Sky, TVNZ to launch new pay TV service

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#555330 8-Dec-2011 09:36

blur:

Agree. I also can't see a CI card reader so I'm curious as to how it will authenticate users.

Looks like it might need the internet, and if so, will this have to be a specific provider?

I had the same thought about that, my hope was that I could just get it on a htpc... Given it is "streaming content" that might include the sports too.

I guess this is unlikely as Radiosport is hard enough to stream reliably when sports events are on.

Jon

blur

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#555336 8-Dec-2011 09:47

jonherries:
blur:

Agree. I also can't see a CI card reader so I'm curious as to how it will authenticate users.

Looks like it might need the internet, and if so, will this have to be a specific provider?

I had the same thought about that, my hope was that I could just get it on a htpc... Given it is "streaming content" that might include the sports too.

I guess this is unlikely as Radiosport is hard enough to stream reliably when sports events are on.

Jon

Oh, I think that this one has been answered by the FAQ's already. The pay-per-view items such as major sporting events will be streamed via the DVB-T service, and not over the internet to save your datacap.

From what I can gather it is just a selection of movies and TV series that they will be streaming over DVB-IP

I have to say that I too am warming to this idea as the pricing being touted for the movies were only $3 - $7 for 48 hours. That's really reasonable in my view, but the quality remains to be seen, as does the reliance on a specific Internet provider. We'll just have to wait and see.

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#555338 8-Dec-2011 09:54

However, to put that in perspective, a full feature film is only 2GB

Lower-than-DVD quality, no thanks.

Not really, that is a reasonable bitrate for SD h264 movies. Looking at my rips of my collection, I cant tell the difference on our tv between dvd and the rip and my file size is 1gb to 1.5gb.

Im mostly annoyed that it is not a pvr. No pvr=no recording which is how I watch tv now. Live pause and a reminder is not good enough in this day and age. Hopeless as it would mean two set top boxes, one to record freeview and one to channel surf Sky and hope for something to watch.
That and the channel selection is pretty average. Looks to be all the poor SD channels on sky put into a DVB-T broadcast. No choice, no selection and little of worth. In trying to make this not cannibalise existing Sky subs, they have offered way too little for the money.

Try Vultr using this link and get us both some credit:

http://www.vultr.com/?ref=7033587-3B

freitasm

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#555345 8-Dec-2011 10:03

Dunnersfella: Now what I'm interested in, is the connections on the back... will there be HDMI / component / composite / S-Video / optical / Co-ax / stereo RCA? Can it simultaneously output HDMI and component etc. Oh well, time will tell I suppose.

It's SD only, so I guess it makes this point irrelevant...

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blur

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#555349 8-Dec-2011 10:08

Not really, that is a reasonable bitrate for SD h264 movies. Looking at my rips of my collection, I cant tell the difference on our tv between dvd and the rip and my file size is 1gb to 1.5gb.

Im mostly annoyed that it is not a pvr. No pvr=no recording which is how I watch tv now. Live pause and a reminder is not good enough in this day and age. Hopeless as it would mean two set top boxes, one to record freeview and one to channel surf Sky and hope for something to watch.
That and the channel selection is pretty average. Looks to be all the poor SD channels on sky put into a DVB-T broadcast. No choice, no selection and little of worth. In trying to make this not cannibalise existing Sky subs, they have offered way too little for the money.

In terms of the bitrate of the movies, I'm happy with the quality that 1Gb - 1.5Gb will give. For me, if I'm paying $3 - $7 to watch a flick with my wife then that's fine.

With regard to the igloo offering and it not been a PVR, I think we need to put this into perspective. It is a low-cost box, i.e. low capital outlay to give you extra channels and the ability to stream legally movies and TV series from a massive library.

From what they are suggesting in terms of the price, it seems about right to me. I think that represents value for money.

The problem is though, for the average Geekzoner they want more. We're already talking about how to hack it and make it work on our HTPC or similar.

But again, I urge you to take a step back and see what they are offering to the average NZ'er. I think it might just hit the spot.

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#555353 8-Dec-2011 10:15

The remote is an identical design to Telstra's T-Box, so I suspect the same manufacturer is making both boxes? Let's hope igloo doesn't have the same reliability problems!

I see little sense is shelling out $200 up front, then $25 a week just to pick up a few extra channels over freeview. And no PVR?!

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crackrdbycracku

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#555354 8-Dec-2011 10:15

I think this service would make a lot of sense if you have a non-HD Freeview compliant (old) TV and you don't see the point in buying a new TV. You therefore don't care about HD quality or watch that much TV.

The 11 channels on offer are not going to be a reason anybody buys this, I don't think a lot of people have Sky for the channels on Basic either.

If the sports are priced competitively and you only want to watch one sport, say rugby or football or whatever and you either have a PVR or want to watch live. Then it also makes a bit of sense.

Movies On Demand, maybe. But 25 per month to then pay $3 per film should be balanced against a service like Fatso; 3 discs at a time and ten per month for $28 or 3 discs at time unlimited per month for $37. Get this Igloo service, rent one on demand movies and that is the same as up to 10 movies from Fatso. Yeah, it's on demand but still, one movie.

Oh, I neither work for Fatso or Igloo or Sky

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DonGould

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#555358 8-Dec-2011 10:23

freitasm: It's SD only, so I guess it makes this point irrelevant...

Oh. lol.

You mean they developed a whole new service on the SD platform? Am I reading this correctly?

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foamfollower

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#555368 8-Dec-2011 10:33

Not only SD.

From the FAQs:
"For around $25 Kiwis can receive 11 channels of great content for 30 days on top of all free to air channels (in Hi Definition when available). "

blur

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#555385 8-Dec-2011 11:37

crackrdbycracku:
Movies On Demand, maybe. But 25 per month to then pay $3 per film should be balanced against a service like Fatso; 3 discs at a time and ten per month for $28 or 3 discs at time unlimited per month for $37. Get this Igloo service, rent one on demand movies and that is the same as up to 10 movies from Fatso. Yeah, it's on demand but still, one movie.

Oh, I neither work for Fatso or Igloo or Sky

I think you have misread the media release and are missing the point of the igloo box.

You pay $199 (they said they are aiming for a < $200 price point) for the box and plug it in. This gives you all the Freeview channels currently avaliable. There is no monthly fee to pay at this point if you don't want to.

If you then decide you want the extra pay channels for 30 days, you pre-pay $25 and you'll have them for 30 days. You may choose after the 30 days that you don't want to pay for them any more.

If you only want to watch a sporting events or a blockbuster movies now and then, you can just pay for them on a case-by-case basis. So for some people it might be $199 upfront and then $5 or $10 when the big game is on. It's entirely up to you. So it's not the same as fatso

DonGould

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#555389 8-Dec-2011 11:42

blur:
I think you have misread the media release and are missing the point of the igloo box.

You pay $199 (they said they are aiming for a < $200 price point) for the box and plug it in. This gives you all the Freeview channels currently avaliable. There is no monthly fee to pay at this point if you don't want to.

If you then decide you want the extra pay channels for 30 days, you pre-pay $25 and you'll have them for 30 days. You may choose after the 30 days that you don't want to pay for them any more.

If you only want to watch a sporting events or a blockbuster movies now and then, you can just pay for them on a case-by-case basis. So for some people it might be $199 upfront and then $5 or $10 when the big game is on. It's entirely up to you. So it's not the same as fatso

Ok I didn't read the pages of stuff on this either, so thanks for the summary...

Ya, that does look like really good value to me.

When are they released?

That does actually sound like something I'd like.

I've been looking at a TBox for our second set rather than buying another TV for the digital change over, but this sounds like a smarter idea if it actually works.

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blur

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#555393 8-Dec-2011 11:47

Ok I didn't read the pages of stuff on this either, so thanks for the summary...

Ya, that does look like really good value to me.

When are they released?

That does actually sound like something I'd like.

I've been looking at a TBox for our second set rather than buying another TV for the digital change over, but this sounds like a smarter idea if it actually works.

They are saying the first half of 2012 so it looks like it will be avaliable by June next year.

What I'm after is some technical specifications on the box itself. Quite keen to see how this might be reproduced on a HTPC

crackrdbycracku

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#555394 8-Dec-2011 11:51

blur:
crackrdbycracku:
Movies On Demand, maybe. But 25 per month to then pay $3 per film should be balanced against a service like Fatso; 3 discs at a time and ten per month for $28 or 3 discs at time unlimited per month for $37. Get this Igloo service, rent one on demand movies and that is the same as up to 10 movies from Fatso. Yeah, it's on demand but still, one movie.

Oh, I neither work for Fatso or Igloo or Sky

I think you have misread the media release and are missing the point of the igloo box.

You pay $199 (they said they are aiming for a < $200 price point) for the box and plug it in. This gives you all the Freeview channels currently avaliable. There is no monthly fee to pay at this point if you don't want to.

If you then decide you want the extra pay channels for 30 days, you pre-pay $25 and you'll have them for 30 days. You may choose after the 30 days that you don't want to pay for them any more.

If you only want to watch a sporting events or a blockbuster movies now and then, you can just pay for them on a case-by-case basis. So for some people it might be $199 upfront and then $5 or $10 when the big game is on. It's entirely up to you. So it's not the same as fatso

Yeah, I'm going to go with 'it's not clear at present'. This is relevant FAQ section:

The retail price of the set top box is yet to be confirmed but we are aiming to sell it for under $200.

For around $25 Kiwis can receive 11 channels of great content for 30 days on top of all free to air channels (in Hi Definition when available).

There is also access to a video-on-demand library of more than 1,000 titles to rent from and great live pay-per-view sporting events.

If you can get the PPV stuff just by buying the Box then great, but it does not actually say: You can get the PPV content with only the purchase of the Set Top Box.

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blur

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#555396 8-Dec-2011 11:51

This might give us some insight as to where they hope to go with the hardware:

http://www.telstra.com.au/tv/tbox/

and

http://www.aliexpress.com/product-gs/484608515-Telstra-T-Box-PVR-Tet-top-box-wholesalers.html

blur

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#555399 8-Dec-2011 11:54

crackrdbycracku:

If you can get the PPV stuff just by buying the Box then great, but it does not actually say: You can get the PPV content with only the purchase of the Set Top Box.

Yes, it does - here is the relative section in the FAQ:

Can I purchase sports?

You can purchase live pay-per-view programmes such as big rugby games or a netball game. You don’t need to have bought a channel pack to access sport content. Prices will be announced later.

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