. The deal has been kept closely under wraps by both sides since it was publicly announced two weeks ago because ITV paid Sky stg£17m for carrying its programming on satellite. Both RTÉ and Sky have signed a confidentiality agreement.


However, RTÉ is to give the telecoms regulator Etain Doyle information on the deal to ensure there are no issues of concern, according to industry sources in Britain.


It is expected Ms Doyle will report back to the cable companies with her views.


The Irish cable companies are unhappy with the link up between Sky and RTÉ.


Earlier this week, Gavin O'Reilly, chief executive of Independent News & Media (Ireland), said he wanted to see details of the deal. He was critical of RTÉ as an "agent of the State" concluding a deal with Sky which was unregulated and unlicensed to broadcast in Ireland.


Cable companies NTL and Independent's Chorus pay 3.5pc of their turnover as a licence fee and will face significant competition from Sky.


It has also been learned that RTÉ is reviewing its plans for digital terrestrial TV and additional channels in light of international trends.


A spokesperson for RTÉ said "a decision is not imminent on digital terrestrial television or additional channels".


Industry sources have also pointed out the Sky deal could seriously affect RTÉ's plans for four new digital channels


The broadcaster has plans for a new channels carrying children's programmes, news, educational material and Oireachtas reports.


The station cannot broadcast any further channels on its aerial analogue network until it upgrades the system to digital.


However, there is speculation that RTÉ's deal with Sky to carry its channels coulddiscourage an outside company from investing in digital terrestrial.


But sources within RTÉ say the transmission business is already profitable as it receives revenues from mobile phone companies.


They hope to sell the transmission business by early next year and are confident digital terrestial television will proceed.


Industry sources say the aerial system which operates on analogue is full and cannot carry additional channels without being upgraded to digital.


If the speculation that RTÉ will not be able to go ahead with digital terrestrial proves accurate it will also scupper its plans for new channels.


The Broadcasting Act stipulates that RTÉ can only use income from its licence fee to fund programming which is "free to air", or can be received without viewers paying subscription fees.


Informed sources suggest this would cause "serious issues" for RTÉ unless it proceeds with digital terrestrial. The only other digital platforms available Sky and the two cable companies require viewers to pay a fee.

Damo,
I think all of us here should be submitting articles to the newspapers on this and related subjects.
Most of the posts here are much better written and better informed than the above pile of rubbish.
Newspapers are for news,not speculation.
The latter should be left for the gossip rags.
mm

DMC

Agreed, mm, the Indo has its own agenda, when it comes to Digital TV, so there is going to be a slant in its coverage.
I like the way the Irish Times was entirely correct when it leaked the info on RTÉ and Sky in the first place, others were playing catch-up. And I trust them more, because they have no direct interest in Digital TV.

We're miles better than INM for accurate news!

Damien.

DMC

In today's Irish Times.....

By reading this, I am sure that there is nowt any regulator can do with RTÉ's agreement with Sky. Roll on April.

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/finance/2002/0105/555505092BZRTE.html

Sky deal similar to others in State, says RTE

By Jamie Smyth

RTÉ Authority chairman Mr Patrick J Wright has told the Government that carriage terms agreed between RTÉ and the UK firm BSkyB were similar to its deals with cable operators, which currently carry RTÉ free of charge.

He also warned that Sky's strategy to expand in the Republic and Northern Ireland held serious implications for RTÉ, according to records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.

Last November RTÉ agreed a deal that will enable its television and radio channels to be broadcast on the Sky platform in the Republic and Northern Ireland from April 2002. The terms of the deal with BSkyB, the firm which operates the Sky digital television service, caused controversy following media speculation that RTÉ had paid millions of pounds to obtain the carriage rights.

This would have been in line with Sky's existing deals with UK broadcasters. It is believed that ITV recently paid up to £17 million sterling (€27 million) to Sky for carriage rights on its satellite platform.

However, a letter sent by Mr Wright to the Minister for the Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, Ms de Valera, on October 23rd last states that RTÉ had "agreed carriage terms similar to those currently in place with cable operators throughout the country."

Cable operators in the Republic must carry RTÉ's programmes free, signalling that RTÉ managed to sign a similarly favourable deal with Sky in contrast to UK content providers.

RTÉ will now only incur modest costs from the construction of a satellite dish at its Donnybrook headquarters and the installation of digital equipment.

Industry sources said yesterday Sky probably agreed the deal with RTÉ to gain a strong foothold in the market, before a planned rival digital terrestrial network could gain a foothold here.

A competition to award a licence to operate a national digital terrestrial service is under way. However, it would take at least a year to complete a national network and begin to offer services.

Government records which may have evaluated the implications of RTÉ's deal with Sky on this planned digital terrestrial network have been withheld by the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands.

Mr Wright's letter suggests that RTÉ's business would have been undermined if it had not decided to join the Sky platform.

"The company's (Sky) intentions are to extend its penetration in this State as well as Northern Ireland and there are potentially serious implications for RTÉ which the authority could not ignore," writes Mr Wright.

©The Irish Times

Lennoxschips

It's still pretty vague on wether RTE will be free to view. Does anybody know anything more about this?

Genghis

Surely Sky could not get away with charging extra for Irish terrestrial channels!! Perhaps, though you will need an 'RTE card' like the BBC card which ensures that the channels are available only to those who have paid up their licence fee?

DMC

Originally posted by Lennoxschips
It's still pretty vague on wether RTE will be free to view. Does anybody know anything more about this?

Perhaps so, but at least this article shows that it would be little more than posturing on the cable companies part, in complaining about it.

RTÉ should be free to view on Sky Digital, but will it be Family Pack mininium? As Sky is not covered by legislation in this country, it wont be the same arrangement like BBC/ITV/CH4/Ch5, where you dont necessarily need a Sky subscription to view the standard terrestrial channels.

Damo,
Are we reading into this,that Sky are giving RTE muxes/transpnder space for free,where other organisations , either via SES or Sky are paying through the nose for it???

Sky must think a lot of the Irish market to be playing the game like this.
Like all "almost" monopolies , with Weak competition, this is predatory pricing at it's worst.
Ultimately the Customer will pay the price for this:mad:
normally a practice such as this would be illegal?? but no doubt it's been well researched and theres a loophole.

Very Clever strategy actually as technically, even though we are all in the EU , Sky are probably not breaching any law as by Charging ITV for instance,they are dealing with a service in a different country.
IE ITV and RTE do not compete-so no laws broken there.
Cable companies do not charge-so again no law broken.
The objective being to get RTE on the system to sell more boxes.

It's still imho morally speaking, predatory pricing as its aimed at hitting the cable companies and any proposed DTT service.

On another related point-Could this be the reason for the delay in getting ITV and Ch 4 etc on the Irish EPG???

IE if they appear on it,Sky will be in trouble as they are charging UTV who have ROI advertising and thus compete with RTE+ TV 3 and giving the service free to RTE-Could this be a legal problem for them???
If it is , I suggest we will all be waiting a little longer for the extra channels.
mm

DMC

The RTÉ's deal with Sky would have nowt to do with what transponders they are on, that would be a seperate deal. Remember last year, ITV went to Astra direct, and bought transponder space. Then, they concluded a carriage deal worth the reported £17m stg figure with BSkyB months later.

So...... from this, Sky and RTÉ must have only organised carriage, which is reported as worth a pittance.

Now, for conspiracy theorists everywhere..... as Eutelsat own Eurobird at 28.5, and that company was set up as an intergovernmental organization in the 70's, and RTÉ has never ever broadcast on any satellite, (other European PSB's have, like RAI) do RTÉ have any arrangement that dates back from the 70's saying that Ireland has space on any satellite, when it wants it?????

Far fetched, Yes, I only remembered that detail from a 70's broadcasting book that I read years ago. But we will only know, when we know what frequencies RTÉ will test on.

Also, are CTL (ex- 80% owners of Atlantic 252) and SES-Astra part of the one company or are they seperate?? I think they might be seperate now, but did CTL originally own SES-Astra??

Any news on the planning permission for the dish in Montrose yet, either?