RTE/TV3 on Sky

dmeehan

Does anyone know if RTE have even started building the satalite uplink dish yet?

And whats the story from TV3?

Charles Slane

The last I heard from TV3 was that they were "in discussions" with Sky.

Don't know about the dish.

Does anyone live out near Montrose ? Have a peak over the wall and let us know.

Saruman

See the older thread
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=38278

Mossy Monk

i received the following from TV3 yesterday

TV3 have begun initial investigations into Sky Digital however a launch
date
has not yet been decided.
Best regards,
TV3

reading this it would seem to me that they are only looking for a launch date. April anyone?

DMC

Lets hope so, Mossy, with cable exclusivity ends in March, doesn't this hold for TV channels too? Let's hope so.

triple-play

RTE have started to build their uplink. Sky have sent over an engineer to manage. But it will all depend on the BCI -they have told RTE that they need a licence to go on the Sky platform.

And I don't care what story RTE are saying but there is no way that they will get on the Sky platform for free. They might get the first year or two for nothing but they will be made pay heavily after that. ITV and BBC pay over stg£16 pa to be on Sky... how are they going to like it if RTE pays nothing? And once RTE are on Sky they will not be able to get off and will end up paying EUR2m pa for the service -and you as the tax payer will be funding that EUR2m because RTE won't make any where near that amount in additional advertising revenue.:mad:

Mossy Monk

Originally posted by triple-play
and you as the tax payer will be funding that EUR2m because RTE won't make any where near that amount in additional advertising revenue

wouldn't bother me in the slightest. i would consider €2m to be quite cheap. i am really looking forward to EPG info for RTÉ1, Network 2 and TG4. and TV3 of course when it goes on

triple-play

but mossy, why would TV3 go on to Sky if they have to pay (around EUR1m pa?)? They will not see that type of return in advertising and they cannot access the licence payers funds like RTE. This is not fair on TV3.
I don't pay my licence fee so that RTE can go on to another pay-platform. And what happens if Sky becomes the dominant platform with 800,000+ subs? Cable will be destroyed and Sky will revert to treating the Irish subs as another county of England.
The Irish coffers will lose around EUR100m pa in revenue from spectrum fes and VAT (Sky don't pay Irish VAT on sub income!).

What RTE is planning to do with Sky is anti-Irish.

apiou

Although it may seem good for us users it seems a real stupid thing for RTE to do to put themselves on satellite before selling off the network - which is what we are led to believe they want to do. Any views on that.

apiou

If TV3 want to go on Sky it is only natural - visiting friends in certain parts of the country I noticed that they did not have access to TV3, with Sky they would. Gives TV3 better coverage.

byte

I think TV3 has the worst coverage in the country. TV3 is only transmitted from 3 transmission stations in the North West. The three are Truskmore (C60), Holywell Hill (C29) and Maghera (C66)

As TV3 have replied mentioning "launch date" talks must be pretty successful.

As for Sky letting RTE on its platform for free, what's to understand? The UK terrestrials are FTV in UK. RTE will be subscription channels so Sky will make dosh from subs and hopefully a lot more subscribers which I think they'll get if TV3 is carried also.

I can see the argument for TV3 being on Sky-Granada will end up paying for it there though if they do.
Presumably TV3 will have to pay to be carried by "It's TV's" platform as well??
The national transmission network and Sky digital in the future are likely to be the main platform providers, as they are at present, if you count the analogue transmission network as a platform.
What agreement did the BBC come to with Sky for carriage originally?Thats UK licence money.

I doubt if Sky could force RTE off their network when faced with it being on all rival networks and it's even more doubtfull that they will be forced off when digital terrestial gets up and running here.
Thats because DTT is the biggest potential future threat to Sky in the Republic of Ireland.

RTE are actually in a very good position imo regarding Sky and should continue to Screw Sky for all the free transmission they can get.It will cost Sky the same to broadcast RTE regardless of how many customers they lose to a new competitor and in my book it serves them right.
mm

Prophead

"What RTE are planning to do is anti-Irish"

So, it's an act of patriotism to accept poxy service from the cable companies, and have channels dropped on a whim?:mad:

As far as I'm concerned, "Sir" Tony and No Tv Land: can go and hump off for themselves and given their records they absolutely deserve the revenge that consumers will wreak on them when their "exclusivity" rights finish in March.

Besides, you can always stick up an aerial for analogue Irish TV and get a much better result than for any cable service I've seen.

The great tragedy in all this is that the Government sat on Digital Terrestrial for reasons best known to themselves. I am very keen on seeing It's TV providing a viable platform for receiving (yes!) all the main UK digital channels and providing interactivity on the Irish services, which hopefully will have the scope for enhancement and expansion.

If that's being anti-Irish so be it.:rolleyes:

byte

Well if It's TV launches with what it hopes - broadband wireless internet - then I will be one of the first to get it!:D In fact I might as well get a few STBs for other tellies! But my biggest interest with DTT is the broadband idea.

Gadgie

Originally posted by irishbyte
Well if It's TV launches with what it hopes - broadband wireless internet - then I will be one of the first to get it!:D In fact I might as well get a few STBs for other tellies! But my biggest interest with DTT is the broadband idea.

Sorta OT here, but can someone please post the link from ireland.com about _It's TV_ please (or any other relevant links for that matter)? I don't seem to have the original thread anymore, and I can't find it searching here, or on ireland.com. Thanks in advance. :-)

triple-play

As I understand it the only way cable customers can wreak havoc on the cable companies when the exclusive franchises expire in March is if another cable company does an overbuild... and with the capital expenditure required I don't think this is very likely for many years to come.

As for RTE, I believe they are acting out of self interest and not public interest. They have done nothing to help the launch of DTT and may be doing their best to stop it by planning to go up on Sky which would harm the business case for DTT.

If they are successful in preventing the launch of a DTT Platform in Ireland then Ireland will be at the mercy of cableco's and Sky and will you will forever be forced to pay top wack for the UK and satellite channels.

triple-play

Here is the text of the article in the Irish Times -I couldn't find the link


Digital group plans joint Web/TV package

It'sTV, the only bidder to operate a national digital TV service, is in talks with a US venture capital fund seeking finance to support its bid, writes Jamie Smyth
IT'STV, the sole bidder for a licence to operate a national digital television service here, plans to offer consumers 40 TV channels and a high-speed internet service for €33 (£26) a month.
The company also plans to introduce technology that would enable consumers to receive a digital signal without a cable, rooftop aerial or a satellite dish, its founder has told The Irish Times. But the group will first have to secure a principal financial backer to support its licence bid. The company is in talks with a US venture capital fund but there is no guarantee these talks will succeed.
Mr Peter Brannigan, a former RTÉ executive and chief architect of It'sTV's bid for a licence, would not comment on the financial negotiations but he outlined the technology basis for the bid.
The proposed digital service would operate via a signal 10 times as powerful as that used in an equivalent digital television network in Britain, ITV Digital. This British channel has encountered serious financial problems competing with cable operators and the Sky satellite platform.
"The standards we are using would cut down the cost of receiving equipment and installation," said Mr Brannigan.
He said the Government had negotiated the right with the British Government to use a much more powerful digital terrestrial signal than was used in Britain.
"The ITV Digital service requires consumers to use a rooftop antenna and the service provider must send someone out to connect consumers," he said. "People who want to go with us just have to go to Dixons and buy a set-top box with a node attached to it to receive the digital signal."
The nodes would receive a powerful digital signal beamed from RTÉ's existing network to provide the consumer with "portable grade reception".
This could eventually enable the digital service provider to offer television service to personal digital assistants or mobile phones, said Mr Brannigan.
It'sTV also plans to provide a high-speed internet service for consumers on their televisions. This wireless service would use a return path in the digital signal to send and receive information.
The company plans to offer three internet services to consumers, which would run at speeds of 256, 128 and 56 kilobytes per second, said Mr Brannigan. It's- TV plans to establish a network of 50 to 100 cells to provide national internet coverage, he added.
He said this would be a much more economical method of rolling out broadband services throughout the State than either cable or digital subscriber line (DSL) technology.
"It costs between €1,600 to €2,000 per house passed to upgrade cable networks. This is just huge," he said. "DSL doesn't cover rural areas economically, either."
At present the telecoms regulator expects a digital terrestrial licensee to offer more than 90 per cent national coverage. This is not attractive to venture capitalists due to extra costs to provide a service in rural areas.
But with only one bidder in the race for the digital licence, and its difficulty in attracting a financial backer well known, this high coverage level may have to be reduced to make the proposed service attractive to financiers.
Mr Brannigan said It'sTV would need to raise between €15 million and €85 million to operate its service depending on the type and coverage required. The company has already received seed funding from Delta Partners.

apiou

If the government wants ITs TV to get a good push start they should force RTE to hurry up and decide what they are going to do about the network (keep or sell) and get things rolling or ITs TV won't have a chance.

AFAIK, it's the government that decide on the network issue not RTE.
mm

DMC

Well, if Sile Dev had half a brain (and I am giving her some credit there) she shouldn't sell the tx network, because 1, there is no one to buy it and 2, its the worst time possible if you have any bit of technological kit, because the prices are rock bottom.

Yes, RTÉ may need the money, but they are no fools....

Keep a hold of it for the time being.

Gadgie

Originally posted by triple-play
Here is the text of the article in the Irish Times -I couldn't find the link

<snip>

Thanks for that, much appreciated :-)

irishguy

that its tv thing sounds 2 good 2 be true they mention notting of technology and they can supposedly reach most of the country for very little investement and supplying up to 256k net connection. but it would be great if it actualy worked

Hi Irish Guy,
I thought it was well known, but anyhow.
they will be using the RTE transmission sites at a very high power(for digital anyhow).
So if you are in an area that receives RTE one and Network two you will get them.
The technology they propose using is quite sophisticated and there are posts ove in the Dig terrestrial section outlining that.

mm

irishguy

thanx ill have a look. does that mean that anywhere that can reveive a rte signel can get the broadband??

I would presume so,my knowledge is limited I'm afraid.
mm