Seriously, why doesn't Prime broadcast in HD on Sky?

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PaulZA

314 posts

Ultimate Geek

#114973 8-Mar-2013 21:08

Hi guys,

I tend to avoid NZ FTA whenever possible, in favour of streaming channels from overseas, or when it comes to Aussie content, I have a Dreambox with Aurora access.

However, one thing that I do watch every once in a while, is American Idol. I stream in Fox, and I get American Idol in HD, via the company that supplies it.

Anyway in getting to the point. There are days, when I'm unable to stream in Fox, so I'm forced to tune into NZ tv a day later. When it was on TV2, it was in full I'd say 1080i HD, and the quality was better then streaming so I'd just tune in the next day, and re watch it in HD.

This season however, I was shocked that American Idol had moved to prime, and the picture is in SD 480i.
Why doesn't Prime go to HD for shows like that? 99.9% of the shows are delivered to the network in HD why doesn't Prime broadcast in HD on Sky?

No wonder why people are turning to pirating TV series these days, the quality is inferior to the SD 480i NZ residents are forced to watch.

Since we pay for Mysky HDI, and when I last checked Prime is owned by Sky, they should provide Prime to us in HD.

American Idol was better off on TV2.

Thanks

toyonut

1508 posts

Uber Geek

#777153 8-Mar-2013 22:30

Prime is an old program dumping ground for Sky pretty much and exists to sell advertising for better levels of Sky packages. New/good shows that are on Prime just exist so Sky can say they have more behind the green money curtain and why don't you subscribe. There is no will or reason Sky would give out free HD content on any channel, it is not they way they work.

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Benoire

2630 posts

Uber Geek

#777179 8-Mar-2013 23:43

It may be on the standard FTA Mux but sky has 4 Prime channels running, 3 of which are on encrypted sky muxes. These could definitely be in HD given that you're already on the sky package... I guess they don't due to the requirement of purchasing more TPs from Optus on D1.

RunningMan

7969 posts

Uber Geek

#777214 9-Mar-2013 08:21

PaulZA: the quality is inferior to the SD 480i NZ residents are forced to watch

That would be 576i not 480i in NZ wouldn't it?

480i would be an NTSC transmission in USA.

Spyware

3261 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#777247 9-Mar-2013 09:17

Benoire: I guess they don't due to the requirement of purchasing more TPs from Optus on D1.

There are no more muxes, i.e., Optus D1 runs at full capacity.

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B1GGLZ

1961 posts

Uber Geek

#777257 9-Mar-2013 09:28

paulmilbank: Prime is an old program dumping ground for Sky pretty much and exists to sell advertising for better levels of Sky packages. New/good shows that are on Prime just exist so Sky can say they have more behind the green money curtain and why don't you subscribe. There is no will or reason Sky would give out free HD content on any channel, it is not they way they work.

I've noticed recently that Prime now seems to be showing increasing numbers of repeats of programs/series that I've already seen on other Sky channels. Maybe I can soon think about ditching sky and the programs I currently watch will eventually appear on Prime (Freeview HD). Still be in crappy SD though.

alasta

6242 posts

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Trusted

Subscriber

#777275 9-Mar-2013 10:13

B1GGLZ:
paulmilbank: Prime is an old program dumping ground for Sky pretty much and exists to sell advertising for better levels of Sky packages. New/good shows that are on Prime just exist so Sky can say they have more behind the green money curtain and why don't you subscribe. There is no will or reason Sky would give out free HD content on any channel, it is not they way they work.

I've noticed recently that Prime now seems to be showing increasing numbers of repeats of programs/series that I've already seen on other Sky channels. Maybe I can soon think about ditching sky and the programs I currently watch will eventually appear on Prime (Freeview HD). Still be in crappy SD though.

I don't have Sky and I'm not fussy about whether or not programmes are broadcast promptly so I can't comment on that angle, but I have to say that there is some good quality programming on Prime. Top Gear, Downton Abbey, The Jury and Prisoners' Wives come to mind.

TV3 has a small amount of reasonably okay editorial content, but it is seriously lacking in quality dramas so Prime has recently been my go to place for that.

Jas777

838 posts

Ultimate Geek

#778333 12-Mar-2013 08:52

I emailed SKY about Prime being in HD and the reply went on about how it costs 4 times as much to buy the programmes in HD than it does to buy them in SD.

I don't believe them. They also went on about paying 25 million for a broadcasting unit.

old3eyes

8996 posts

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Subscriber

#778355 12-Mar-2013 09:18

Sounds like similar excuses as to why they couldn't put the EPG on TiVos. After pressure and emailing by people they eventually did it.
Maybe we should do the same for HD on Prime but i suspect if they do it , it will be on the Sky platform only..

Regards,

Old3eyes

Oblivian

6946 posts

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#778373 12-Mar-2013 09:50

alasta:
I don't have Sky and I'm not fussy about whether or not programmes are broadcast promptly so I can't comment on that angle, but I have to say that there is some good quality programming on Prime. Top Gear, Downton Abbey, The Jury and Prisoners' Wives come to mind.

TV3 has a small amount of reasonably okay editorial content, but it is seriously lacking in quality dramas so Prime has recently been my go to place for that.

Until this new channel starts, and you might find it all moving to that with the other oldies like ST etc

bagheera

459 posts

Ultimate Geek

#778376 12-Mar-2013 09:58

Jas777: I emailed SKY about Prime being in HD and the reply went on about how it costs 4 times as much to buy the programmes in HD than it does to buy them in SD.

I don't believe them. They also went on about paying 25 million for a broadcasting unit.

this is about right - the content provider really screw over the broadcaster for HD rights, and also put lots of condition to stop people copying off the HD broadcast etc. If you do not believe me, they do the same thing for blu-ray vs dvd, they see HD and think they can mint money with it.

Spyware

3261 posts

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Lifetime subscriber

#778410 12-Mar-2013 10:52

The real issue (for me) is the low bitrate puke that is Prime on satellite rather than whether they have HD programs or not, i.e., SD would look glorious if the bitrate were adequate.

allan

1893 posts

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#778449 12-Mar-2013 11:25

old3eyes: Sounds like similar excuses as to why they couldn't put the EPG on TiVos. After pressure and emailing by people they eventually did it.
Maybe we should do the same for HD on Prime but i suspect if they do it , it will be on the Sky platform only..

Without hijacking the topic, have you noticed that the Prime EPG on Tivo is never the full 10 days, only ever about 7-8. Can be quite annoying if you're trying to pre-book something well in advance.

lchiu7

6184 posts

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Trusted

#783802 19-Mar-2013 10:20

I don't recall American Idol ever being in HD when on TV2.Of course it was broadcast in 720p on TV2 so it would look a bit better than on Prime. Plus it was never in DD 5.1 either.

Interestingly they talk about hot off the satellite. I find often the PAL speedup quite annoying at times and while you can put up with with a drama show it's really unacceptable for a music show. I wonder how they create a 50i version for international distribution without doing the speedup?

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