[mythtv-users] Some readers may find the following UK events of interest was US Pay-TV loses subscribers for the first time ever

[Nick Rout]

On Wed, Aug 25, 2010 at 8:25 PM, Another Sillyname
<anothersname at googlemail.com> wrote:
> On 25 August 2010 08:59, Nick Rout <nick.rout at gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Wed, Aug 25, 2010 at 6:58 PM, Another Sillyname
>> <anothersname at googlemail.com> wrote:
>>> In the UK there are a number but linkable events happening that may
>>> well change the shape of TV delivery.
>>>
>>> To give people a frame of reference though a little bit of background
>>> may be useful.
>>>
>>> In the UK TV delivery can be broken down into 5 current delivery mechanisms.
>>>
>>> 1.  Analogue TV Delivery via your antenna.  This will be phased out by
>>> 2012 under what's known as Digital Switch Over (DSO).  Certain TV
>>> networks in the UK (BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Five) have a 'public service'
>>> remit and in return for that remit they are 'gifted' certain frequency
>>> allocation in return for guaranteeing a certain amount of their
>>> programming is news, documentaries etc....
>>>
>>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITV#Public_service_broadcasting
>>>
>>> This was historically the dominant form of TV delivery in the UK.
>>>
>>> 2.  Freeview via your antenna.  Freeview will replace analogue by 2012
>>> and provides about 30 'real' and then a further slug of infomercial/TV
>>> Selling, Community, specialist channels.  Freeview will also deliver 5
>>> HD channels under DVB-T2.   The vast majority of Freeview programming
>>> is non chargeable however via either TopUp-TV or ESPN you can also buy
>>> extra sports or general entertainment channels.  Freeview will be
>>> available to over 90% of the population by the time of DSO completion.
>>>
>>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeview_%28UK%29
>>>
>>> 3.  Freesat via satellite dish.  Mostly the same channels that are
>>> available via Freeview above.  This stations are mostly sent FTA and
>>> are for individuals who for whatever reason cannot get Freeview.
>>>
>>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freesat
>>>
>>> 4.  Virgin Media Cable.
>>>
>>> Currently has about 3.6m subscribers, in reality currently the only
>>> cable delivery service in the UK.  Cost for basic service and Cable
>>> Broadband delivery is about £60 ($90) per month for a full service
>>> delivery of a 20Mb Fibre Optic connection, phone line with unlimited
>>> evening and weekend calls to national landlines and 160+ Digital TV
>>> Channels including HD channels.   To add the main Sports Channels look
>>> to add about £20 ($30) per month.
>>>
>>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_Media#Virgin_TV
>>>
>>> 5.  Sky Satellite TV
>>>
>>> Currently has about 9m subscribers (although this is a bit of a fudged
>>> number).  They also own a Broadband ISP delivery company.
>>>
>>> Costs for TV only with a full package of Movie and Sport channels is
>>> about £60 ($90) per month, if you take phone and ISP bundles look to
>>> bump the price up to about £80 ($120) per month.  Sky again have an
>>> effective monopoly of TV delivery in the UK, they are Murdoch
>>> controlled.
>>>
>>> Sky aggressively control both the delivery platform and Sports rights
>>> to a large amount of UK sport, they in effect use Sports Rights to
>>> force consumers to buy their total package.  However due to recent
>>> rulings Sky are now being forced to offer those Sports rights to
>>> competitors at fixed prices.
>>>
>>>
>>> ----------------------------------------
>>>
>>> The change that's happening comes in two parts.
>>>
>>> 1.  Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) and Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) will
>>> be rolled out by British Telecom (BT) over the next 3-4 years.  This
>>> will allow the majority of households to access Broadband speeds of
>>> between 40 and 100 Mbps.  BT may well be forced to offer the
>>> infrastructure to other providers at a fixed cost so consumers even
>>> using a different ISP will have access to the technology.
>>>
>>> 2.  Project Canvas will be a new TV delivery platform using the
>>> Internet for IPTV delivery services, it could (and likely should) be
>>> argued that project canvas is an attempt by the non-Sky TV companies
>>> to break Sky's hold on the TV delivery infrastructure.  With bandwidth
>>> of 40Mbps you could deliver 4-5 HD channels simultaneously using H264.
>>>
>>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Canvas
>>>
>>> So it's possible that from say 2012 there will start to be in place a
>>> new national TV delivery mechanism in the UK.  Now whether this will
>>> affect pricing remains to be seen, however it will allow content
>>> providers another route to market rather then the dominant
>>> mechanism(s) currently provided only by Virgin Media and Sky.
>>
>>
>> There are distinct differences between the UK and New Zealand, but
>> many similarities. Here too sport is tied to Murdoch/Sky. I espouse
>> freeview regularly, but am dismissed because they don't have the Rugby
>> Channel/Super 14/world Cup this or that.
>>
>> Our freeview is available terrestrially (aerial) or via satellite.  It
>> has a number of good channels, but lacks the sport for those who are
>> enthused over such things (not me except occasionally). It is also
>> marginalised because all those channels are available on Sky, so why
>> not pay for Sky/Sport and get all the stuff that's on freeview for
>> free off Sky, and not have to buy and *gasp* set up a satellite or
>> dvb-t STB (and find a place to plug it in to your TV!!!)
>>
>> Anyone wanna rent a house for an exorbitant amount during the Rugby
>> World Cup next year? It's our current national obsession: Will the
>> venues be ready? Where will people drink and party? What will Auckland
>> do with it's waterfront? Will the roads and public transport hold up?
>> Who ****ing cares. I was in France, by chance, for the last one. The
>> French by and large didn't care, and those who did, didn't sweat about
>> where everyone was going to party, they just got on with it and put up
>> with the South Africans)
>>
>> Ooops did I say that?
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>
> Nick
>
> Does NZ have an equivalent of the protected events that the UK does?
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITC_Code_on_Sports_and_Other_Listed_Events

No