All posts by Les Nicol
Below are all of Les Nicol's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Steve - Ian W. in part that is correct as the BBC contract to lease transponders directly with SES Astra and Eutelsat as well as other satellite operators covering other parts of the globe. They do however sub lease transponder capacity from SKY also. Although in the main as far as the UK is concerned the BBC transmissions are beamed from Astra 2D.with a direct leasing contract with S.E.S. Astra. Both the SKY and the "Freesat" EPG's are actually beamed from Eutelsat's Eurobird 1 at 28.5 degrees South East with program content coming from the four satellites positioned at near enough the same orbital position. What Satellite Magazine gives in it's "Guide to Euro Digital Channels" a clear breakdown of what comes from where and the leasing of transponders by whom including any sub contracted arrangements by other broadcasters with bskyb.
Ian - It is the TV Licence Authority that is responsible for the collection and any evasion of payment in respect of the licence fee not the BBC.
I rather think that what may come out of this is the SKY EPG charges being dropped in the case of the BBC with the BBC agreeing to wave any program content charge for the re-transmission of such on the SKY platform.
Looking at the wider aspect of this in relation to ITV etc it may be that with the likely hood of in their case an EPG charge remaining that they could be quite entitled to charge for the re-transmission of their program content.
Finally it's the UK that are out of step here with other broadcasters globally. For example DurecTV in the US also within the News International Stable are required to pay re-transmission charges in respect of for example CBS, NBC an ABC.
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Steve P - Ian W. Apologies for the mispelling in the last paragraph - DurecTV should read "DirecTV"
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Brian - This one's for you. I see that the BBC are leasing a Transponder on Intelsat 907 at 27.5 degrees West. There are 9 SD BBC channels comprising 5 regional channels BBC News and Parliament, CBBC and CBeebies also 1 HD channel together with HD output from ITV and Channel 4. The Spot Beam range seems to cover South America as far south as the Falklands. Would you care to shed some light on the target group relating to this?.
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Angela - Yes you can connect a freesat receiver to your present dish. It's possible you might need some minor upgrading ie:- cable run, but this shouldn't be costly and would be a "One Off".
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Brian - SKY will be adding the US PSB channel to their line up in place of ROSA from 1st November. Interestingly given current controversy RE Transmission Fees and SKY EPG charges etc, Sky will be paying the US PSB. I believe sales overseas are handled on the lines of a commercial wing something similar to that of BBC World and re-generated back into the BBC.
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Brian - Have received notification from Future Publishing this lunchtime, advising that "What Satellite" magazine has been transferred with immediate effect to My HobbyStore Ltd.
This effectively means continuation of "What Satellite" in the immediate future.
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Brian The The letter I received states that for the most part the same Magazine Team behind "What Satellite" will remain.
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John - You should receive all the UK channels that are broadcast on an FTA (Free to air) basis - ie:- ALL the SD channels including the regional variations from the BBC ITV Channel4 and 5 (not 5+ or 5USA). You should also get a good selection of others eg:- CBS Reality etc and international news channels etc. - You won't get SKY subscription channels.- It is possible to buy legitimate subscription Sports/entertainment packages for this receiver in the UK from other European Broadcasters with English Audio, but you would need to upgrade your reception equipment ie:- your dish etc to do so.
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Kate - Don't really know if you can really equate "Customers" as with "Sales" when it's a non subscription service as against Satellite or Cable subscription services. Many household will have more than one receiver in all these services. I suppose what is remarkable is the recorded sales since this service commenced.
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Sunday 16 October 2011 10:50AM
Steve -Well if anyone's getting a free ride it has to be SKY in that they are re-broadcasting content from the BBC without payment! The BBC unfortunately is required by dated legal constraints as earlier pointed out and not through choice. SKY would expect their content to be paid for by the BBC were they to be re-broadcasting Sky's programming.