The International DTT Deathwatch Thread ?

TAFKAlawhec · 06-09-2018 5:25pm #1

It was going to happen somewhere at some point in the future, but it looks like the ball is to start rolling for broadcasters to leave terrestrial TV, or at least on a free-to-air basis.

Earlier this year in Belgium, the Flemish public broadcaster VRT announced that it would be ending FTA DVB-T transmissions on 1st December this year. Now in the last couple of days the SRG SSR in Switzerland have announced as part of a new agreement with the Swiss federal government that it'll also be winding down their DVB-T network at some point next year. This will mean that terrestrial TV broadcasting in Switzerland will come to an end, though in Belgium a pay-TV DTT service will continue in Flanders where it has agreed to carry the VRT channels affected, while there are also no plans in the French speaking Walloon part of Belgium for their PSB RBTF to close down their DVB-T network.

On reflection it is not a huge shock that VRT & SRG SSR are making such moves. Both Belgium & Switzerland have had very high cable take ups for decades now, to the point where today viewers relying on terrestrial for the primary viewing of their channels is a tiny proportion overall compared to other delivery platforms. VRT calculate that their terrestrial switch off will affect around 45,000 people or less than 1% of the population of Flanders. Meanwhile SRG SSR reckon their DTT closure will affect just under 2% of households** with many of those still using another platform for primary delivery while using DVB-T for second & third receivers.

SRG SSR are recommending to affected viewers to change to reception via satellite as all their services are available on Hot Bird with a FTV card for a one-off fee (which also carries the channels in HD while DTT is SD only) - I'm not sure if VRT have a similar FTV scheme available, I know they're carried on 23 East as part of the TV Vlaanderen satellite platform.

So what does this mean for the future? I'd say that other European countries that have similar low amounts of viewers watching primarily through DTT will be watching what happens with VRT & SRG SSR, especially with a view of introducing DVB-T2 and how feasible it could be. The Netherlands would seem to be a prime candidate though NPO appear to be committing to remaining FTA with a likelihood of going HD as the pay-TV DTT operator Digitenne is to change its transmissions to DVB-T2 with h.265 video very shortly.

In countries with a significantly high proportion of viewers watching via DTT platforms like the UK, Spain & France I doubt there will be any threat in the short to medium term - what could be interesting are those countries that have low-ish DTT viewing percentages but not quite as low as the Netherlands, Belgium & Switzerland. I'm thinking of the likes of Germany, Austria, Bulgaria and possibly even Ireland in that picture.

** Naturally this varies across the country as it's not a uniform distribution. At the start of this decade IIRC in Switzerland about 20% of SRG SSR viewers in parts of the Jura canton were relying on DTT as their main television viewing platform.

coylemj · 06-09-2018 5:41pm

With the mess that is rural broadband in Ireland, I cannot see DTT being withdrawn at any point in the next 20 years. Bear in mind that FM radio also comes from those transmitters and when you see how DAB is (not) being rolled out across the country, I think the transmitters at Truskmore, Gort, Kippure etc. are pretty safe for the moment.

The Cush · 07-09-2018 12:44am

TAFKAlawhec wrote: »

In countries with a significantly high proportion of viewers watching via DTT platforms like the UK, Spain & France I doubt there will be any threat in the short to medium term - what could be interesting are those countries that have low-ish DTT viewing percentages but not quite as low as the Netherlands, Belgium & Switzerland. I'm thinking of the likes of Germany, Austria, Bulgaria and possibly even Ireland in that picture.

Having watched this over the years I would've predicted Belgium and Holland as early candidates for terrestrial switchoff but I can't see this happening in Germany, Austria simply because they are investing in next generation broadcasting technology such as DVB-T2, HEVC etc. unlike the other countries you mention and will want a return on that investment. The German commercial broadcasters threatened to withdraw completely from terrestrial a few years ago but recommitted until the end of the next decade once the government gave its support to upgrading the terrestrial network and guaranteeing access to the necessary spectrum until the end of 2030.

For those countries that switch off terrestrial broadcasting early, what will they use the cleared spectrum for? There isn't any harmonised European plan for all that UHF spectrum and can't be until at least 2031, post the 2023 world radio conference and the decisions made there.

There isn't even a mobile bandplan for the lower UHF band yet, only in the US do they use the 600MHz band for mobile. In Europe, Finland is a country that has been interested in the 600MHz band for may years due to border coordination issue with Russia for the 800MHz band. An interesting decade or so ahead.

Johnboy1951 · 07-09-2018 11:44am

TAFKAlawhec wrote:

In countries with a significantly high proportion of viewers watching via DTT platforms like the UK, Spain & France I doubt there will be any threat in the short to medium term - what could be interesting are those countries that have low-ish DTT viewing percentages but not quite as low as the Netherlands, Belgium & Switzerland. I'm thinking of the likes of Germany, Austria, Bulgaria and possibly even Ireland in that picture.

What proportion of Irish households have the capability to receive DTT?

coylemj · 07-09-2018 3:55pm

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

What proportion of Irish households have the capability to receive DTT?

You'd have to be living in a black valley to be incapable of receiving DTT so the answer must be >99%.

The Cush · 07-09-2018 4:29pm

coylemj wrote: »

You'd have to be living in a black valley to be incapable of receiving DTT so the answer must be >99%.

I assumed he was referring to households with a working aerial and receiver, if so, I haven't seen any such figures since before ASO.

Johnboy1951 · 07-09-2018 6:18pm

The Cush wrote: »

I assumed he was referring to households with a working aerial and receiver, if so, I haven't seen any such figures since before ASO.

Yes, of course I was ...... although admittedly I did leave myself open to such a response with my lack of exactness in the question.

coylemj · 08-09-2018 1:09pm

The Cush wrote: »

I assumed he was referring to households with a working aerial and receiver, if so, I haven't seen any such figures since before ASO.

Impossible to put a number on it. There's literally hundreds of houses in my area (south Dublin) with TV aerials, a mix of VHF and UHF, many with bits missing. Of the intact UHF aerials, there is no way of telling how many are actually in use.

In the 1980s there was a lot of new estates built where Cablelink couldn't get in because of people refusing wayleave so people buying new houses in those estates erected an aerial. Then Eircom were allowed to buy Cablelink (terrible decision, by Minister Mary O'Rourke) which gave Cablelink access to the Eircom ducts and allowed them to reach virtually every house that was previously inaccessible. This is what happened in my area so there's lots of aerials on my neighbours' rooftops which are probably now redundant.

Johnboy1951 · 08-09-2018 2:49pm

I have read nothing at all that would support this

TAFKAlawhec wrote:

In countries with a significantly high proportion of viewers watching via DTT platforms like the UK, Spain & France I doubt there will be any threat in the short to medium term - what could be interesting are those countries that have low-ish DTT viewing percentages but not quite as low as the Netherlands, Belgium & Switzerland. I'm thinking of the likes of Germany, Austria, Bulgaria and possibly even Ireland in that picture.

18-09-2018 12:14am

TAFKAlawhec wrote: »

In countries with a significantly high proportion of viewers watching via DTT platforms like the UK, Spain & France I doubt there will be any threat in the short to medium term

This a516 article on the Swiss DTT switch off comments that industry sources believe the UK may end DTT around 2030.

http://www.a516digital.com/2018/09/switchoff-swiss-to-ditch-digital.html

The Cush · 18-09-2018 1:01am

Deleted User wrote: »

This a516 article on the Swiss DTT switch off comments that industry sources believe the UK may end DTT around 2030.

Spectrum for terrestrial broadcasting is guaranteed in Europe up until 2030, beyond this date the availability of spectrum for terrestrial broadcasting on a primary basis is uncertain. A review of the full UHF band, 470-960 MHz, takes place at the ITU's WRC-2023

Member States shall ensure availability at least until 2030 of the 470-694 MHz (‘sub-700 MHz’) frequency band for the terrestrial provision of broadcasting services, including free television, and for use by wireless audio PMSE on the basis of national needs, while taking into account the principle of technological neutrality. Member States shall ensure that any other use of the sub-700 MHz frequency band on their territory is compatible with the national broadcasting needs in the relevant Member State and does not cause harmful interference to, or claim protection from, the terrestrial provision of broadcasting services in a neighbouring Member State. Such use shall be without prejudice to obligations resulting from international agreements, such as cross-border frequency-coordination agreements.

06-12-2018 9:25pm

Flemish broadcaster VRT closed down it's FTA DTT service on 1st December.

https://www.a516digital.com/2018/12/free-to-air-terrestrial-tv-ends-in.html

The Cush · 07-12-2018 9:21am

Switzerland has announced its terrestrial TV switchoff date, June 3rd, 2019.

https://www.broadcast.ch/fr/television/antenne-tnt/

In Switzerland, just 2% of households still use DTT. DTT is also used in holiday homes, second homes and campsites. The decline in the number of users of this network and the savings measures decided by the SSR are all other reasons justifying the abandonment of DTT. As a result of the reduction of quota shares from 2019, the SSR will no longer be able to finance broadcast TV.

(via Google translate)

L1011 · 07-12-2018 9:53pm

In those cases, and possibly NL also, you have to wonder why they even did a DTT buildout at all.

icdg · 13-12-2018 12:41pm

There used to be a view in DCCAE that there *had* to be a State-controlled (if not necessarily free to air) Television platform in Ireland. For National Security and cultural protection reasons and all that. I’ve personally never bought that argument but I wouldn’t be surprised if it persists. But I think there’s enough users of DTT in Ireland, and another inaccurate perception that satellite=Sky (or at least, Sky and Freesat) that will ensure we won’t be going the way of Switzerland or Flanders anytime soon.

TAFKAlawhec · 02-06-2019 12:55am

The public broadcasting body in Switzerland, SRG SSR, will be closing down its DTT network tomorrow (Monday 3rd June) across the country.

Only ~2% of households had been using DTT as their primary source of television back in mid-2018 when it was announced that the network would close down at some point in 2019. It was claimed that the DTT network was costing SRG SSR about 10% of the income it gets from the TV & Radio licence fee (though its TV stations also show advertisements) and in the aftermath of a referendum on the licence fee in Switzerland, SRG SSR negotiated with the Swiss Federal government to ensure that their funding was spent more efficiently - and the DTT network was an easy target given its ongoing running costs,its federal transmission licence due to expire at the end of 2019, and the amount of viewers in Switzerland that would be affected, so it was an easy area to chop.

SRG SSR have been telling affected viewers to change their source of reception to either satellite, cable or IPTV. Cable television availability in Switzerland is very widespread, even available in small villages, though of course they require an ongoing cost on top of the licence fee - OTOH reception of all SRG SSR television channels are available on a FTV basis from the Eutelsat Hotbird satellites at 13 East (SRF Info is mostly free to air, encryption is switched on for programmes containing restricted rights footages e.g. sports reports) where a decoding card (Viaccess) can be obtained for a one off fee.

At present, all the DTT output of the SRG SSR channels have had a "DVB-T" or "TNT" label below the channel DOG for the last couple of months alongside an occasional scrolling message telling viewers that they need to change their reception set up - that message is now continuous. On Monday all channels will be replaced with a message saying that the SRG SSR DTT network is closed, and one would assumed that the transmitters will be switched off a few days or weeks after.

As I mentioned in the OP, while the potential amount of viewers in Switzerland being affected are small it isn't uniform, with less affluent areas of the country having higher percentages of residents relying on DTT reception. It's also been bad news for viewers in neighbouring countries that used DTT to watch the Swiss services, particularly in areas of France and Italy close to the border where DTT reception in households is much more common that in Switzerland, Germany & Austria.

TAFKAlawhec · 22-01-2020 7:20am

Seems like DTT in Switzerland isn't completely dead - the two French language TV channels of SRG-SSR, RTS1 & RTS2, are to make a small return to the terrestrial airwaves next month - many Swiss nationals that are otherwise resident just over the border into France lost reception of the Swiss stations back in June, and after some discussions, agreement & funding they will now appear on the same multiplex as local Geneva TV Channel Leman Bleu (which itself had its own multiplex that didn't leave the airwaves back in June last year) from two TX sites to primarily serve "frontier" viewers.

That adds on to the curious case of the reactivation of a TX site in Grabunden in the east of Switzerland, which is funded by an Austrian cable operator to provide feeds of the Swiss channels to its network!

Tax The Farmers · 06-07-2023 5:48pm

A lot of speculation on UK Forums about the future of Freeview post 2030 (when a lot of the original licences are up for renewal) also the telecom lobby Europewide are arguing for some (or even all) of the broadcast spectrum to be reallocated to mobile and/or broadband use.

A lot of folk are making the case that linear broadcast TV is dead/dying but IMNSHO the obituaries are somewhat premature. There's certainly a case for mandating a shift to DVB-T2 and killing off some of the spectrum wasting shopping and +1 channels but some folk are still heavy consumers of conventional TV and its not reasonable to expect everyone to shift to satellite (not always available to apartment dwellers) or cable (not always available to rural dwellers) particularly the latter which is a subscription/premium service.

Interestingly in the United States there is a massive shift away from cable television with talk of the technology/infrastructure being repurposed purely for broadband delivery.

The International DTT Deathwatch Thread ?

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