Astra 1N

[muppetman11]

SES Secures Further Contract With Channel 4 On ASTRA 1N

http://en.ses.com/4233325/news/2011/8181203

[Kymmy]

In simple terms it means that C4 will be able to put more HD content on the Astra system.

[muppetman11]

Originally Posted by Kymmy

In simple terms it means that C4 will be able to put more HD content on the Astra system.

Yep great news for Freesat viewers.

[Kymmy]

SES are planning more sats so freesat HD should really take off in the next few years

"HDTV is an essential part of our channel line-up going forward and this new capacity will enable us to provide our viewers with Channel 4's portfolio of HD services."

Looks like they intend to put the whole lot on Freesat in HD. Yay!

[muppetman11]

Originally Posted by Chris

Looks like they intend to put the whole lot on Freesat in HD. Yay!

Yes it's great news , the Freesat platform could boom with these additions. Film4 HD was rumoured on satellite and C4 mentioned More 4 possibly going HD this year.

What we need now is a similar announcement from Channel Five, although they are usually so slow off the mark they may not actually have heard of Astra 1N yet. Perhaps someone should drop Dirty Desmond a quick email ...

---------- Post added at 19:43 ---------- Previous post was at 19:30 ----------

Of course, what Freesat users really want to see is ITV2/3/4 in HD on Freesat. Unfortunately there's the small matter of that exclusivity deal they signed with Sky. I wonder whether they intend to keep renewing that, or if they were making the best of being unable to get spare spot-beam slots available at the time.

[muppetman11]

Originally Posted by Chris

What we need now is a similar announcement from Channel Five, although they are usually so slow off the mark they may not actually have heard of Astra 1N yet. Perhaps someone should drop Dirty Desmond a quick email ...

---------- Post added at 19:43 ---------- Previous post was at 19:30 ----------

Of course, what Freesat users really want to see is ITV2/3/4 in HD on Freesat. Unfortunately there's the small matter of that exclusivity deal they signed with Sky. I wonder whether they intend to keep renewing that, or if they were making the best of being unable to get spare spot-beam slots available at the time.

With the addition of all these channels many like me would seriously consider ditching pay TV meaning Sky and VM will really have to up their game.

[Kymmy]

I don't have PayTV at all, instead I have a freeview PVR and also a motorized sat from which I can stream from to any PC in the house.

Originally Posted by muppetman11

With the addition of all these channels many like me would seriously consider ditching pay TV meaning Sky and VM will really have to up their game.

I ditched Sky years ago, after I got a calculator out and worked out the cost per programme. There was maybe 1 or 2 shows per week that we actually sought out on Sky One (or any of the other scrambled channels), the rest of the time we were either watching FTA stuff or just staring numbly at the screen just because it was there. At that rate it was considerably more cost effective to rent DVDs of entire seasons of stuff we actually wanted. Or simply not bother at all, seeing as we really could have done with just watching less telly at that point.

The genius of Sky's marketing is that even today many people don't realise just how many of the channels they watch via their satellite dish don't require any subscription at all. Or even a Sky box.

[muppetman11]

Reported here as well
http://www.advanced-television.com/i...city-from-ses/

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ses...-1n-2011-10-04

[muppetman11]

Astra 1N now in position and ready to go

http://en.kingofsat.net/sat-astra1n.php

Originally Posted by Chris

I ditched Sky years ago, after I got a calculator out and worked out the cost per programme. There was maybe 1 or 2 shows per week that we actually sought out on Sky One (or any of the other scrambled channels), the rest of the time we were either watching FTA stuff or just staring numbly at the screen just because it was there. At that rate it was considerably more cost effective to rent DVDs of entire seasons of stuff we actually wanted. Or simply not bother at all, seeing as we really could have done with just watching less telly at that point.

The genius of Sky's marketing is that even today many people don't realise just how many of the channels they watch via their satellite dish don't require any subscription at all. Or even a Sky box.

This is exactly why my Humax Foxsat HDR box has litterally just paid for itself.

We looked at the stuff that we watched / recorded and it was all on FTA channels. The only channel i really miss is Discovery.

Must really get around to punting the Sky+ HD box on to some unsuspecting mug while it still has some value

And, thanks to Astra 1N, your lovely Humax Freesat box is about to become better value still. With the significant uplift in spot-beam capacity, more channels than ever before will be able to go FTA for the UK only without having to get into messy pan-Europe rights negotiatons with their content providers.

The mood music suggests Fiver, 5* and Film4, all in HD, could be available to Freesat users in the reasonably near future.

Who knows, for viewers in Scotland it's just possible that the useless shower of muppets that run STV might manage to launch an HD version of their channel. It would be preferable to mucking around with the box to pick up ITV1-HD.

Cool, great news Chris