Quote:
Originally Posted by Arthurgray50@blu
This might be a strange question to ask and say, but what is the point of having another Freesat, system come onto the market, as we are overcrowded with this system, we already have, FREEVIEW,via an aerial, VM free channels, via cable, FREESAT, via a dish and Freesat from Sky, so whats the point, if they all give the same channels, and please don't say the price.
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A good question - and one that the Beeb and ITV are carefully avoiding answering! For they don't want to upset Sky any more than necessary.
IMHO, it's probably best to put it all down to history. If we were starting from scratch now I doubt we'd bother with a huge network of terrestrial transmitters that are expensive to build, maintain and power. Instead, we'd just opt for one satellite (okay five very close together) and broadcast to the whole country in one go. Of course some locations cannot be served by satellite so having alternative methods like terrestrial and cable can come in useful after all.
Enter Sky (a long time ago) who, after a little competition from BSB, take over the UK satellite market. As part of their conditions of service they are obliged to carry the basic 1-5 channels but manage to get the BBC to pay them
many millions of pounds a year for doing this. In return Sky carefully encrypts all the signals and manages the distribution of the access cards so that only UK citizens can receive the signals - well nearly! Obviously the Beeb needs to demonstrate this as it only gets the UK rights for any films it shows.
Then the Beeb gets in contact with SES-Astra, the owners of some of the satellites that Sky use. They manage to adjust the focus the signal so that it only covers the UK - which satisfies the film owners.
Now the Beeb can rent its own space on Astra but they don't have an EPG to go with it. Instead they pay Sky a reported £10M pa just to be included in theirs. The Beeb would like ITV to join the party but they are still tied into a carriage contract with Sky - until this year.
Now, ITV are free to jump ship. All that is needed is a EPG that is independant of Sky. Fortunately, one already exists and is used for Freeview. It is this one that has been adapted for Freesat.
Of course, Sky has got wind of all this and, presumably before the Beeb trademarked the name, created their own FreesatFromSky service in competition. FreesatFromSky would certainly not have existed without Freesat.
Now there are two competing satellite delivery systems and this will surely drive down the carriage charges. As more channels' contracts with Sky come up for renewal many of the non-premium ones may well move to Freesat - provided the service takes off.
I'm sure Sky will try to hang on to them for their FreesatFromSky service. Even if a customer isn't paying anything, Sky still has control and he may trade up to a paid service at some time. To compete, Freesat will need to build up some momentum.
No one wants a public brawl so the talk is over features that Freesat might offer. In fact there is little difference in the two services and it's all about fighting for control of the EPG - and the money that goes with it.
I doubt we'll ever see FreeCable but FreeIPTV must be on the cards.
That'll do - I'm sure it will read like rubbish in the morning without all that rum & coke!