BBC pushing to speed up launch of FTA satellite?

[loz]

According to this BBC news item they are "pushing" managers to speed up the launch of a free-to-air satellite service,

Mr Grade also said he was "deeply embarrassed" that some viewers could not receive adequate reception of digital terrestrial TV.

He said it was wrong that there were people paying the licence fee who could not access all BBC services on offer.

A quarter of UK homes have no coverage of Freeview because digital transmissions share space on the spectrum with analogue services and there is not enough room left.

Governors were "pushing" managers to speed up the launch of a free-to-air satellite service, Mr Grade said.

Mr Thompson added the BBC had "been working very strenuously on this".

Mr Grade said the BBC received more complaints on the "lack of availability of digital services" than any other subject.

Licence fee payers were "very angry about that", he added.

[neilmcl]

I don't know why the BBC would want push their own free-to-air satellite service when freesat from Sky is perfectly adequate for most people. What would their service offer that Sky doesn't.

[Bilbob]

erm, a choice? look what freeview has done for terrestrial...

[beerhunter]

An EPG that one can edit all the crap from.

[Waveform]

Originally Posted by neilmcl

I don't know why the BBC would want push their own free-to-air satellite service when freesat from Sky is perfectly adequate for most people. What would their service offer that Sky doesn't.

a lower set up cost, £150 is not exactly a bargain.....

[neilmcl]

Originally Posted by Waveform

a lower set up cost, £150 is not exactly a bargain.....

I very much doubt that a, the initial setup price would be considerablly lower and b, the actual service would be that much different as to represent a real choice. If all you're going to get is the same FTA channels at roughly the same startup cost then whats the point.

[earwax]

Originally Posted by neilmcl

I don't know why the BBC would want push their own free-to-air satellite service when freesat from Sky is perfectly adequate for most people. What would their service offer that Sky doesn't.

I trhink a lot of us would say that the ability to buy a PVR of our choice and being £120 a year better off than we would be through using Sky's system is worth a very serious consideration.

[Bravia]

The big thing is choice. You could buy one of these,

http://www.sateuropa.co.uk/product_o...id=1&subcat=32

or one of these,

http://www.sateuropa.co.uk/product_o...tid=1&subcat=1

[Waveform]

Originally Posted by neilmcl

I very much doubt that a, the initial setup price would be considerablly lower and b, the actual service would be that much different as to represent a real choice. If all you're going to get is the same FTA channels at roughly the same startup cost then whats the point.

I agree that the service would probably be fairly similar. However I really don't agree on the setup costs, FreeSat from Sky is so obviously priced at a level to avoid canabalising its low cost family package business its laughable. I would be really surprised if they pick up much new business at all from their FreeSat offering, its really just a way of keeping the equipment in houses who have cancelled in the hope they return - eventually.
I would have thought £80-£100 max for the BBC offering....

[neilmcl]

Originally Posted by Waveform

I agree that the service would probably be fairly similar. However I really don't agree on the setup costs, FreeSat from Sky is so obviously priced at a level to avoid canabalising its low cost family package business its laughable. I would be really surprised if they pick up much new business at all from their FreeSat offering, its really just a way of keeping the equipment in houses who have cancelled in the hope they return - eventually.
I would have thought £80-£100 max for the BBC offering....

You're talking about having to buy a 3rd-party satellite receiver, dish, LNB etc plus installation, don't be surprised if this isn't anywhere near the £150 that Sky already charges. Also Sky does give the easier option of upgrading to a subscription based service at a later date.

[Starburst]

As soon as the BBC and ITV get the baseline spec to manufacturers and have the agreement from CH4 and Five to go FTA on satellite SKY will slash the price of their Freesat if only to 'em off

That aside it's rather pathetic that it's taken the UK "free" broadcasters so many years to follow the German example of in the clear satellite distribution. If the likes of the BBC had embraced analogue satellite in the early 1990's instead of just making sure the license fee applied the market would be so different.

[neilmcl]

Apart from the valid suggestion eariler that having another player in the FTA satellite market would break Sky's monopoly of charging for a pvr service, although don't be surprised if the Sky+ sub is eventually removed, I'm still not convinced of the merits or more importantly the benefits to the BBC in getting into this.

[loz]

Originally Posted by neilmcl

I don't know why the BBC would want push their own free-to-air satellite service when freesat from Sky is perfectly adequate for most people. What would their service offer that Sky doesn't.

Simply because there should be no need for a public service broadcaster such as the BBC to have to be dependent, or moreover make their viewers dependent on a commercial operator like Sky.

e.g. Hardware should be freely available without the constraints of the closed Sky system.

[Starburst]

Originally Posted by loz

Simply because there should be no need for a public service broadcaster such as the BBC to have to be dependent, or moreover make their viewers dependent on a commercial operator like Sky.

e.g. Hardware should be freely available without the constraints of the closed Sky system.

Indeed.
Disgrace you have to pay NTL a monthly sub to get a STB to watch the BBC digital channels, at least satellite was never that bad and it always was the BBC's choice to go FTV on satellite, SKY didn't force them to do so

[beerhunter]

As to 'forcing' people to do things. Owning the proprietary EPG does give Sky some clout in 'persuading' people to do things it's way. The situation reminds me of the Microsoft OEM contract that I was trying to compete against in the early 1990s.