Ireland to blunder on DTT like ONdigital?
| RTÉ FREE TO AIR [get this badge] |
[update: more structured version of this post is here rte2fta.com ]
text of an email to Cllr. Mark Dearey of the Green Party Co. Louth
Mark, I hope you are the correct person to contact in regard to this matter
Is Ireland about to make the same DTT mistake ITV ON:Digital made in the UK before the BBC Freeview success?
I read in the Sunday Business Post that DTT is on its way to Ireland, currently I can see the FTA DTT tests on the trial using a basic DTT receiver (from the UK).
I read from your pre Election press release
We will work with the UK Government and the Northern Ireland Authorities to develop an all-island digital ‘free to air’ broadcasting service carrying RTE1, RTE2, TG4, TV3 and the Northern Ireland BBC/ITV public service main channels. This will ensure that in 2009, when the analogue system is closed, we will be able to receive free-to-air services for these channels.
8<
however as Minister Eamon Ryan (GP) is about to launch DTT in Ireland via digitaltelevision.ie
the Sunday Business Post reports
that “RTE has held talks with a number of parties with regard to joint ventures for the operation of the DTT platform. While RTE will be free-to-air on DTT, it looks increasingly likely that there will be a modest charge to access British channels.”
Is FTA DTT cross border no longer a GP policy?
If it is and the current market conditions indicate that the British channels are to be provided by encrypted commercial DTT providers it flies in the face of GP policy.
Could you please direct me to the person within your party who is responsible to see party policy is adhered to. I feel it may be an issue that if promoted as policy properly may have a chance of becoming standard. otherwise public service TV in Ireland will never get parity of carriage in the UK or NI if we do not provide their TV here.
BTW the Green Party are not alone in this view. RTE also want UK public service TV FTA in Ireland as stated here
RTE are making a very strong case for FTA UK channels to be got in Ireland! (Page 9) in this confidential document from August 31st 2007 Advisory Note to the Directorate General For Competition and the Directorate General For Information Society & Media of the European Commission concerning RTÉ’s approach to Digital Switchover in Ireland.
As a final idea on this matter - the journalist in the Sunday Business Post could be plain wrong. But as there is nothing within the text of the digitaltelevision.ie website to contradict the SBP article and digitaltelevision.ie statement that STBs from the UK may not work in the Republic of Ireland, it does not bode well for a harmonised cross border approach to this simple matter of providing TV signal on a platform that is old, widely used and succeeded in the UK when the BBC ran it as FREEview as opposed to when ITV’s ON:Digital ran it to make profits.
Regards Brian Greene
ps. still no word of a meeting re 567Khz switch off on March 24th 3 weeks from today.
March 16th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
I understand that the STB for Ireland is going to be different. I have only been on the outside periphery of this but it seems very unclear what the spec will be. There is a possiblity that it may be mpeg-4 rather than mpeg-2 for instance.
March 16th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
Hi, Antoin
There has been mention of MPEG4 in the tender docs for the 3 commercial mux. It would seem that RTÉ favour MPEG4 and the possibility of HD. This is a good thing and is forward looking. It means that UK hardware (cheap now and mass produced) will not work in the 26 counties. But the suggestion of MPEG4 does not make it a minimum standard and as I read it it is being set as a maximum. If RTÉ applied this logic on MPEG to radio they would run a mile from DAB, but they want DAB so much they’re shutting down MW to help fund DAB. Crazy. I wonder though if the spectrum effectiveness are lesser our greater with HD mpeg4 (not standard definition mpeg4) versus mpeg2 standard definition.
The RTÉ mpeg4 argument also makes a laugh of the RTÉ DRM argument, RTÉ know they need to innovate and lead DTT MPEG 4 to drive down STB prices on new tech. The same logic applies to DRM which RTÉ now stall in favour of a analogue half power LW with no MW fallback.
RTÉ do not have limitless resources, but that is no excuse for the differences in transmission planning between TV & radio, between analogue & digital & between old and new. RTÉ have a clear mandate from Gov. (March 2007) for International TV and (added at the last minute) International Radio. We need a viewers & listeners association that has teeth (and will bite), the suits in RTÉ are playing a numbers game as the only thing they seem to care about is share and competition with the commercial TV & radio companies in Ireland.
On reason given for MW shutdown was not many listen to it anymore. Based on this logic RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, Concert Orchestra, Philharmonic Choir, Cór na nÓg and the RTÉ Vanbrugh Quartet should expect the P45 any day. This line of argument I don’t support. What is needed on the lawn of Montrose is 12 foot letters reminding the organisation that they are a public service broadcaster not commercial. This means both taking unpopular decisions but also deciding to serve the unpopular.