Why Sky should put Prime on Freeview

Forums › Freeview (DVB-T/DVB-S) › Why Sky should put Prime on Freeview

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58 posts

Master Geek

#204338 30-Mar-2009 23:51

old3eyes:

Ragnor: Prime has a lot of good stuff, all the people saying they don't watch Prime hence don't care about it.. what about Top Gear!!!

I refuse to watch Top Gear on Prime as they cut out about 12+ minutes from the BBC one which runs full 60 minutes

I'm being pedantic but you'll find it's nearer 57 minutes.

ageorge

626 posts

Ultimate Geek

#204345 31-Mar-2009 05:47

Wondering if Sky removed encryption whether they would have to pay additional program rights? Are not broadcasters required to pay program rights based on audience numbers? This could be scalability costing factor that would be their main grounds for contention if this is the case.

Alistair Grant George

numberonekiwi

144 posts

Master Geek

#204351 31-Mar-2009 08:36

There are some interesting points here relating to Prime being unencrypted on the sky platform and issues raised as well like being viewed in Australia.

My responses and thoughts :

Anyone in Australia with a large dish i.e 3.5 meters or more can get new zealand beams ( east cast anyway ) including our free view channels like wise anyone here can get Australian beams on a similar sized dish from D1 C1 D2 and possibly soon to be launched D3 although most are encrypted using Iredeo and other encryption methods so you need a freind in AU to register a card then send it to you

Sky have unencrypted TV1 and TV2 - last time I did a full satellite scan although TV3 is still encrypted although you cant see this on a sky decoder without a viewing card

Sky simply need to do to Prime as they have done to TV1 and TV2 although I am not sure the true FTA DVB-S devices would receive these as they are locked to 2 transponders. - or so I am led to believe

anyway just my 2 cents worth

Jaxson

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#204357 31-Mar-2009 09:26

numberonekiwi:
Sky simply need to do to Prime as they have done to TV1 and TV2 although I am not sure the true FTA DVB-S devices would receive these as they are locked to 2 transponders. - or so I am led to believe

Yeah I'm not sure if the official boxes have the ability to search other transponders, though possibly an over the air firmware update could fix this.

SKY removing the encoding on the sat prime signal is great, I mean that opens that up to most people using the sat freeview service very easily. As has been mentioned, you can already find TV1 and TV2 on the Sky mux as often people have tuned to this by mistake when trying to get freeview working.

It has to be seen as a first step though, as it's not ideal for the rest of us using the freeview UHF service.

coffeebaron

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#204365 31-Mar-2009 09:52

Dingbatt: Here is the response Sky will give.

We cannot remove the encryption from Prime off D1 because lobing may mean programs that are only licenced for NZ will be able to be picked up in Australia. Or words to that effect.

Funnily enough it doesn't seem to be a concern for other FTA channels being beamed from D1 for Freeview....

Yea, that's just a lame excuse; can Aussie pick up the terrestial transmission of FreeView = NO. So by that logic, Sky would have Prime on Freeview terrestial, as this is not an issue here.

That fact they don't, is because they are protecting their income stream form their subscriber base. At the end of the day, that's their choice. They may gain revenue on one side, but they also lose from viewers such as myself. I'm not going to play around with plugs & cables just to watch an old patchy analogue signal; it's easier to just not bother about watching Prime.

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allstarnz

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#204575 31-Mar-2009 23:17

the receiving Prime in Australia argument is just smoke and mirrors, if anybody is that desperate to get delayed rugby by going and buying a 3m+ dish, they really need to sort their priorities. Still doesn't answer why it isn't on Freeview|HD either.

I am still miffed that Sky got the go ahead to acquire Prime, this has in effect locked them in as exclusive free to air and pay rights for everything. In effect a monopoly. Very few other countries would let this happen. I actually hope that Sky would be forced to divest Prime, but nobody has the balls to make them do it.

mruane

420 posts

Ultimate Geek

#204808 1-Apr-2009 22:03

@allstarnz

You will probably find that their need to acquire Prime was driven by their Olympic agenda. Securing the 2010 Winter and 2012 Summer Olympics could have been conditional on their being able to demonstrate an FTA capability perhaps.

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CYaBro

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#204815 1-Apr-2009 22:43

ageorge:

Wondering if Sky removed encryption whether they would have to pay additional program rights? Are not broadcasters required to pay program rights based on audience numbers? This could be scalability costing factor that would be their main grounds for contention if this is the case.

Why would they when Prime is already broadcast FTA on UHF in most places is it not?

Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.

allstarnz

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#204817 1-Apr-2009 22:56

CYaBro:
ageorge:

Wondering if Sky removed encryption whether they would have to pay additional program rights? Are not broadcasters required to pay program rights based on audience numbers? This could be scalability costing factor that would be their main grounds for contention if this is the case.

Why would they when Prime is already broadcast FTA on UHF in most places is it not?

in snowy analogue, whoop de doo, the whole argument is why we should have to pay Sky to receive a channel in digital format. This is 2009, not 1999.

paradoxsm

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#204827 2-Apr-2009 00:21

Why Sky should put Prime on Freeview:

Because the quality of prime on the existing Sky digital feed is low-bitrate crap. I watched a short amount tonight and the compression blockiness was very noticeable on a 21" CRT! I'd hate to see it on the plasma.

I'll have to cable back the dreambox and grab a feed and see what is is EXACTLY.

ockel

2031 posts

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#204840 2-Apr-2009 09:26

For anyone who is interested here is a recently released survey from the UK that covers exactly the same issues as Prime on Freeview.

Specifically it focus on the areas that can and cant receive all the signals after ASO. There are portions of the UK that only receive the Public Service Broadcasting channels (3 MUX) and those that can receive all (6 MUX).
In some cases its due to technical problems, in others due to the business case.

Important to bear in mind that this is post ASO in these areas so they dont have a choice to receiving an analog signal.

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/research/tv/reports/dsoind/muxexpectations.pdf

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Athlonite

1828 posts

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#205027 2-Apr-2009 22:37

Traditionally if you were in a UHF free zone then you had to get SKY, but only the base $50 per month package

FAIL

Sky also offer a clear reception package which is tvnz 1, 2, tv3, c4, prime, maori tv all for a poultry $18 a month

Behodar

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#205055 3-Apr-2009 07:22

Athlonite: Sky also offer a clear reception package which is tvnz 1, 2, tv3, c4, prime, maori tv all for a poultry $18 a month

It comes with free chickens?

jamespoo

71 posts

Master Geek
Inactive user

#205329 4-Apr-2009 20:51

dvb-t neeeeeeds prime has lots i would rip

amphibem

138 posts

Master Geek

#205341 4-Apr-2009 22:18

In regards to satellite TV:

1. It doesn't matter the feasibility/likelyhood of someone in Aus/the islands picking up a sports broadcast, the fact it would be likely violates Prime's commercial agreements with the contents right holders (basically what they claim). Doesn't matter if it is the Sky or Freeview broadcast, they canot legally have 'splash' outside of NZ

2. TVNZ in my opinion do not have the moral authority to withhold channels, as it is an SOE and hence owned by the taxpayers. People with Sky are taxpayers and have a right to the full offerings of TVNZ, especially 6&7 which are fully NZ On Air funded.

In the end as far as DVB-T is concerned I assume Sky have made a financial decision that they will earn more money with Prime not on Freeview than on it. Personally I wish it was there but that desire isn't going to make it makes sense for Sky.

That is unless the government intefers, and it could be very interesting to see what happens with the 2010/2012 Olympics, depending on how big Freeview uptake is and how may Joe Sickpacks find themselves needing to pay Sky (either one-off set up for the locked down box, or a subscription) just to watch the Olympics on 'free-to-air'. Plus as thing currently stand it will only be HD to those with MySki HDi and as more people get used to digital quality (and HD) the analouge broadcast may not be acceptable for the masses as it presumably is now.

One final point I would be interested to know is how many people still have Sky's $18/month free-to-air subscription. I heard once it was 25% of Sky subscriptions (or maybe NZ households?), now the only logical reason to hold onto that would be Prime (I say logical, many people don't change things easily). But that wouldn't effect Prime going o DVB-T because people using that service wouldn't get UHF anyway.

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