Either way this is a good day for TV - even if this project will run alongside ITVD for the time being, it certainly looks like the authorities are putting measures in place to replace the pay-TV platform with an all-FTA one when/if C&G pull the plug on it.
It might seem a little defeatist, but the sooner they put that turkey to sleep the sooner we can all get on with watching decent telly.
What are you talking about ? Although a useful addition to get people to move over to Digital TV, I don't want a wholly FTA platform to replace the pay-TV platform. There is a market for pay-TV Digital terrestrial you know, and I would not want to be deprived of that thank you very much.
GR
thegreenfairy
I agree there is a market for perhaps one mux of premium channels - but otherwise, why shouldn't the entire platform go FTA? Why would you pay for something you could have free?
So do you mean that all the primary channels on ITVD should be free to air ?
RW
RW
Quote:
Whataday on 4:28 pm on Jan. 17, 2002
The BBC and ITV are pressing ahead with plans for a set-top box that will deliver more than 15 free-to-air digital channels to millions of viewers.
More than 15 channels... At the moment I make it that there are 13 FTA channels, including the sound-only BBC Parliament, and ITN News Channel with its very limited hours. So what are these extra ones? Could they be the UKTV channels going FTA?
I agree that the digital terrestrial platform should go fully FATA - it simply does not have the capacity to support a pay television service that can compete effectively with Sky - On/ITV Digital's struggling subscriber figures have proved this.
So how would that work ? They would have to go free to air on Sky Digital too ?
(Edited by square eyes at 6:39 pm on Jan. 17, 2002)
MI
millionairefan
So, this would be correct then:
BBC1
BBC2
ITV1
Channel 4
Channel 5
BBC Choice
BBC Knowledge
BBC Parliament (will this still be audio only)
Shop!
TV Travel Shop
ITV2
Sky News
Sky One
ITN News Channel
Where's the 15th?
GR
thegreenfairy
Presumably.
Sky News and Sky One are rumoured to be taking up Channel 5's extra capacity on Mux A (Sky News all but confirmed)
Viacom and Discovery have said they support extra capacity for FTA DTT in the UK - presumably meaning they would like to be broadcast on it.
Telewest are trying to FORCE Channel 4 to make E4 FTA
Flextech& the BBC have expressed an interest in making at least some of the UKTV channels free.
This leaves Cartoon Network (has been FTA on analogue satellite for years), Eurosport (ditto), and the Carlton/Granada channels (what's left of them at least).
It seems to me that most of the primary channels WOULD go FTA if only they didn't have to broadcast 'via' a pay-tv platform operator like ITVDigital/Sky - as their ad revenue would increase if they were guaranteed to be received by all homes - and many channel don't get much from subscription anyway (that is all taken by ITVD/Sky)
GR
thegreenfairy
The current list of FTA channels is
BBC1
BBC2
BBC Choice
BBC 4 (launches march '02)
CBBC (launches febraury '02)
CBeeBies (launches february '02)
BBC News 24
BBC Parliament
ITV1
ITV2
Channel 4
Channel 5
ITN
Shop!
TV Travelshop
Plus S4C, S4C2 and TeleG in some places.
(Edited by thegreenfairy at 6:43 pm on Jan. 17, 2002)
The 15th channel could be GMTV2 ? Or one of the multitude of text channels. Teletext, BBCi, ITV Text + ?
MI
millionairefan
Well, with CBBC and Cbeebies, that makes 17 - will the FTA box receive all 17 channels at its launch date?
GR
thegreenfairy
An FTA DTT box will receive every channel being broadcast from the relevant transmitter - but it will only be able to show pictures on channels which are broadcast unscrambled. If the entire platform went FTA (hypothetically) then the FTA box would receive all the channels - they are only using the number 15 as a ballpark figure to compare with the 5 FTA channels currently available.