The future of television

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

There’s really no other response you can give to people who are avoiding reality, refusing to debate and just being downright hostile.

I’d have said a lot more if I was emotional.

Disagreeing with you isn’t avoiding reality (only your version of it), or refusing to debate (pretty sure most of us have put alternative viewpoints, which is the very basis of debate), or being "downright hostile" (some gentle Mickey taking and sarcasm, sure, but I’ve seen very little hostility)…

Going by your posts, I thought you were "tired and emotional"…

[epsilon]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

https://rxtvinfo.com/2025/concerns-o...-end-freeview/

[EXTRACT]

Broadcasters say that as more viewers switch to online, the existing digital terrestrial TV (DTT) network, used for Freeview, is becoming more expensive to maintain – based on a cost per viewer basis. The future of satellite TV is also uncertain.

Digital terrestrial TV is still the most popular traditional TV platform. The platform, which carries the Freeview service, is particularly relied upon by poorer and/or older viewers. Younger viewers are more likely to be online-only.

At present, all licences to broadcast services on Freeview expire at the end of 2034. The main UK public broadcasters have shown little interest in providing a traditional broadcast service beyond this point. Last year, they grouped together to create Freely to help migrate more people to internet TV.

Well, you can take me seriously or not, but to attempt to persuade people that conversion to IPTV only is not coming are just burying their heads in the sand.

This link appears to confirm everything I have said about 2035. Of course, the persistent refusniks on here will find some reason to deny it, but those with open minds will find it difficult to deny that this is now becoming a realistic prediction. Terrestrial TV will be no more in 2035.

Sad for some, but true. Now the government needs to start working with broadcasters to tackle the remaining barriers to a smooth transfer (eg making IPTV accessible to those unfamiliar with the technology, particularly some elderly people); broadband access, etc.

These are not insurmountable problems, but they do need to be addressed now to ensure a smooth transition.

That site is very opinion based and often gets the facts wrong, so not a great way of confirming your opinion. You're just saying someone else has an opinion which is partially similar to your own. A good example of confirmation bias.

If you are looking at Freely to prove that IPTV is the future and linear channels are about to end, forget it. It isn't IPTV in the usual sense although, as a hybrid system, has some elements of IPTV. It doesn't use DASH / HLS streaming protocols for PBS channels, so is a departure even from what the BBC did with CLM on more recent versions of Freeview. On Freely, the PSB channels on connected TVs use a form of DVB over IP. Linear channels in a DVB format similar to Freeview but delivered over the internet rather than over the airwaves. A list of Freely's PSB Service IDs can be found here. Delivering linear channels this way allows Freely to make extra regions available and allows ITV / C4 channels to be in HD by default, even if not available on Freeview. If you are trying to use Freely as an example of an on-demand only, streaming only, platform with no linear channels. Sorry mate, get back to the drawing board.

Originally Posted by Chris

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DARVO

Thank you.

[Itshim]

Don't think that much of the service , but stream more and more

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by Maggy

Thank you.

He’s misleading you, Maggie. This is about the future of TV.

You wouldn’t think so sometimes…

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

He’s misleading you, Maggie. This is about the future of TV.

You wouldn’t think so sometimes…

To slightly misquote Ogden Nash

The door of OLD BOY’s mind on the future of television opens outwards so that the only result of the pressure of facts upon it is to close it more snugly.

[Itshim]

Sir Peter Bazalgette, the former Chairman of ITV, said that what he termed the current "generous spread" of British broadcasters (BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5) will need some consolidation or, at the very least, more cooperation in future.

"We're in danger of having no public service broadcasting within a decade, certainly within 20 years," he says. "We don't have a strategy for their survival. It's that serious. The regulators need to start thinking about it.

"Mergers may well be part of the answer. There should be fewer companies in the future."

Lord Vaizey, who was Culture Minister under David Cameron, put it baldly. "ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 should merge.

[OLD BOY]

And for the genuinely inquisitive, who want to know what is really going on, I recommend you read Katie Razall’s article on the future of TV. Razall is the Culture and Media Editor of the BBC, so that must count for something, even on this argumentative thread.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2enydkew3o


[EXTRACT]

…The days of turning on your TV and finding an electronic programme guide listing channels – with BBC1 and BBC2 at the top, then ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 – are disappearing. The proposed date for the dawn of a new era is 2035; the end of traditional terrestrial TV as we know it.

When the increasingly expensive contracts to provide broadcast channels and digital terrestrial services like Freeview come to an end, the UK's broadcasters are likely to pivot to offering digital-only video on demand. (However this won't happen without a campaign to ensure older people are protected, as well as rural and low-income households who may not have high quality internet access.)

But if the aerials are turned off in 2035, is this the moment TV as we know it changes forever? If it becomes a battle between online-only British streamers and their better-funded US rivals, can the Brits survive? And, crucially, what will audiences be watching?

Another extract ;

The BBC remains the most watched of the traditional broadcasters. Today, people in the UK spend more time watching traditional broadcasters than they do streaming services. Figures show 87% of people age four and above watch the traditional broadcasters each month and they spend an average of 137 minutes a day doing so. By comparison, 78% of people watch a streaming service and they spend only 40 minutes a day doing so.

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by Paul

Another extract ;

Yes, we know, but so what? That’s just one argument amongst many, but crucially, it’s what the broadcasters want that will be the most likely thing that will happen.

A lot has changed in the last 10 years. Think of what may change in the next 10.

[epsilon]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

Yes, we know, but so what? That’s just one argument amongst many, but crucially, it’s what the broadcasters want that will be the most likely thing that will happen.

A lot has changed in the last 10 years. Think of what may change in the next 10.

It's not really what the broadcasters "want, it's about the wishy-washy policies of successive governments on providing a transmission infrastructure. Europe has been far more proactive, keeping their DTT networks updated, even enabling over-the-air 4K channels. Also developing 5G broadcast as an eventual replacement. In this country it has been politics and debate as we walk, blindfolded, into the future. Broadcasters can't commit to an infrastructure which the government hasn't decided to support. As I've said previously, this country will probably end up playing catch-up.

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by epsilon

It's not really what the broadcasters "want, it's about the wishy-washy policies of successive governments on providing a transmission infrastructure. Europe has been far more proactive, keeping their DTT networks updated, even enabling over-the-air 4K channels. Also developing 5G broadcast as an eventual replacement. In this country it has been politics and debate as we walk, blindfolded, into the future. Broadcasters can't commit to an infrastructure which the government hasn't decided to support. As I've said previously, this country will probably end up playing catch-up.

I think we are both right on that. Europe has shown no sign of giving up on their terrestrial infrastructure and indeed, they are modernising it and preparing for 5G broadcasting.

However, it is different in this country, and no such investment appears to be forthcoming. It is for this reason that the broadcasters are investing in an IPTV only environment.

As I’ve been saying, only a convincing government decision will change this. What are the chances?

[epsilon]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

I think we are both right on that. Europe has shown no sign of giving up on their terrestrial infrastructure and indeed, they are modernising it and preparing for 5G broadcasting.

However, it is different in this country, and no such investment appears to be forthcoming. It is for this reason that the broadcasters are investing in an IPTV only environment.

As I’ve been saying, only a convincing government decision will change this. What are the chances?

Loss of votes at the last minute when the broadcast infrastructure starts to fail and with the realisation that broadband infrastructure simply can't cope with the demand. That's when the government will finally realise they should have been planning for this. Maybe even pulling a "South Africa" and having to keep the terrestrial network running after the rest of Europe has switched off, with all of the political problems that will come with that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GD1aYYFEUtQ
Hard to imagine but South Africa is even behind us in securing a future for TV distribution.
I'm not quite sure that the broadcaster's plans actually align with your vision of the future https://www.t3.com/tech/tvs/bbc-to-r...es-of-channels. A set top box with 100's of channels... oh dear, oh dear.

[RichardCoulter]

Originally Posted by epsilon

Loss of votes at the last minute when the broadcast infrastructure starts to fail and with the realisation that broadband infrastructure simply can't cope with the demand. That's when the government will finally realise they should have been planning for this. Maybe even pulling a "South Africa" and having to keep the terrestrial network running after the rest of Europe has switched off, with all of the political problems that will come with that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GD1aYYFEUtQ
Hard to imagine but South Africa is even behind us in securing a future for TV distribution.
I'm not quite sure that the broadcaster's plans actually align with your vision of the future https://www.t3.com/tech/tvs/bbc-to-r...es-of-channels. A set top box with 100's of channels... oh dear, oh dear.

Sounds good. I wonder what the advantage of having TiVo would be seeing as it won't be able to record?

[epsilon]

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter

Sounds good. I wonder what the advantage of having TiVo would be seeing as it won't be able to record?

They have a GUI for TVs, so probably something similar on an add-on box. The way Freely is configured it should be relatively easy to add a recording option. It seems that the broadcasters, especially the BBC don't want to enable it.