ITV FTA decision: Not before April...

toonarmy · 28-10-2004 11:40AM

nice one...and here i was thinking of moving ship to ntl..

Drag00n79 · 28-10-2004 12:05PM

Do NTL carry ITV2?

doh.ie · 28-10-2004 12:11PM

toonarmy wrote:

am i jumping the gun here ..but say we do get itv in november..thru 'other channels tuning' would itv2 be a possibility .....?

I hope this includes the new ITV3 as well. It's great to think that after eons of fussing with FTV cards, that hurdle is getting close to being no longer a problem. Sure, then Ch4 and Five will have an issue over what to do, but my hope is that both of them will (eventually) realise that they're wasting money on encryption.

Hard to believe that Ch4 have set up a sales office for ROI advertising in Dublin (for E4 ROI *and* C4 ads via the NI version) and yet they cannot arrange to put themselves on the ROI Sky system...

Round Cable · 28-10-2004 12:23PM

No but it's suppose to be added 'NTL' soon

toonarmy · 28-10-2004 12:24PM

Shamrok wrote:

Do NTL carry ITV2?

they do not but my wife wants itv1 and i itv2 for the uefa footy

Amnesiac_ie · 28-10-2004 12:46PM

I've been disappointed on this issue so many time sin the past that I'll "believe it when I see it."

Mossy Monk · 28-10-2004 01:04PM

Amnesiac_ie wrote:

I've been disappointed on this issue so many time sin the past that I'll "believe it when I see it."

indeed

i'm taking this stance aswell

eigrod · 28-10-2004 01:28PM

Can I just act dumb on this issue for a minute [ not hard, believe me

] :-

If ITV1 goes FTA, does this automatically mean that Irish SKY subscribers will be able to tune in straight away using similar methods as we tuned in the BBC channels ?

If ITV1 goes FTA, is there any scenario where Irish SKY subscribers will not be able to tune it in ?

Thanks.

Capt'n Midnight · 28-10-2004 01:53PM

eigrod wrote:

Can I just act dumb on this issue for a minute [ not hard, believe me ] :-

If ITV1 goes FTA, does this automatically mean that Irish SKY subscribers will be able to tune in straight away using similar methods as we tuned in the BBC channels ?

If ITV1 goes FTA, is there any scenario where Irish SKY subscribers will not be able to tune it in ?

Thanks.

If ITV pay sky about 38K then they can get the channel displayed on the EPG as a number (103). Otherwise it's Services, Other channels.

Irish Subscribers - red herring - if you have an Irish card it AUTOMATICALLY BLOCKS BBC and so I assume would also BLOCK ITV. you'd almost certainly have to remove the card (pop it back in upside down so as not to loose it)

so to answer your question the only scenario where Irish SKY Subscribers will not be able to tune in a FTA channel that a Digibox is physically capable of recieving is if they use the SKY CARD.

DMC · 28-10-2004 02:08PM

Mossy Monk wrote:

indeed

i'm taking this stance aswell

A good position to be in, but, I have to say, its now or never. I'm more positive about this now than any other story that has done the rounds since ITV came on satellite.

DMC · 28-10-2004 02:14PM

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

Irish Subscribers - red herring - if you have an Irish card it AUTOMATICALLY BLOCKS BBC and so I assume would also BLOCK ITV. you'd almost certainly have to remove the card (pop it back in upside down so as not to loose it)

so to answer your question the only scenario where Irish SKY Subscribers will not be able to tune in a FTA channel that a Digibox is physically capable of recieving is if they use the SKY CARD.

No, thats not right. Thats if you want it to appear on the EPG, (BBC 1 London on 101) but that method has not worked since the last software update on Sky boxes if you turn your card upside regularly.
Of course anyone with an Irish Sky sub can watch the BBC channels when their frequencies are added to Other Channels. The BBC is Free-to-air. And that what we think will happen to ITV in a few weeks.

eigrod wrote:

If ITV1 goes FTA, does this automatically mean that Irish SKY subscribers will be able to tune in straight away using similar methods as we tuned in the BBC channels ?

Yes, via adding the frequencies to Other Channels

If ITV1 goes FTA, is there any scenario where Irish SKY subscribers will not be able to tune it in ?

If its FTA, we'll get it in exactly the same way we get the BBC, which is mostly through the Other Channels function.

eigrod · 28-10-2004 02:16PM

Cheers DMC, that's clarified things for me....fingers crossed now eh !

doh.ie · 28-10-2004 03:06PM

DMC wrote:

No, thats not right. Thats if you want it to appear on the EPG, (BBC 1 London on 101) but that method has not worked since the last software update on Sky boxes if you turn your card upside regularly.

I thought this was the case too - that the latest update had caused a box to become "Irish" or "British", but pop in an FTV card and let it "initialise" (as in "Initialising New Sky Card") and you'll see the box becomes a British one again...! If the FTV card is then taken out of that box and the box is left on its own, it will continue to remain "British" (as in 101, 102 BBC1/2 without a card) rather than the Irish ones.

mickeyboymel · 28-10-2004 11:13PM

doh.ie wrote:

I thought this was the case too - that the latest update had caused a box to become "Irish" or "British", but pop in an FTV card and let it "initialise" (as in "Initialising New Sky Card") and you'll see the box becomes a British one again...! If the FTV card is then taken out of that box and the box is left on its own, it will continue to remain "British" (as in 101, 102 BBC1/2 without a card) rather than the Irish ones.

If you reboot a digibox which has previously been married to an Irish card,WITHOUT any card inserted,the default EPG with 101-BBC1 London,102-BBC2 England appears,while 103,104 &105 do not appear at all,and the regional BBCs variations and radio stations are down the bottom of the EPG in the 900s and radio sections respectively.

The upsidedown card is no longer relevant since the software update reffered to.

doh.ie · 29-10-2004 02:13PM

mickeyboymel wrote:

If you reboot a digibox which has previously been married to an Irish card,WITHOUT any card inserted,the default EPG with 101-BBC1 London,102-BBC2 England appears,while 103,104 &105 do not appear at all,and the regional BBCs variations and radio stations are down the bottom of the EPG in the 900s and radio sections respectively.

The upsidedown card is no longer relevant since the software update reffered to.

Yeah, that's what I thought. Still, one of my old Irish boxes was refusing to take the default EPG until I gave it an FTV card and then rebooted it with the card out. Up until then it seemed to insist on being an Irish box card or not, reboot or not...

channelsurfer · 29-10-2004 04:38PM

silly question I know but by reboot do you mean switchiing off the power taking out the irish card and then turning the digibox back on . If not how do you reboot it? the last time I tred the power off trick without a card it still had the irish epg on it and wanted the irish card .

Capt'n Midnight · 29-10-2004 04:56PM

The on/off button on the remote (or the box itself) does not power it down, it doesn't even put it a low power mode, since there will still be power going to the LNB. AFAIK it is still capable of sw updates even when "off"..

So switch off at the wall. leave off for a minute and then back on - flick on / off is bad for any electronic equipment as it is for light bulbs. I've heard of some people using remote control power sockets to reset digiboxes..

DMC · 29-10-2004 04:57PM

doh.ie wrote:

Yeah, that's what I thought. Still, one of my old Irish boxes was refusing to take the default EPG until I gave it an FTV card and then rebooted it with the card out. Up until then it seemed to insist on being an Irish box card or not, reboot or not...

TBH, I dunno why that is happening to you guys. I have a digibox without an Irish card for the last 6 months, and it will still load the Irish EPG, no matter how many times I reboot the box.

And thats what most people here get, from reports.

doh.ie · 29-10-2004 05:14PM

DMC wrote:

TBH, I dunno why that is happening to you guys. I have a digibox without an Irish card for the last 6 months, and it will still load the Irish EPG, no matter how many times I reboot the box.

And thats what most people here get, from reports.

Can I suggest you try one of the following things, cos you can *definitely* force an "Irish" box to become a 'default' or 'UK' one.

1) Put in an FTV card, leave this in - reboot with this card in - take it out, reboot again - should now be on UK (101 & 102, 106 etc) EPG.

2) Perform a software upgrade with no card in, or an Irish one upside down

3) Peform a software upgrade while an FTV card is in.

I was surprised too, to see mine return to a UK one, but one of those will work. (I'm just not sure which of those I did to get it to happen - bad memory!)

DMC · 29-10-2004 05:17PM

Aha! Pointless without an FTV card

Interesting quirk all the same, good find!

doh.ie · 29-10-2004 05:18PM

DMC wrote:

Aha! Pointless without an FTV card

Interesting quirk all the same, good find!

Ah, sorry - I get you now. Well, still good to know you can force it
to change nationalities and it's not 'forever' stuck.

You might be able to borrow one to do this with it - would only
take a few minutes.

DMC · 29-10-2004 05:23PM

Indeed. The Sky Digibox doesnt have an active Irish sub or FTV card, so, for me, there are merits in your trickery this halloween!

doh.ie · 29-10-2004 05:38PM

Oh, good. As long as Rupert has one less person willing to sign up, then it surely is a treat as well!

wolfe25 · 29-10-2004 07:11PM

It would be a magor step towards breaking Sky's monopoly on sat viewing in these islands and, if it happens, who knows what other channels might bolt out of that stable and opt for free to air transmission.

FIRE · 31-10-2004 04:01AM

wolfe25 wrote:

It would be a magor step towards breaking Sky's monopoly on sat viewing in these islands and, if it happens, who knows what other channels might bolt out of that stable and opt for free to air transmission.

Or possibly Sky News going the other way and becoming encrypted.

:mad:

Greenman · 31-10-2004 09:31AM

FIRE wrote:

Or possibly Sky News going the other way and becoming encrypted.

:mad:

IMHO No great loss!!!

channelsurfer · 01-11-2004 05:28PM

dosent look likes its going to happen according to digitalspy forums negotiations are going well between itv and sky for itv3 so that means an end to itv1 going fta. sky will do everything they can to avoid itv going fta

Mossy Monk · 01-11-2004 05:42PM

take it all with a pinch of salt

daveg · 01-11-2004 05:48PM

channelsurfer wrote:

dosent look likes its going to happen according to digitalspy forums negotiations are going well between itv and sky for itv3 so that means an end to itv1 going fta. sky will do everything they can to avoid itv going fta

Do you have any links?

Also does anyone know the date ITV are supposed to sign a new contract with sky? In other words when will we know, either way, if ITV are going FTA?

toonarmy · 01-11-2004 06:31PM

channelsurfer wrote:

dosent look likes its going to happen according to digitalspy forums negotiations are going well between itv and sky for itv3 so that means an end to itv1 going fta. sky will do everything they can to avoid itv going fta

#

so no itv 2 then............sh*t

ITV FTA decision: Not before April...

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