Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris
And for an encore, Old Boy solves world hunger by telling governments all they have to do is grow more food and ship it around the world.
As per, you seem to think that describing your desired output is basically the same as solving all the technical challenges required to achieve it. In the real world, streaming is proprietary technology, there are therefore significant costs to entry for smaller operators and at present there is no system that would facilitate seamless transition from the present system of using channel numbers to access broadcast transmissions. In other words, while the building blocks may be there, someone has got to spend a lot of time and money assembling them into an IP version of Freeview before such a transition could be made.
We’ve been in a new house for almost a year now and have had so much else to do, we’ve yet to get round to getting an aerial on the roof. We have FTTP so we do indeed rely on streaming for all our TV. However even with a TV that is only 5 years old, and fibre internet delivering 300Mbps, streaming broadcast channels is still clunky. Select the broadcaster’s app, wait for it to load, navigate away from the default view (which is always what they want to push, and never what’s on now), then navigate from channel to channel to see what’s on.
If you’re lucky you’ll get a now-and-next EPG for the channel you’re actually looking at. There is no EPG for the entire broadcast stream ecosystem. I still have to use the Freesat app on my iPad in order to see what’s on all the channels before opening an app, because navigating channels within an app is quite slow enough - navigating between channels on different apps is torturous.
We are a very long way from replicating Freeview over IP in any way that would make it easy to achieve universal adoption.
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Well, let’s cut the sarky comments Chris or I’ll remind everyone that just a few years ago you claimed that there was not enough electricity to extend the current system to on demand only - oops, sorry, I just did!
Let’s stick to what we know. Firstly, you will surely be aware that a proposal to devote the broadcast spectrum to 5G mobiles is being considered globally, and that may well lead to the whole of the current bandwidth being so designated. If that happens, and a decision is expected soon, then converting to IP delivered TV will happen, no matter what you or anyone else says.
The government is already thinking in that direction anyway. The BBC has been instructed to prepare for an IP onl future. To wit:
https://rxtvinfo.com/2023/bbc-told-t...lacement-plan/
I am well aware that there are challenges, but what is it that makes you think they are insurmountable?
And for God’s sake, it is
not my desired outcome. I’m just setting out how I see TV being delivered in the future. I’ve been saying this for eight years now, and bit by bit, we are still edging along to the very outcome that I have thought would come about all along. It is incredible that you are still fighting this notion, despite what you can see happening in front of your own eyes.
There is the linear channels/on demand debate, and we’ll see what happens there. I believe that the broadcast channels will be looking at going on demand only, because it is easier and less costly. If the linear channels are retained as now but via IP, it will only be because the government/OFCOM have decreed that it must happen. I don’t believe the broadcasters themselves will make that decision.
I think the FAST channels may be short lived because people will tire of them. They are not really proper channels and don’t provide the range or standard of viewing of the main channels we have today - even in their existing dumbed-down state. You make a point about the cost for smaller operators. Well, it seems that very small enterprises can and do add their limited content on platforms like Roku, so I’m sure that a new Freeview IP site could be set up to accommodate them if required. There is no reason why Freeview cannot be replicated on the internet, although I think that rather than the existing linear channels, each broadcaster will have their on demand services listed as we do under the ‘Apps’ section of our set top boxes.
A majority of the population already access their programmes on demand and say they prefer it. Which way are we going? I think it’s a no-brainer.