Martin963 Posted September 7, 2005 Share Posted September 7, 2005 Well it's been a long time a'coming but it does look pretty official now.Great news for those who don't want anything to do with Uncle Rupert's little empire; you will (eventually, no firm dates yet, "next few months") be able to use any DVB-compliant (ie digital) satellite receiver to view ITV's stable of programmes along with the already FTA BBC. In other words, no need for a Skybox and Sky/FTV card.The details and lots of links here:http://forum.digitalspy.co.uk/board/showthread.php?t=277900&page=1&pp=25Sadly no similar excitement concerning C4 and C5............ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Avery Posted September 7, 2005 Share Posted September 7, 2005 Whoaaaa hold your horses All that was announced was that ITV are to launch a Freesat service with the BBC for those who cannot use Freeview.Nothing has been said so far to suggest that ITV will be like the BBC on FTV or that you can ditch your Sky cards yet. In fact it could be that the new Freesat system requires a different form of registration or card Why would ITV and the BBC just give it away when "Free"view costs £50 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BJSLIV Posted September 7, 2005 Share Posted September 7, 2005 Viewing basic Freeview doesn't cost a penny, you only need to have the receiver. The BBC news are saying that ITV will be available on any satellite receiver.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/4221722.stm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Avery Posted September 8, 2005 Share Posted September 8, 2005 [quote]Viewing basic Freeview doesn't cost a penny, you only need to have the receiver. The BBC news are saying that ITV will be available on any satellite receiver. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainme...[/quote]I have hearsd this on Sky, BBC and ITV and read all the links, there is still a big assumption here that registration and equipment will be free and that the new system will work on old Sky boxes, I hope it does, but lets wait and see eh. BJ "Free"view doesn't cost a penny, you only need to have the receiver............ BUT THAT COSTS £50 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BJSLIV Posted September 8, 2005 Share Posted September 8, 2005 In other words if you can pick up ITV/BBCsat on any old decoder/ dish it might even be cheaper than "Free"view as you wouldn't have to buy a dedicated box, unlike Freeview. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyh4 Posted September 8, 2005 Share Posted September 8, 2005 Anyone any information about which satelite is going to be used? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin963 Posted September 8, 2005 Author Share Posted September 8, 2005 One of the news links stated clearly that ITV was in talks about the rights issues (ie the "problem" usually blamed (conveniently) for carrying on with encryption). My understanding is that no such copyright problems were encountered with ITV shows; (incidentally the only show the BBC lost when they kicked off the shackles of Sky's encryption was "24" , and that was because in a roundabout way "24" was "owned" by one of Murdoch's shows); it seems we can indeed look forward to encryption being a thing of the past. As it is on the BBC. And excellent news it is too.As an aside, Sky owns the "videoguard" encryption system and have always refused to commercialise it outside of its own Skyboxes; hence my use of the term "shackles". By teaming up with the BBC, ITV and the BBC can encourage people to buy FTA satellite receivers. This suits all parties here, as the more FTA equipment is in people's homes by the time the government next turns its baleful gaze on brodcasting the harder it will be to introduce subscription/pay per view TV, which is what the BBC (and probably ITV to an extent) fear most.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coco Posted September 8, 2005 Share Posted September 8, 2005 Well I'm pretty "satellite illiterate" however, perhaps someone can explain this to me in words of one syllable. We currently have a digital satellite dish and decoder (is that what it's called?) box that we bought in Mr Bricolage for about 80 euros (on promo) We then found out the BBC free to air settings via the internet, pointed the dish in the right direction and typed the settings into the TV. We have BBC 1, 2, 3,4, News 24, parliament and those aweful kids channels, plus 100s of crap shopping and God channels, as well as loads and loads of radio stations, at no cost other than that of the dish. Is this what you mean we will be able to do with ITV eventually? We don't have and never have had, any kind of card or box. Oh I'd love to be able to watch Corrie again!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gyn_Paul Posted September 8, 2005 Share Posted September 8, 2005 [quote]Well I'm pretty "satellite illiterate" however, perhaps someone can explain this to me in words of one syllable. We currently have a digital satellite dish and decoder (is that what it's called?) box...[/quote]Coco - in a word, "Yes".p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin963 Posted September 8, 2005 Author Share Posted September 8, 2005 @ andyIt'll all stay where it is, ie on Astra 2D. 2D is part of a cluster of satellites within a few hundred kms of eachother in space. Viewed from a satellite dish they appear as one. However, Astra 2D (which was from memory purchased "off the peg" by Astra) has a tighter transmission beam focused centrally on the UK, whereas Astra 2A and 2B were designed to cover most of Europe (depending on which frequencies and beams were used).So when the BBC went FTA they had to move their rights-sensitive channels from 2A to 2D to appease the copyright holders (claiming that the spill into Europe was minimal, while we of course know it's a bit more than that!) ITV are already on 2D so there will be no change there.ITV and the BBC do not want to pay for two separate satellite positions, so what ITV now (and the BBC a couple of years ago) have been aiming for (and what ITV has been fighting Sky for nearly a year now on) is how to accommodate these changes so that people with Sky Digiboxes still get the correct "region" when they dial up 101 for BBC 1 and 103 for ITV. Sky have been holding out for huge sums of money to continue the regionalisation scheme for ITV, hence the delay while they squabbled in front of Ofcom. By staying on Astra 2 the BBC and ITV remain available to the 6 million or so Sky boxes, but can together now (thanks to no longer being encrypted) market a "Freesat" platform completely independent of Sky, who have lost the income from encryption and now only control the regionalisation issues for people with Sky boxes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyh4 Posted September 8, 2005 Share Posted September 8, 2005 Martin,thanks - all fears of having to get a second dual LNB or redirect the dish now dispelled Coco,you should also be able to get ITV3 at the moment on your set up, and when the new set up arrives can add ITV 1 and 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coco Posted September 8, 2005 Share Posted September 8, 2005 Yes Andy, I forgot to mention we get ITV3 already - it's just a little repetitive! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gyn_Paul Posted September 8, 2005 Share Posted September 8, 2005 C4, E4, Ch5 as later arrivals on Sky, have existing carriage contracts which have some considerable time to run yet. There's every possibilty that they, too, will become free to air when these contracts run out.p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacks Posted September 10, 2005 Share Posted September 10, 2005 Are there different kinds of satellite dishes and decoders, if so can someone please tell me which I need to buy to get these free to air channels? Many thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derf Posted September 10, 2005 Share Posted September 10, 2005 To get the BBC channels you could use any Digital decoder box with a dish pointed in the right direction, to get the rest of the mainstream UK channels you would need a sky box and a viewing card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin963 Posted September 10, 2005 Author Share Posted September 10, 2005 To amplify derf/les a bit, in France you need a <<terminal numerique>> with satellite dish (la parabole), including a "tete universelle" (universal LNB).Normally decodeur might suggest to the French that you want to receive something encrypted, the point being that the BBC (and soon ITV) are free to air. Hope this isn't splitting hairs too much Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brilec Posted September 24, 2005 Share Posted September 24, 2005 You can find information on the Astra 2D footprint, and the size of dish recommended here.http://www.astra2d.com/astra2d_france.htmIt seems an 80cm dish should suffice over most of the country.Brian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MargaretD Posted October 9, 2005 Share Posted October 9, 2005 I've been reading all the comments with interest. We have had our sky dish in a box since mid July, but today we've got it out. I also got out a few brain cells and re angled the dish - knowing that I'm now nearer the equator etc., set it to 152degrees and hey presto BBC! But no ITV! We had it on the Isle of Man. The card (with the little yellow house) is still in the machine - I didn't dare touch it, but have put it in and out a few times this evening. Was wanting to watch Midsommer Murders (no comments please) this evening. It's starting in 40 minutes, so I'm going to have an early night instead!If anyone has any advice, please let me know,Margaret Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyh4 Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 leave the box switched on with the card in for24 hours. Because you have not used your system for a while, the software will need updating from the satelite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Me0wp00 Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 Pain that I am, has anyone got the tel number to phone to get the ftv cards ? We've bought another box and it has the old card so need a housey card.thanksPippa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baz Posted October 10, 2005 Share Posted October 10, 2005 I think the number for the free to air card which is now supplied by sky for £20 is 0870 8500033. However, the card will only be issued to an UK address with a current TV licence.Baz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MargaretD Posted October 11, 2005 Share Posted October 11, 2005 Thank you for the advice. I left the machine on overnight - and yes it's working fine. Must admit I didn't think our minidish would work here, but we have a better quality than the installer managed for us on the Isle of Man!M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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