Sat Broadcasting Licences
 

At the dawn of Sat Broadcast in the UK there were 2 Licences for Satellite
Broadcasting as we all know that one survived to rule, So when is the
licence or licences (and are there still 2 licences) up for renewal ?

never
"Ean" wrote in message
...

At the dawn of Sat Broadcast in the UK there were 2 Licences for Satellite
Broadcasting as we all know that one survived to rule, So when is the
licence or licences (and are there still 2 licences) up for renewal ?

My recollection is slightly different - I thought that "at the dawn in the
UK" there was only one "Direct to Home" UK satellite licence, and it was
awarded to BSB. I recall that the Sky analogue service used a communication
satellite, and was not subject to UK broadcasting licences.
I don't think that the situation has changed. The content of the UK services
is regulated under tier 1 of the ITC/OFCOM regs, but i don't think the BSkyB
satellite platform as such is licenced. Would welcome other views to correct
this impression if I'm wrong!
Chris
"Ean" wrote in message
...

At the dawn of Sat Broadcast in the UK there were 2 Licences for Satellite
Broadcasting as we all know that one survived to rule, So when is the
licence or licences (and are there still 2 licences) up for renewal ?

"Ean" wrote in message
...

At the dawn of Sat Broadcast in the UK there were 2 Licences for Satellite
Broadcasting as we all know that one survived to rule, So when is the
licence or licences (and are there still 2 licences) up for renewal ?



IIRC...

There was 1 licence (as in "awarded" by the Government via the Independent
Broadcasting Authority) for services to be broadcast via DBS using a
UK-localised satellite and frequencies allocated by the European regulators.
That was the BSB service, and that licence was acquired by Sky until they
sold the Marco Polo satellites. Either Sky still have that licence but don't
use it, or they relinquished it back to the IBA.

Sky's own Astra service was via Luxembourg so there was no UK government
control over Sky (hence no licence), but they have to accept regulation laid
out by the ITC/Ofcom (mainly for taste/decency and advertising) in
accordance with cross-border directives such as those agreed in Television
Without Frontiers etc as well as various Broadcasting Acts. The downside of
this however is that Sky has too much power while Ofcom has no teeth.

--
Carl

In message [email protected]
"Carl" wrote:

IIRC...

Sky's own Astra service was via Luxembourg so there was no UK government
control over Sky (hence no licence), but they have to accept regulation laid
out by the ITC/Ofcom (mainly for taste/decency and advertising) in
accordance with cross-border directives such as those agreed in Television
Without Frontiers etc as well as various Broadcasting Acts. The downside of
this however is that Sky has too much power while Ofcom has no teeth.

Why can't (or don't) the broadcasters buy transmission rights according to
the "without frontiers" principle? Why doens't the EU force them to do so?

With an efficient/effective encryption system, which SKY now seem to have
achieved, the various channels could buy in broadcasting rights based on the
number of subscribers for the whole region covered by the satellite and
openly accept money from subscribers in all the different countries.

--
Philip Green,
Rotterdam - NL.

Philip GREEN wrote:

: Why can't (or don't) the broadcasters buy transmission rights according to
: the "without frontiers" principle? Why doens't the EU force them to do so?

The US TV companies won't sell programmes in this way. No EU broadcaster
seems to want to work this way. The EU seems disinclined to force them!

On Thu, 04 Mar 2004 08:42:59 GMT, Philip GREEN wrote:

In message [email protected]
"Carl" wrote:

IIRC...

Sky's own Astra service was via Luxembourg so there was no UK government
control over Sky (hence no licence), but they have to accept regulation laid
out by the ITC/Ofcom (mainly for taste/decency and advertising) in
accordance with cross-border directives such as those agreed in Television
Without Frontiers etc as well as various Broadcasting Acts. The downside of
this however is that Sky has too much power while Ofcom has no teeth.

Why can't (or don't) the broadcasters buy transmission rights according to
the "without frontiers" principle? Why doens't the EU force them to do so?

Mainly because the right owners want to screw out every last Euro by selling the
same material many times over. It may be that for BSkyB the hassle factor of
openly selling subscriptions throughout Europe is not as attractive as turning a
blind eye to all those who at present simply provide a UK accommodation address.

--
Nigel Barker
Live from the sunny Cote d'Azur

Philip GREEN wrote:

Why can't (or don't) the broadcasters buy transmission rights according to
the "without frontiers" principle?

Because they don't want to rock the boat and above all because the
rights owner's don't want to sell them that way, in the mistaken
impression that it would reduce the total take. In fact it would
increase the total take.


Why doens't the EU force them to do so?

Because it is in terror of the pay TV media, just as UK politicians
are.


With an efficient/effective encryption system, which SKY now seem to have
achieved, the various channels could buy in broadcasting rights based on the
number of subscribers for the whole region covered by the satellite and
openly accept money from subscribers in all the different countries.

Of course. However this would lead to competition and whilst this is a
splendid thing for consumers Sky do not want any of it.

--
Digibox problem? : A reboot solves 90% of these.
The Sky Digital FAQ: http://tinyurl.com/yvnsy
How to get UK TV overseas: http://tinyurl.com/6p73
Fed up with logos / red buttons? : http://logofreetv.org/
BBC gone? : http://www.astra2d.co.uk/
----
Only the truth as I see it.
No monies return'd. ;-)

Nigel Barker wrote:

It may be that for BSkyB the hassle factor of
openly selling subscriptions throughout Europe is not as attractive as turning a
blind eye to all those who at present simply provide a UK accommodation address.

Not the hassle: the competition. If Sky can sell subs on the mainland
then the mainland broadcasters can sell subs in the UK. At the moment
Sky have no direct competition at all: they will do nothing to open
the gates to anyone else and the mainland broadcasters think the same.
It's better to be the only fish in a pond, no matter how big the pond.

--
Digibox problem? : A reboot solves 90% of these.
The Sky Digital FAQ: http://tinyurl.com/yvnsy
How to get UK TV overseas: http://tinyurl.com/6p73
Fed up with logos / red buttons? : http://logofreetv.org/
BBC gone? : http://www.astra2d.co.uk/
----
Only the truth as I see it.
No monies return'd. ;-)

In message
Brian McIlwrath wrote:

Philip GREEN wrote:

: Why can't (or don't) the broadcasters buy transmission rights according to
: the "without frontiers" principle? Why doens't the EU force them to do so?

The US TV companies won't sell programmes in this way. No EU broadcaster
seems to want to work this way.
The EU seems disinclined to force them!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

My point entirely. Why don't they get their fingers out? I thought that's
what we were paying them (the EU) for.

--
Philip Green,
Rotterdam - NL.

In message
Nigel Barker wrote:


Why can't (or don't) the broadcasters buy transmission rights according to
the "without frontiers" principle? Why doens't the EU force them to do so?


Mainly because the right owners want to screw out every last Euro by selling
the same material many times over. It may be that for BSkyB the hassle
factor of openly selling subscriptions throughout Europe is not as
attractive as turning a blind eye to all those who at present simply provide
a UK accommodation address.


I have no idea how much more hassle is involved in selling to different
countries within the EU. A credit card is a credit card. I have never had
any problems getting subscriptions to UK magazines, albeit at a higher rate
to cover the extra postage. I fSKY have people defaulting on their payments,
whether mainland Europeans or UK residents, they can quite simply deactivate
the card.


--
Philip Green,
Rotterdam - NL.

On Fri, 05 Mar 2004 10:25:27 GMT, Philip GREEN wrote:

In message
Nigel Barker wrote:


Why can't (or don't) the broadcasters buy transmission rights according to
the "without frontiers" principle? Why doens't the EU force them to do so?


Mainly because the right owners want to screw out every last Euro by selling
the same material many times over. It may be that for BSkyB the hassle
factor of openly selling subscriptions throughout Europe is not as
attractive as turning a blind eye to all those who at present simply provide
a UK accommodation address.


I have no idea how much more hassle is involved in selling to different
countries within the EU. A credit card is a credit card. I have never had
any problems getting subscriptions to UK magazines, albeit at a higher rate
to cover the extra postage. I fSKY have people defaulting on their payments,
whether mainland Europeans or UK residents, they can quite simply deactivate
the card.

I was thinking more in practical terms of multilingual call centres, arranging
system installations etc. It may just be that BSkyB enjoy being part of the cosy
cartel of European satellite broadcasters & don't want to compete in other
markets on the implicit agreement that Canal+ etc won't try & compete in the UK.

--
Nigel Barker
Live from the sunny Cote d'Azur

On Fri, 05 Mar 2004 10:21:57 GMT, Philip GREEN wrote:

In message
Brian McIlwrath wrote:

Philip GREEN wrote:

: Why can't (or don't) the broadcasters buy transmission rights according to
: the "without frontiers" principle? Why doens't the EU force them to do so?

The US TV companies won't sell programmes in this way. No EU broadcaster
seems to want to work this way.
The EU seems disinclined to force them!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

My point entirely. Why don't they get their fingers out? I thought that's
what we were paying them (the EU) for.

To its credit the BBC is already delivering transmissions without frontiers as
their FTA broadcasts cover half of Europe.

--
Nigel Barker
Live from the sunny Cote d'Azur

In article ,
Philip GREEN wrote:
My point entirely. Why don't they get their fingers out? I thought that's
what we were paying them (the EU) for.

Because there's nothing to enforce. The directive covers the activities of
governments who might want to limit the geographical reach of television
channels to either keep them inside or outside their borders. It does not
and was never intended to cover the activities and choices of the
broadcasters themselves. The principle is that suppliers *can* choose to
cover and supply the entire EU, not that they *must*!

Dave
--
Email: MSN Messenger:

On Fri, 05 Mar 2004 10:21:57 GMT, Philip GREEN
wrote:

: Why can't (or don't) the broadcasters buy transmission rights according to
: the "without frontiers" principle? Why doens't the EU force them to do so?

The US TV companies won't sell programmes in this way. No EU broadcaster
seems to want to work this way.
The EU seems disinclined to force them!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

My point entirely. Why don't they get their fingers out? I thought that's
what we were paying them (the EU) for.

Because ultimately the media companies which have most to lose have
too much dirt on our elected representatives.

--
Hiram Hackenbacker

Nigel Barker wrote:

I have no idea how much more hassle is involved in selling to different
countries within the EU. A credit card is a credit card. I have never had
any problems getting subscriptions to UK magazines, albeit at a higher rate
to cover the extra postage. I fSKY have people defaulting on their payments,
whether mainland Europeans or UK residents, they can quite simply deactivate
the card.

I was thinking more in practical terms of multilingual call centres, arranging
system installations etc.

Many people forget that Sky already operate in two countries using two
totally different currencies. This apparently causes them little
grief. They would find it no harder to change the delivery address for
cards from the ROI to Germany or Italy etc. Billing procedures would
not change at all.
There is no need for multilingual call centres (why would anyone
subscribe to Sky if they couldn't speak English?) and installation
does not pose a problem either as your local man can always do it.

--
Digibox problem? : A reboot solves 90% of these.
The Sky Digital FAQ: http://tinyurl.com/yvnsy
How to get UK TV overseas: http://tinyurl.com/6p73
Fed up with logos / red buttons? : http://logofreetv.org/
BBC gone? : http://www.astra2d.co.uk/
----
Only the truth as I see it.
No monies return'd. ;-)

In message
Nigel Barker wrote:

To its credit the BBC is already delivering transmissions without
frontiers as their FTA broadcasts cover half of Europe.

Good point and well made. All credit and thanks to the BBC for bucking the
trend and I hope others will follow soon. Certainly those who broadcast in
the clear from other satellite positions should be able to do so from 28.2E.


--
Philip Green,
Rotterdam - NL.