bloggarriv

Freesat has announced that it has hit 100,000 sales since its launch on 6th May this year. with high definition content over the summer playing a key role in moving HD set-top boxes.

Emma Scott, MD of Freesat commented, “There’s no denying how much people enjoy watching in high definition once they see it for themselves and the success of Freesat proves that. Unfortunately there are still a lot of people out there who think they’re already watching in HD because they have an HD ready TV - but they aren’t.”

“We want to help everyone understand that HD Ready is not the same thing as HD now. Without an HD digital receiver connected to an HD Ready TV or an integrated TV with Freesat HD built in you can’t watch an HD TV programme. It needn’t be complicated or costly. For those people that already have a satellite dish installed, they may simply be able to take their Freesat digital box or integrated TV home and plug it straight in.”

While Freesat remains a fairly niche player in the broadcasting space at present, behind the likes of Sky and standard Freeview, its initial sales are fairly encouraging, particularly given a minimal amount of marketing.

Going forward through autumn and into 2009, Freesat plans to launch its Freesat+ service, offering a DTR similar to Sky+ and Freeview+, in November, to increase the number of manufacturers and retailers supplying Freesat equipment, and to continue to launch new channels and services each month

written by Dave

Following the end of digital terrestrial television (DTT) trials by the Irish Government today, Minister for Communications, Eamon Ryan said national rollout will begin in a little over a year – August 2009. What this means is that the traditional analogue television will be slowly phased out over the course of the next four years as we approach the switch-off deadline of 2012 and will be completely replaced with digital broadcasting.

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written by Dave

The Broadcasting Commission of Ireland has awarded the three national digital terrestrial television contracts to the Boxer DTT consortium. Boxer includes Communicorp and BT. Two other consortia had applied for the licences - Easy TV - involving RTE and UPC - and One Vision which includes TV3, Setanta and Eircom.

The BCI said the awarding of the contracts is subject to clarifications and the successful outcome of contract negotiations, which will take place in the coming months. Applying for the licences, Boxer had said it would offer prices below €10 a month and will allow viewers to top up their channel selections ‘a la carte’. It said there will also be a ‘pay as you go’ option for its pay channels

written by Dave

Sky will drop the price of its Sky HD box next month as part of a rebranding exercise designed to more closely tie its high definition PVR product to the long-standing Sky+ name.

Sky HD, for which boxes currently cost between £199 and £249 with a Sky HD subscription, will be known as Sky+ HD from July 1. At the same time, the cost of a new box will be dropped to £150, the same as that charged for a standard definition Sky+, when taken with the £10 per month “HD mix”, the new name for the Sky HD subscription package.

Sky+ HD boxes will continue to cost £399 each when purchased without subscribing to the HD mix. Pricing for a standard definition Sky+ box will also be altered, with a new box costing £150 for new and existing customers except where it is taken with multiroom or broadband services, where the price of a customer’s first Sky+ box will drop to £75.

Sky+ standard definition boxes purchased without a Sky subscription will continue to cost £199.  Sky has made a concerted effort to push the Sky+ brand in a major outdoor, television and online campaign featuring a variety of celebrities, including Sir Michael Parkinson, explaining how they use its personal video recorder functionality.

written by Dave

Sky will download a new version of its electronic programme guide to Sky HD boxes this Autumn. The new guide, for which plans were first made public last November, has been in development for two years and is currently undergoing a field trial in the homes of 100 Sky employees. (The lucky ones get the new stuff a few weeks earlier than the rest of us mere mortals)

The new EPG is designed to build on the simple user interface currently used across all Sky boxes with optimisations designed to take advantage of the technological improvements made possible by the newer hardware in HD boxes and make the transition from linear viewing and planner-driven timeshifted viewing more seamless.

See here for screenshots from DigitalSpy

written by Coolgarriv

Freesat has warned of a shortage of high definition set-top boxes available for sale “due to very high demand”.
In a message on its website, the new satellite service said: “Due to very high demand there is a shortage of Freesat HD boxes in the shops at the moment. We are working with Freesat retailers and manufacturers to increase supplies as soon as possible.
“In the meantime some Freesat retailers will allow you to reserve HD boxes for collection when stock comes in. The Freesat website will continue to give you updates.”

written by Coolgarriv

Investments of €165m, pre-pay digital TV packages were just some of the highlights yesterday as three groups battled for control of Ireland’s next generational Digital Terrestrial TV (DTT). There was only standing room left in Dublin’s Westbury Hotel as Communicorp chairwoman Lucy Gaffney took to the stage outlining her group’s ‘Boxer DTT’ bid.

The plans unveiled yesterday detail a staggering investment of €165m, including €115m for networks, €30m for customer service and €20m for marketing. It emerged that much of the €115m networks investment includes the cost of leasing network capacity from RTE’s networks’ division over the next 12 years, an investment which will be borne by all three applicants.

Operationally, Boxer says it will make DTT set-top boxes available “free of charge”, with tariffs of €9.99 a month for seven channels or €22.99 for 18, with a €4.99 “kids package” upgrade, and a 50pc discount for multiple rooms. Drawing from the 329,000 users of analogue TV, the 1,056,000 watchers of ’second TVs’ and the 288,000 ‘churners’ who will change from existing digital packages, Boxer hopes to have 215,000 customers and revenues of €50m by 2012.

A joint venture by Communicorp, Swedish DTT giant Boxer and BT, the half-hour long presentation made much of Boxer’s history of delivering DTT in Sweden.

RTE and Liberty Global’s EasyTV was next up, with a high-tempo video kicking off proceedings. In measured tones, RTE finance director Conor Hayes then spoke of the €120m investment from RTE’s network division, which will enable the DTT switch over. “RTE is spending more than anybody else on DTT, we need to make sure it gets done right,” he said.

The EasyTV offering includes “future proof” HD-ready DTT boxes at “under €100″, for €8-a-month people can get a “soft” package of nine channels including UK terrestrial favourites BBC1, 2 and 3, Channel 4 and UTV. A “mid-pay” option with 13 “best-of-the-rest” channels will cost an extra €8-a-month, with premium sports and premium movies available at an additional cost. To roll out the platform, EasyTV is planning a marketing spend of €16m.

The final presenters of the day were OneVision, a group including TV3, Setanta, UK company Arqiva and eircom, which was the most forthright in the run-up to the hearings. The Fintan Drury-led group promised six channels free, with another 23 for €9.99 and a premium package at additional cost.

The Broadcasting Commission of Ireland is hoping to award the 12-year DTT contracts on July 21.

written by Coolgarriv

At long last, freesat has gone live across Britain, promising a wide variety of programming from the main terrestrial broadcasters, plus a selection of high definition content from the BBC and ITV. The satellite signals used by freesat will also be receivable in Ireland.

freesat was officially launched at a press event in London yesterday. freesat will offer a range of programmes via free-to-view satellite. The service is subscription-free, requiring just a one-off payment for equipment, plus optional installation. freesat is transmitted from the Astra and Eurobird satellites, meaning that 98% of the population should be able to receive a signal. From today, freesat carries around 80 channels, including a range of digital radio and TV stations (see end of article for full list). It is hoped that this number will rise to 200 or more by the end of the year. All of the free-to-air channels from the BBC, ITV, and Channel 4 are available immediately. Five has a contract with Sky, so it’s not known when their channels will arrive on freesat.

High Definition

BBC HD is available immediately. ITV HD are rumoured to launch exclusively on freesat within the next few weeks. Details of ITV’s high definition programming will be available soon.

EPG

freesat uses an Electronic Programme Guide which is supposed to be much easier to use that other systems. It initially comes with ten genres of programming to make it easier to find specific channels.

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written by Coolgarriv

Sky has confirmed rumours that it will launch an advanced on-screen guide for Sky HD in 2008. Sky employees are currently testing the beta version of the new epg. The key elements will be new top-level and genre menus, a “mini TV” viewer and an advanced programme search engine. The news was announced to broadcasters this week, and may pave the way for Sky to beat the current limit on the number of channels its guide can hold. It’s the first change the Sky Guide’s basic structure since it was launched in 1999.

The “mini-tv viewer:

Here are two more (larger) images of the new epg:

• Search and Scan banner
• Sky Anytime

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written by Coolgarriv \\ tags: sky

The Irish Times reports that Eircom and television broadcasters TV3 and Setanta Sports are believed to have formed a consortium to bid for the three commercial digital terrestrial television (DTT) multiplex licences that are being offered by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland. It is understood that the consortium has decided to bid for all three licences. Each digital terrestrial television multiplex will be capable of carrying up to eight digital channels and the operators will be able to charge households a fee for receiving the stations via a set-top box.

The BCI has indicated that it will consider applications for all three licences and for individual multiplexes. The regulator said it had an open mind at this stage as to how the DTT multiplexes should be operated. The consortium combines Eircom’s network infrastructure and telecoms expertise with content provided by both TV3 and Setanta, which has a large portfolio of pay sports channels, including live rights to Premier League football in England.

written by Coolgarriv