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

Another Sillyname anothersname at googlemail.com
Wed Aug 25 08:25:34 UTC 2010


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


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