Why is Ireland so behind in broadcasting technology

Sam Russell · 27-06-2010 11:12PM

watty wrote: »

Certainly in 1948 there was very little television and very few people to watch. People all over Europe, inc UK were Cold and starving. It was an unusually cold winter.

The cold winter was 1946/47. The British removed coal rationing just before it, even though they had little coal. Everyone was cold that winter.

Incidentally, Bruce Forsythe appeared on British TV in 1939 (or 1938) in a BBC programme about 'meet the family'. He is currently the longest currently-appearing personality on TV worldwide, I presume.

They stuck with 405 lines because 'they invented it' and 'British engineering is the best' and other well known reasons.

watty · 27-06-2010 11:25PM

I wasn't born then...

But it was a cold period

Paul Simons, The Times weatherman, said that the shift in temperature was influenced by a phenomonon known as North Atlantic Oscillation, or NAO, influenced by a lowpressure system over Iceland and high pressure over the warm Azores islands in the sub-tropical Atlantic. When the Icelandic pressure rises and the Azores pressure dips, Britain catches blasts of bitterly cold air.

He said: “In the 1940s the NAO turned negative and brought some of the coldest European winters of the 20th century, including the bitter freezes that helped to defeat Hitler’s invasion of Russia. Another bout of negative NAOs in the 1960s included the worst winter for more than 200 years, when homes were buried under snow and ice floes drifted in the English Channel.

EMI did invent the most sensitive Electronic Camera in 1930s. It's amazing in Europe we got a varient of the Russian 625 system rather than the pre-existing (4 years earlier) US 525 system. I guess the US didn't adapt it for 50Hz

STB · 08-07-2010 10:42AM

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

Because of the demand for UK channels TV, most big cities have had cable television for decades, then SKY came in. By now most of the people ( 70% ? ) who you would expect to be in the market for DTT already have digital. Most of the rest aren't interested or won't pay for it.

Unless DTT carries the UK channels few people will pay for it.

"Digital" ..... hmm Sky would LIKE to think that they own that term and that it is an exclusive to them. Let me dispel a myth for you about ALL platforms.

FTA Television - What SKY/UPC Dont Want You to Know

Irish Viewing Habits
9 out of the Top 10 most watched channels in Ireland are actually Free to Air - either on 28.2/Analogue or DTT.

TOP 20 Watched Stations 2009
Position Channel Owner Share of total viewing (%)
1 RTÉ One Raidió Teilifís Éireann 23.7 FTA
2 TV3 Ireland TV3 Group 12.3 FTA
3 RTÉ Two Raidió Teilifís Éireann 9.65 FTA
4 BBC One Northern Ireland BBC 5.29 FTA
5 UTV UTV Media 4.53 FTA
6 Channel 4 NI Channel 4 3.74 FTA
7 BBC Two Northern Ireland BBC 3.06 FTA
8 TG4 Teilifís na Gaeilge 2.67 FTA
9 Sky1 Sky Ireland 1.92
10 E4 Channel 4 1.19 FTA

mike65 · 08-07-2010 10:50AM

I'm not sure anyone would think otherwise to be fair, even the biggest PL games on Sky will only have about a million domestic viewers in the UK and one would imagine a similair % of viewing here.

watty · 08-07-2010 11:03AM

Sky Sports is wanted by over 50% of Pay TV subscribers, but is less than 2% of viewing time. But obviously that 2% is important to the viewers.

This is the sort of arithmetic Sky use for Sky One also. It's mostly rubbish, but they endeavour to have just enough exclusive content to get/keep a subscription for those with no interest in Sky Sport.

I'd argue that content on all the the other pay channels is replaceable cheaper by a combination of cheap DVDs, FTA TV and patience.

Elmo · 08-07-2010 11:20AM

watty wrote: »

This is the sort of arithmetic Sky use for Sky One also. It's mostly rubbish, but they endeavour to have just enough exclusive content to get/keep a subscription for those with no interest in Sky Sport.

This is why Sky One will have to improve. Exclusive rights to US TV shows just won't get a high number of subscribers. It isn't like they are even providing the top end of US Drama. While I love LOST and 24 they really aren't shows you would pay a subscription for. IMO. (Especially when they run on FTA TV

well at least over here).

Minstrel27 · 09-07-2010 05:54PM

Elmo wrote: »

While I love LOST and 24 they really aren't shows you would pay a subscription for. IMO. (Especially when they run on FTA TV well at least over here).

Has the most recent series of 24 been shown FTA in this country or the UK yet?

Cantona's Collars · 09-07-2010 06:45PM

As far as I know it was on RTE2-they decided to show it at about 1am for some reason,no wonder nobody saw it.

Elmo · 09-07-2010 07:26PM

Minstrel27 wrote: »

Has the most recent series of 24 been shown FTA in this country or the UK yet?

I think RTÉ 2 are at the half way point. No FTA service in the UK has the rights to show 24, Sky may show it on Sky 3 in the future.

As far as I know it was on RTE2-they decided to show it at about 1am for some reason,no wonder nobody saw it.

11:30 while it is still too late they have put on at that time since Season 4. Sky have the rights to the show long before RTÉ get them.

I still don't think first showings of Network dramas from the states will really be a good reason to buy television. Sky 1 show a lot of ****, and both LOST and 24 have ended. I don't see much point in Sky 1. We will see what dramas they get exclusively next year but the VMTV buyout might lessen those shows.

Sky need to become England's answer to HBO with some high end original drama.

Why is Ireland so behind in broadcasting technology

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