| Forum Home | ||||
| PC World Chat | ||||
| Thread ID: 69881 | 2006-06-15 04:37:00 | Free to Air Digital TV - will it make a difference? | Rutherford (10399) | PC World Chat |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 463270 | 2006-06-15 04:37:00 | What difference will it make to YOU? In case you missed the news, read about it here (www.bloomberg.com) and here also. (tvnz.co.nz) New Zealand's government will invest NZ$25 million ($16 million) to help develop free-to-air digital television services over the next five years, Broadcasting Minister Steve Maharey said today. It will require TV owners to purchase a set-top box similar to that used for Sky Television and in some areas a satellite dish. It is estimated the set-top boxes will cost around $200, with fully installed systems costing about $400. However, those costs may decrease as more households connect to digital. There will be no on-going subscription costs. And this previous PF1 post: (pressf1.pcworld.co.nz) Television devotees who have spent thousands on new "high-definition" sets may not be able to access the technology when it arrives. |
Rutherford (10399) | ||
| 463271 | 2006-06-15 04:44:00 | $200 - $400! And for what - The same drivel they show now? | pctek (84) | ||
| 463272 | 2006-06-15 04:51:00 | For that price you are better off with sky and plus it all depends on the channels that they are going to offer. I think that very few will take it up on that price and with the limited amount of people in nz already I don't see it catching on. these are some of the channels you get on freeview in the uk, but there are more people. BBC One, BBC Two, ITV 1, Channel 4 and five, ITV 2, ITV 3, ITV 4, BBC Three, Sky Three, BBC Four, E4, More4, UK History, UK Bright Ideas, ABC1 , FTN , Teachers TV, Community BBC News 24, Sky News, Sky Sports News, BBC Parliament CBBC, Cbeebies QVC, Bid TV , Price-drop TV , Ideal World The Hits, The Music Factory BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 3 ,BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra, BBC Radio 6, BBC 1Xtra, BBC Radio 7, TalkSport, BBC Asian Network, BBC World Service, Smash Hits, KISS, Kerrang, Smooth FM (formerly Jazz FM), Oneword, The Hits, Q, Magic, Heat, Mojo, 3C Country & Premier Christian BBCi, Teletext, FourText, YooPlay (Games), Hits Extra |
mode3 (6544) | ||
| 463273 | 2006-06-15 05:52:00 | $200 - $400! And for whatMy regular reception is pretty good, but I have a friend who lives in an area where reception is absolutely terrible (despite the fact it is a residential suburb in Auckland) so I'd say that those with bad reception would be happy to pay that price for a decent picture . Remember that if you live in an area which is covered by digital terrestrial broadcasts you won't need a set-top box if your TV has a digital tuner in it . I'm personally very happy there will be terrestrial broadcasts because I thought they were only going to use satellite . :) Edit: One thing I don't think has been mentioned, is will there be an EPG? |
maccrazy (6741) | ||
| 463274 | 2006-06-15 05:58:00 | For that price you are better off with sky and plus it all depends on the channels that they are going to offer. I think that very few will take it up on that price and with the limited amount of people in nz already I don't see it catching on. these are some of the channels you get on freeview in the uk, but there are more people. BBC One, BBC Two, ITV 1, Channel 4 and five, ITV 2, ITV 3, ITV 4, BBC Three, Sky Three, BBC Four, E4, More4, UK History, UK Bright Ideas, ABC1 , FTN , Teachers TV, Community BBC News 24, Sky News, Sky Sports News, BBC Parliament CBBC, Cbeebies QVC, Bid TV , Price-drop TV , Ideal World The Hits, The Music Factory BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 3 ,BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra, BBC Radio 6, BBC 1Xtra, BBC Radio 7, TalkSport, BBC Asian Network, BBC World Service, Smash Hits, KISS, Kerrang, Smooth FM (formerly Jazz FM), Oneword, The Hits, Q, Magic, Heat, Mojo, 3C Country & Premier Christian BBCi, Teletext, FourText, YooPlay (Games), Hits Extra Not everyone is prepared to pay $60 odd dollars a month for Sky and paying a one off cost of $200 for a decoder to get some extra channels I expect will be very popular. Cost wise you certainly would not be better off with Sky. FreeView will initially be available from a satellite so that everyone will have the opportunity to access the service provided they have the DTH FreeView-certified Set Top Box and a suitable dish. Later they will have the option of receiving FreeVIew from a local transmitter, using the DTT FreeView Set Top Box and a suitable aerial. |
Safari (3993) | ||
| 463275 | 2006-06-15 06:12:00 | The UK service is their second try at it. The first, fully commercial, crammed too many channels into the system (to maximise their ad revenue) so reception was terrible. So they lost a lot of money and went bust. The BBC are running the second try, reluctantly, with fewer than half the possible channels in use, because there are a lot of set-top boxes with the original decoders. If the UK stuffed it up, does anyone realistically expect NZ to do better? The only way NZ learns from the experiences of overseas countries is that we wait to see that some "wonderful" (especiallly economic) "reform" or new technology is disastrous, then copy it. |
Graham L (2) | ||
| 463276 | 2006-06-15 09:55:00 | Consumers will require a NZ$200 set-top receiver to access the digital signal from either satellite or land-based transmitters, Maharey said. please not land based digital, with NZ terian it will be crap. satelite is the way to go and frankly a whole lot cheaper. a digital sat receiver + dish is h**** of a lot cheaper than a land based analogue (or digital) set up in poorer reception aeras (ie anywhere you cannot see the tranmitter which is 50% of homes) |
tweak'e (69) | ||
| 463277 | 2006-06-15 10:02:00 | He also said if you dont get good reception on your aerial then you go to a satellite which in time will reduce in cost depending on how many people sign up for it,the could be as low as $75 he said and no monthly subscription charge. | Hitech (9024) | ||
| 463278 | 2006-06-15 10:10:00 | $75 ?? yeah right ! that would be just the travel charge lol. it all depends on what sat they run it off, its power and footprint. at the moment i think full install (dish+reciver) is $500+ for the existing few channels. if the signal is stronger then you can get away with small cheaper dishes. also just because there is a lot of them dosn't mean the price will come down by much. 2nd hand sky dishes are dime a dozen at any pub. |
tweak'e (69) | ||
| 463279 | 2006-06-15 10:21:00 | Sky can be installed for $99 with decoder and dish so why not $75. The signal is going to come from the same dish that sky are going to launch in september this year which is why FTA is being launched next year, tvnz and canwest etc are subleasing a transponder off skys satellite to provide the service. | Hitech (9024) | ||
| 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 | |||||