| British TV & Radio News October 2011 |
| SES Secures Further Contract With Channel 4 On ASTRA 1N |
| Tuesday, October 4 2011 |
Luxembourg, 4 October 2011 - SES S.A. (Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG), Europe's premier direct-to-home (DTH) satellite operator, has secured a further long-term contract with Channel 4 in the UK to provide additional capacity on its recently launched ASTRA 1N spacecraft. Channel 4 already has three transponders under contract at SES's 28.2˚East orbital slot.
The new capacity on ASTRA 1N will be used to transmit Channel 4's main high-definition (HD) service together with further HD services over the coming years.
|
|
SES will bring into service three new satellites at 28.2˚East from 2012 to 2014, ASTRA 2F, 2E and 2G, providing additional capacity and greater back-up, together with more power and operational flexibility, for its customers in the UK and Ireland.
Channel 4 was founded in 1982 as a public service broadcaster and regularly reaches more than 35 million viewers each week. Its HD service will be delivered to Sky and Freesat households, representing over 12 million UK homes.
Kevin Burrows, Channel 4's Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Broadcast and Distribution said, "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. We have a long-running and very successful relationship with SES that is based on the company's understanding of our business, its excellent level of reliability and its technical expertise. For us, SES was a natural choice when it came to expanding our broadcast capacity."
Ferdinand Kayser, Chief Commercial Officer at SES, said, "We have worked closely with Channel 4 for the past seven years and are delighted that Channel 4 has renewed their confidence in SES. Our new agreement is further proof of the strong demand for new HD services in the UK market." |
| |
| Virgin Media to add seven UKTV channels |
| Tuesday, October 4 2011 |
Virgin Media has announced a deal with pay-TV broadcaster UKTV for the launch of seven new channels on its cable TV platform, including five high definition networks.
UKTV, which was 50% owned by Virgin until it recently sold the stake to Scripps Networks Interactive, brings Eden HD, Good Food HD, Watch HD and Dave HD to the cable TV service, along with +1 networks for Eden and Yesterday. Alibi HD will follow in 2012, bringing Virgin Media's HD channel lineup to 37.
Cindy Rose, the executive director of digital entertainment at Virgin Media, said: "We're thrilled to be bringing more dazzling HD channels to our TV service, offering our customers even more choice and variety.
"Our commitment remains to deliver and develop the most compelling digital home entertainment service available in the UK and we will continue to build on our great TV and On Demand offerings to give our customers the best range of services now and for the future." |
|
UKTV executive director of commercial Keith Porritt added: "We're delighted to become a leading supplier of Virgin Media's HD offering. These channels show the breadth of HD content we offer on our network from jaw-dropping natural history and mouth-watering food programmes to amazing magic and the best in stand-up comedy, with TV's ultimate compendium in crime to follow, all in HD exclusive to UK pay-TV."
Virgin Media has also announced the arrival of Sky Movies Classics HD to its premium Sky Movies HD subscription package. |
| |
| BBC Two HD to replace BBC HD |
| Thursday, October 6 2011 |
The BBC has announced plans to replace the four-year-old BBC HD channel with a high definition simulcast of BBC Two.
Today, the corporation confirmed a number of proposals in its Delivering Quality First initiative, aimed at saving £670m a year by 2016/7 as it faces major budget cuts under its new licence fee settlement.
|
|
The proposals include the axe of BBC Two's daytime budget, the scaling back of BBC Three and BBC Four, as well as a small reduction in BBC One's budget.
Also, the corporation has put forward the proposal of scrapping the BBC HD channel in favour of BBC Two HD, which will "broadcast alongside the existing BBC One HD channel".
Launched in 2007, BBC HD initially provided a home for all of the BBC's high definition programming, including shows from BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Three and BBC Four. The channel also hosted the BBC's first live 3D broadcast this July for the Wimbledon Finals.
However, BBC HD has been dogged by a picture quality controversy on satellite over the past two years, and its remit has been questioned ever since BBC One HD launched in autumn 2010.
The corporation has now proposed dropping the standalone BBC HD channel, but it is unclear what will be done with HD content from BBC Three and BBC Four under the new arrangement.
Elsewhere in the cuts proposals, the BBC said that it would reduce the BBC Red Button interactive service to make it "consistent across all digital TV platforms". Plans were also announced earlier in the year to reduce the budget of BBC Online by 25%.
In a statement, BBC director general Mark Thompson added: "This is a plan which puts quality and creativity first. It's a plan for a smaller BBC, but a BBC which uses its resources more effectively and collaboratively to deliver a full range of services to the public.
"The plan meets the savings target we agreed in last year's licence fee settlement, but also identifies nearly £150m per year to invest in new high-quality output and in the platforms and services of the future."
The BBC Trust is now running a public consultation on all the cost-saving proposals put forward by the BBC, which will close in December. |
| |
| 5* and 5USA coming to Freesat by Christmas |
| Monday, October 17 2011 |
The extra narrowbeam capacity provided by the new Astra 1N satellite is going to allow Channel 5 to provide their two other channels, 5* and 5USA on Freesat by the end of 2011.
This is good news for Freesat viewers, as Channel 5 have been talking of launching the channels for some time, both are currently available on Freeview and Freesat from Sky (currently free-to-view).
Channel 5 have confirmed that "work is already under way to introduce unencrypted versions of both 5* and 5 USA to the (BBC and ITV) Freesat service, following the creation of extra narrowbeam capacity". |
|
| A launch date for the start of these two services on Freesat has not yet been announced, Channel 5 says that they "anticipate that these will be broadcasting before the end of the year, but are unable to confirm specific dates at present." There has been to mention as yet of Channel 5 HD joining Freesat, or if 5*+1 and 5USA+1 are to be included. |
| |
| ITV to buy Channel TV |
| Tuesday, October 18 2011 |
ITV has announced plans to buy Channel Television, the commercial TV broadcaster in the Channel Islands, in a move designed to consolidate the Channel 3 network.
The public service broadcaster has entered an agreement to buy Channel Television from its owner, the Yattendon Group, for an undisclosed fee.
Should competition authorities in Jersey approve the takeover, it would give ITV control of the broadcaster that has been on air since 1962 serving around 150,000 people in the Channel Islands. |
|
The deal would also give ITV ownership of 12 of the UK's 15 Channel 3 franchises, leaving just STV's Scottish TV and Grampian TV licenses in Scotland, and the Northern Ireland franchise held by UTV.
In a short statement to the London Stock Exchange, ITV said: "ITV plc announces that it has entered into an agreement with Yattendon plc to acquire Channel Television subject to the approval of the Jersey Competition Regulatory Authority." |
| |
| Freesat confirm no ITV Player on certain models |
| Wednesday, October 19 2011 |
Freesat have release a list of which Freesat TVs and receivers will get the full benefit of interactive and vod services on the platform.
The table confirms BBC iPlayer for every other Freesat HD product (Panasonic recently upgraded its 2008 HD TVs).
ITV Net Player is promised to Sagem, Bush, Goodmans, Grundig, and Manhattan zapper box and PVR owners, and Samsung TV owners.
Samsung Freesat+ HD PVRs and Panasonic 2011 HD TVs are on a 'To Be Confirmed' list for ITV Net Player.
There will be no support for ITV Net Player for owners of Technisat and Ferguson receivers, Panasonic's 2009/2010 Freesat+ PVRs, Sony Freesat HD TVs, and Panasonic 2008/2009/2010 HD TVs. |
|
| |
| DSO completion date announced |
| Wednesday, October 19 2011 |
The UK's analogue TV system will be switched off on October 24, 2012, when Northern Ireland completes Digital Switchover.
The date will also mark the end of the five-year switchover campaign, which began in 2007 in Whitehaven, Cumbria.
David Scott, Digital UK's chief executive, said: 'The analogue era was a defining period for TV but the fully digital age will be even better, with a greater choice of channels for viewers everywhere.
'I’m looking forward to October next year when we will have brought the benefits of digital to every corner of the country.'
The Northern Ireland switchover will bring digital TV to half a million new viewers and will cover 'virtually all' of the province.
It's still only the beginning of the UK's digital TV development, which has two major milestones to come in the next decade. |
|
Digital UK will continue until 2013 to help manage the shift of some Freeview signals to new frequencies so that the 800MHz band can be cleared for high-speed mobile broadband.
Around 2015, the 600MHz band cleared by analogue switchoff will be brought back into use following an auction, which could see new Freeview channels, pay-TV or more broadband usage. |
| |
| PSBs to call for review of Sky carriage costs |
| Wednesday, October 19 2011 |
Channel 4 and Sky have backed the BBC's calls for a public service broadcasters to be freed from Sky's retransmission fees.
The broadcasters have all called for a review of the EPG charges and other costs for public service channels, which cost them millions of pounds per year.
However, the commercial channels have refused to join a single lobbying effort with the BBC for the charges to be dropped or even reversed.
In the USA, broadcasters such as ABC and Fox are paid tens of millions of dollars by cable and satelliter operators to be available on their platforms. |
|
Channel 4's director of marketing and communications, Dan Brooke, told a Voice of the Listener and Viewer event: 'At the moment, we don’t have a say in it – we are given a rate card, which is agreed by Ofcom and Sky. If that money wasn’t going out of the door we’d be delighted, and would put that money back into programming.
'Fees were introduced to give Sky a leg up when they first launched here – I don’t think anyone would say they need a leg up anymore.'
An ITV spokesman added: 'We are supportive of the need for a review of the current arrangements.'
Sky said the fees are 'legitimate operating costs' which are levied equally on all broadcasters who use its platform.
A spokesman added: 'The BBC chooses to buy platform services from Sky that enable it to provide a wide variety of services on the satellite platform. As with any broadcaster who uses our open platform, we ask for a fair and proportionate contribution towards its running costs.
'If the BBC no longer wants to buy these services from us, it is free to stop doing so at any point. We don’t see the BBC as being the exception to this principle.
'No one expects the National Grid to provide the BBC with cheap electricity subsidised by its other customers, so why is Sky any different?' |
| |
| REAL Digital to launch next week |
| Thursday, October 19 2011 |
Real Digital is to launch next week with plans to introduce a 15 channel premium channel package and ITV Player before Christmas. The actual launch date has not been announced, just next week.
The Real Digital EPG will include more than 190 free to air TV channels and 70 radio channels.
Pay TV packages are expected to be added in the next three months. A sports package will include Sky Sports 1 and 2 for £25 a month and a 15 channel premium package will include HD versions of US channel Blackbelt TV and an as-yet-unamed music channel for £10 a month. |
|
Viewers will need to activate the viewing card which is included with their receiver either over the phone or online. No contract is required and there is no minimum subscription period.
BBC iPlayer will be available via the red button at launch for those who connect their receiver to the internet via Ethernet. ITV Player is expected to be added before Christmas followed by YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. |
| |
| New SES Satellite ASTRA 1N Operational |
| Monday, October 24 2011 |
Luxembourg, 24 October 2011 - SES S.A. (Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG) today announced that its new ASTRA 1N satellite has entered commercial service at the orbital position of 28.2 degrees East.
ASTRA 1N was built by Astrium on the Eurostar E3000 platform and is equipped with 52 transponders in the Ku frequency band. The satellite was successfully launched on board an Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou, French Guiana, on 6 August 2011. It had a launch mass of 5,325 kg and is the fourth Eurostar satellite in the 49 satellite-strong SES fleet.
|
|
| ASTRA 1N greatly enhances the flexibility of the SES satellite fleet at the orbital slot 28.2 degrees East over Europe. ASTRA 1N is notably being used by Channel 4 and ITV. The new satellite will also allow SES to offer its satellite-based broadband service ASTRA2Connect via 28.2 degrees East and thus complement its service offer from the 23.5 degrees East position. ASTRA2Connect is Europe's largest satellite broadband network with more than 80,000 end users. |
|