New Freesat service
 

"Brian McIlwrath" wrote in message
...
Agamemnon wrote:
: Freesat features (principally their EPG but also red-button etc.) will
: also *NOT* be available on "standard satellite receivers" - only
: Freesat badged ones!

: So what was wrong with the BBC using the standard European 7 Day EPG and
: embedding teletext in the streams and negotiating a European interactive
: text standard with the EBU?

Freesat have decided that they wanted *ALL* the facilities of a Sky STB.
This

Except having an encryption system which means none of the channels already
encrypted on Sky apart from Channel 4 (and it's extremely unlikely that Five
will join them) will go in the clear so Freesat will have less choice than
Freeview. You might as well buy a Sky box instead.

includes a dedicated transponder for EPG data on all channels at
once...AFAIK
the "European standard" *only* gives the (much poorer) "7-day data for
that
transponder only". Also Freesat will be broadcasting limited EPG data on
*all*
their transponder (as Sky do to enable cursor-key programme lookup).


European boxes will allow you to go through all the channels on the
Satellite with the EPG and show data for them as long as you've visited them
before. What they won't do is organise the channels into a specific order
and give them LCNs determined by the broadcasters.

Basically the "European standard" has been decided to be pretty poor in
comparison to Sky!

The European standard was designed to be platform independent. Both Sky and
Freesat will only work on Astra 2 and with broadcasters working with Sky or
the BBC. Sky's EPG is already full up and Astra only has about 600 channels.
Hotbird has over 1000 channels. How many channels will the Freesat EPG be
able to cope with?

New Freesat service
 

Agamemnon wrote:

: As I said before the government should have forced Sky to make CAM's
: available to all European satellite receivers manufactures not created
: Freesat.

That wasn't the alternative - as, even with a CAM, European receivers just
do *NOT* offer the EPG/interactive/digital text features that the BBC wanted!

The real alternative was, as Sky *already* offer a non-subscription
service - FreesatFromSky, BBC/ITV would have been left with actively
promoting FreesatFromSky for reople out of Freeview range!

New Freesat service
 

Agamemnon wrote:


.... But everyone
knows that the BBC own about 25% of Sky's shares from when they used
to own half of BSB

Utter crap.

and Sky still owns 25% of ITV.

17.9% to be precise.

Why would anyone want to buy a Freesat box when it is incapable of
receiving encrypted channels and will not have the option of a CAM
slot to encourage other broadcasters to stop using Sky's proprietary
encryption system and use a system used by Freesat (and the rest of
Europe) and create an alternative subscription platform or platforms.

The BBC should have been forced by OfCom to sell all of its BSkyB
shares just like it is trying to forced BSkyB to sell its ITV shares.

The Competition Commission, not Ofcom.

The BBC owning 25% of Sky is not in the public interest and never was.

Indeed. just as well that the BBC doesn't have any shareholding in Sky then,
isn't it?

New Freesat service
 

Brian McIlwrath wrote:
Agamemnon wrote:

As I said before the government should have forced Sky to make CAM's
available to all European satellite receivers manufactures not
created Freesat.

That wasn't the alternative - as, even with a CAM, European receivers
just do *NOT* offer the EPG/interactive/digital text features that
the BBC wanted!

The real alternative was, as Sky *already* offer a non-subscription
service - FreesatFromSky,

IIRC FreesatFrom Sky was only offered *after* Freesat from BBC was first
announced?

BBC/ITV would have been left with actively
promoting FreesatFromSky for reople out of Freeview range!

Which is effectively what they've been doing ever since the proposal was
first mooted..

(kim)

New Freesat service
 

kim wrote:
Brian McIlwrath wrote:
Agamemnon wrote:

As I said before the government should have forced Sky to make CAM's
available to all European satellite receivers manufactures not
created Freesat.
That wasn't the alternative - as, even with a CAM, European receivers
just do *NOT* offer the EPG/interactive/digital text features that
the BBC wanted!

The real alternative was, as Sky *already* offer a non-subscription
service - FreesatFromSky,

IIRC FreesatFrom Sky was only offered *after* Freesat from BBC was first
announced?

An FTV/FTA package has always been available from Sky, since the launch of Sky
Digital in October 1998. However it was 299 or perhaps even 399 Quid back then ?


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

New Freesat service
 

On 29/03/2008 12:57, kim wrote:

IIRC FreesatFrom Sky was only offered *after* Freesat from BBC was first
announced?

Under that name certainly, but FTV viewing cards were available before that?

New Freesat service
 

Agamemnon wrote:
:
: As far as I can see the *MAIN* selling point of Freesat will be for FTA HD
: broadcasts (which are just NOT available on Freeview) and for no-cost PVR

: There are already FTA HD Satellite receivers available for £150.

But PVRs need a full-EPG to to useful to the majority. Freesat *will*
provide people who want HD material for their new "HD-ready" TVs a means
of getting it - without subscribing to Sky-HD and getting a Sky-HD STB.

As far as I can see it is Freesat's *only* "unique selling point"

New Freesat service
 

Brian McIlwrath wrote:
Agamemnon wrote:

As far as I can see the *MAIN* selling point of Freesat will be for
FTA HD broadcasts (which are just NOT available on Freeview) and
for no-cost PVR

There are already FTA HD Satellite receivers available for £150.

But PVRs need a full-EPG to to useful to the majority. Freesat *will*
provide people who want HD material for their new "HD-ready" TVs a
means of getting it - without subscribing to Sky-HD and getting a
Sky-HD STB.

As far as I can see it is Freesat's *only* "unique selling point"

Never having to deal with a Sky call centre is a major incentive to me.

(kim)

New Freesat service
 

kim wrote:

: Never having to deal with a Sky call centre is a major incentive to me.

Having had Sky for 10+ years I (a) only need to deal with their call
centre about once a year and (b) have never had any troubles with them! That
being so I do not fully understand why others have such a great dislike of
them.

New Freesat service
 

Brian McIlwrath wrote:
kim wrote:

Never having to deal with a Sky call centre is a major incentive to
me.

Having had Sky for 10+ years I (a) only need to deal with their call
centre about once a year and (b) have never had any troubles with
them! That being so I do not fully understand why others have such a
great dislike of them.

It was bad enough when a *BT* call centre operator spent twenty minutes
trying to sell me a Sky subscription without having a Murdoch employee
trying to do the same on a premium rate line!

(kim)