Five and TUTV
 

Firstly let me state that IMHO, UHF TV should be free TV.
The quote below from AdvancedTelevision.Com sounds like terrible news.

IMHO, at the start of DTT, Five should never have been given slots on
a multiplex aside from their own channel when they stated they had no
interest in extra channels and would sublease it on. I'm a strong
believer in the US FCC's approach to spectrum of "use it or lose it".
TUTV is a disaster, Freeview is a huge success. We can all assume why
TUTV wont release subscriber numbers. It is widely assumed that Five
contracted to sublet it's bandwidth to TUTV until 2010.

Take a look at this.
http://www.topuptv.com/downloads/29AU6358.jpg
It has to be the most pathetic corporate photo anybody has ever seen.
Note the shadows and the hole in the wall behind the two wide boys.
I expect they said to the secretary, bring yer camera in to work
tomorrow, dear.
Oh, and that pathetic "we're executives with open neck shirts who get
down in the trenches" look.

The best way for the UK population to deal with this is not to
subscribe to TUTV, and let them die on the vine.
The old BBC programmes being shown on UKTV should (IMHO) all be
advertiser supported, FTA anyway, just like UK History and UK Bright
Ideas. We have already paid for them with our license fee.

We now hear that Five have offered a ridiculous £12 mill for the
latest Freeview spot (they had several free at the start of DTT),
outbidding ITV and Channel 4. I only hope it is for FTA, and the only
purpose of the TUTV acquisition is in order to close TUTV down and
acquire its bandwidth for FTA purposes.

Oh, and let us not forget that outrageous and illegal MHEG advertising
of TUTV when switching to Five. I was appaled that Ofcom gave Five
only a smack on the wrist for this, rather than fining them millions.



RTL buys into Top Up
RTL Group through its UK channel subsidiary Five, has taken a RTL buys
into Top Up
RTL Group through its UK channel subsidiary Five, has taken a
strategic investment in Top Up TV's business. This will enable both
parties to explore and develop a number of free and pay services on
Freeview and other platforms including Five's plans to launch further
free-to-air channels.

Five is confident that this relationship will present a number of
opportunities to launch new free-to-air services during the course of
2006. David Chance, Top Up TV Chairman, said: "We have an excellent
relationship with Five and extending it in this way is a natural next
step for our continued growth."

Five and TUTV
 

"steve" wrote in message
...
Firstly let me state that IMHO, UHF TV should be free TV.
The quote below from AdvancedTelevision.Com sounds like terrible news.

IMHO, at the start of DTT, Five should never have been given slots on
a multiplex aside from their own channel when they stated they had no
interest in extra channels and would sublease it on. I'm a strong
believer in the US FCC's approach to spectrum of "use it or lose it".
TUTV is a disaster, Freeview is a huge success. We can all assume why
TUTV wont release subscriber numbers. It is widely assumed that Five
contracted to sublet it's bandwidth to TUTV until 2010.


I would never subscribe to TUTV because it's just ITV Digital Mk.2,
remember them saying 'your screens won't go blank' - two days later they
did and I had a subbie with them.
Regards Mike.

--
The best thing about Christmas is when it's over.

Five and TUTV
 

"Mike GW8IJT" wrote in message
...
"steve" wrote in message
...
Firstly let me state that IMHO, UHF TV should be free TV.
The quote below from AdvancedTelevision.Com sounds like terrible news.

IMHO, at the start of DTT, Five should never have been given slots on
a multiplex aside from their own channel when they stated they had no
interest in extra channels and would sublease it on. I'm a strong
believer in the US FCC's approach to spectrum of "use it or lose it".
TUTV is a disaster, Freeview is a huge success. We can all assume why
TUTV wont release subscriber numbers. It is widely assumed that Five
contracted to sublet it's bandwidth to TUTV until 2010.

I would never subscribe to TUTV because it's just ITV Digital Mk.2,
remember them saying 'your screens won't go blank' - two days later they
did and I had a subbie with them.
Regards Mike.

I'm sure I read that ITV had bought Multiplex A and would take over the
running of it after the current contracts expire. I assume they will close
Top Up TV to make room for things like the Children's ITV Channel, and a
return to 24 hour operation of the ITN News Channel. It will put ITV back on
a par with the BBC, at 2 multiplexes each, and allow them to restore
respectable picture quality with higher bitrates on channels like E4 and ITV
3.

Five operates just like an ITV company anyway, so why not have done with it
and call it ITV 5?

Five and TUTV
 

Stephen wrote:

I'm sure I read that ITV had bought Multiplex A and would take over the
running of it after the current contracts expire. I assume they will close
Top Up TV to make room for things like the Children's ITV Channel, and a
return to 24 hour operation of the ITN News Channel. It will put ITV back on
a par with the BBC, at 2 multiplexes each, and allow them to restore
respectable picture quality with higher bitrates on channels like E4 and ITV
3.

Five operates just like an ITV company anyway, so why not have done with it
and call it ITV 5?

Quite honestly any pretence that ITV, C4 or Five are 'public service
broadcasters' is now ludicrous. Ofcom's conduct since their inception as the
commercial broadcaster's regulator is equally laughable, they behave more like
a business enterprise agency.

--
Mark
Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply.

Five and TUTV
 

On Fri, 18 Nov 2005 23:59:13 GMT, steve wrote:

Firstly let me state that IMHO, UHF TV should be free TV.

That's my view too!

We can all assume why
TUTV wont release subscriber numbers. It is widely assumed that Five
contracted to sublet it's bandwidth to TUTV until 2010.

In the Guardian's report on this story:

"The service had 140,000 subscribers at the beginning of 2005, more
than halfway towards its breakeven target of 250,000, which the
company's chairman, David Chance, has predicted it will hit by the
middle of 2006."
http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcas...645876,00.html

That suggests they're adding around 6,000 new customers a month and
that they now have about 200,000 subscribers By comparison, the
Guardian said last April "Freeview, the digital television service is
now in five million homes".
http://shopping.guardian.co.uk/elect...473527,00.html
--
Dave
Sheffield, England, UK

http://www.gnudawn.co.uk/

Five and TUTV
 

"Dave" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 18 Nov 2005 23:59:13 GMT, steve
wrote:

Firstly let me state that IMHO, UHF TV should be free TV.

That's my view too!

We can all assume why
TUTV wont release subscriber numbers. It is widely assumed that
Five
contracted to sublet it's bandwidth to TUTV until 2010.

In the Guardian's report on this story:

"The service had 140,000 subscribers at the beginning of 2005, more
than halfway towards its breakeven target of 250,000, which the
company's chairman, David Chance, has predicted it will hit by the
middle of 2006."

That suggests they're adding around 6,000 new customers a month and
that they now have about 200,000 subscribers By comparison, the
Guardian said last April "Freeview, the digital television service
is
now in five million homes".

200,000 doesn't sound sufficient to describe it as a success story to
me.
Whats the churn rate?

Roger

Five and TUTV
 

"steve" wrote in message
...
Firstly let me state that IMHO, UHF TV should be free TV.

Why? Do you expect the beer in your local public house to be free? Or the
food in the supermarket?

TV costs money to produce and broadcast, it has to be paid for somehow: by
subscription, by a licence fee, by advertising, by sponsorship or by the
taxpayer.


--
MESSAGE ENDS.
John Porcella

Five and TUTV
 

In message , John
Porcella writes

"steve" wrote in message
.. .
Firstly let me state that IMHO, UHF TV should be free TV.

Why? Do you expect the beer in your local public house to be free? Or the
food in the supermarket?

TV costs money to produce and broadcast, it has to be paid for somehow: by
subscription, by a licence fee, by advertising, by sponsorship or by the
taxpayer.


Largely these days by phone calls.
--
Ian.

Five and TUTV
 

On Sun, 20 Nov 2005 00:31:17 +0000, Ian wrote:

In message , John
Porcella writes

"steve" wrote in message
. ..
Firstly let me state that IMHO, UHF TV should be free TV.

Why? Do you expect the beer in your local public house to be free? Or
the food in the supermarket?

TV costs money to produce and broadcast, it has to be paid for somehow:
by subscription, by a licence fee, by advertising, by sponsorship or by
the taxpayer.


Largely these days by phone calls.

Thus the programming has to target those that will call in.

Five and TUTV
 

On Sat, 19 Nov 2005 20:02:02 +0000 (UTC), "John Porcella"
wrote:

Why? Do you expect the beer in your local public house to be free? Or the
food in the supermarket?

What would it be like, if they sold beer like they do television?

You'd pay an annual subscription that would let you go into some pubs
and drink for nothing, but, as you were finishing your pint, someone
would shout in your ear and tell you all about some great drink that
they will be serving later, and someone else will say that if you
leave the glass of beer you're drinking, and go into the next room,
you can have a glass of sherry.

Your subscription would also allow you to go into different pubs, and
drink their beer for free, but after you'd taken a few swallows, you'd
have to stop and listen to three or four people trying to sell you
things before you could drink a bit more. Again, as you reached the
end of your drink, someone would tell you what a great drink they were
serving next, and maybe put a little sample of it into your glass, so
you'd get a bit of cider in your lager, or bitter in your stout.

And then if you paid *another* subscription, you could go into another
set of pubs (but you'd have to have bought the first subscription as
well), and could drink their free beer, but they'd still shout
advertisements at you every few minutes and put samples of different
drinks into your not-quite-empty glass.

And if Carlsberg ran a television network, it would probably be the
best television network in the world!
--
Dave
Sheffield, England, UK

http://www.gnudawn.co.uk/