Freeview Australia

[digitalj]

I did say "worth watching"

NRL is definitely "worth watching".

I can't get enough of my NRL. :D

[dhromow]

I'm with you digitalj.....

[vasili]

AFL is better!!!!

[djOS]

AFL is better!!!!

meh, Gridiron is much more interesting than both, but i'll take Motorsport over any football code and Nein has next to nothing in that dept these days.

Edited January 6, 2009 by djOS

[digitalj]

AFL is better!!!!

you seriously need to be forced to watch NRL for a a few months, after that, you'll discover the truth that NRL is better

[Aco_Perth]

you seriously need to be forced to watch NRL for a a few months, after that, you'll discover the truth that NRL is better

NRL RULEZZZZZZZ

[Dr Worm]

NRL RULEZZZZZZZ

What a great way to kill a topic.

go find a sports forum to have your petty arguments on.

[djOS]

you seriously need to be forced to watch NRL for a a few months, after that, you'll discover the truth that NRL is better

No thanks, I spent 3 years living in Sydney even went to a few games (uncle works for Sharks) and went to some storm games while living in Melb - if it wasn't for the hot cheer leaders prancing around i'd never go to another A$$ pluggers anonymous game ever; watching it on TV sucks even more cause you dont get to see the cheer leaders!

[Aco_Perth]

What a great way to kill a topic.

go find a sports forum to have your petty arguments on.

ahaha, soz

hmm, no one is talking about freeview on page 16 :S

ummm, what are the chances of them leaving TenHD, OneHD, (0neSD or 10SD) :S,, nawww i liked TenHD

why cant they have Ten, TenHD and OneSD instead??????

[Katarn]

Probably because they believe they will gain more market share through sports than filling up the HD channel with cheap repeats

Personally I wish they put on some first run shows like Dollhouse and other sci-fi stuff. I don't care if it's not HD... would just be good to see shows that have a low but loud audience membership given a chance, without the pressures of having to match up with "ratings season" shows.

ahaha, soz

hmm, no one is talking about freeview on page 16 :S

ummm, what are the chances of them leaving TenHD, OneHD, (0neSD or 10SD) :S,, nawww i liked TenHD

why cant they have Ten, TenHD and OneSD instead??????

[aztec]

At the moment they show The Simpsons on TenHD but unlike the standard dewf channel instead of shrinking the picture at the end so they can play ads they play the closing credits full screen. WooHoo!!!

[ger]

NRL RULEZZZZZZZ

I think the round ball rules ALL

Soccer is best

[beeblebrox]

I think the round ball rules ALL

Soccer is best

round ball.... isn't that cricket?

Or if it's not then it's gotta be beach volleyball.

Now let's have more ladies beach volleyball on tv... you want to tell me nrl is better than ladies beach volleyball???

[dshan]

Bad news for Freeview today - the truth about it is getting out.

They still can't get that TEN channel listing graphic right, what hope is there for the actual service when something as simple as that has been wrong ever since the FV website started and no one seems interested in fixing it? I've seen so many supposed "start dates" for One HD/SD it's not funny. Most say April, one the other day (on Freeview member SBS I think it was) said March, now this article says "between April and June". Why should anyone get excited about new channels when Seven and Nine refuse to say when they'll start theirs or what will be on them and TEN tell us it's gonna be great mate, 24 X 7 sport (sports you ain't never heard of too!) but can't say when exactly they'll start broadcasting? The ABC and SBS's new channels are dependent on getting government funding and so may never actually appear. Why would any manufacturer bother producing Freeview EPG compatible gear under these circumstances? It's a total mess.

[donaldp]

Bad news for Freeview today - the truth about it is getting out.

They still can't get that TEN channel listing graphic right, what hope is there for the actual service when something as simple as that has been wrong ever since the FV website started and no one seems interested in fixing it? I've seen so many supposed "start dates" for One HD/SD it's not funny. Most say April, one the other day (on Freeview member SBS I think it was) said March, now this article says "between April and June". Why should anyone get excited about new channels when Seven and Nine refuse to say when they'll start theirs or what will be on them and TEN tell us it's gonna be great mate, 24 X 7 sport (sports you ain't never heard of too!) but can't say when exactly they'll start broadcasting?

In the official channel 10 announcement they said "2nd quarter", and I THINK they said "start of...", but I'm not absolutely sure. In any case, all these other (i.e. non-10) sources are reporting different dates which all (except March) fit into "2nd quarter". 10 haven't made any subsequent announcement saying the date has changed, so I don't think anything has changed (it's just a matter of whether they said "start of..." or not), except for who's reporting what (which wasn't always correct to begin with anyway).

[donaldp]

Bad news for Freeview today - the truth about it is getting out.

Just read the article and, as usual, the reporter didn't even have the facts right. e.g. it says the only new channel is SD, "called 'One'", but it's a new HD channel, OneHD (with an SD mirror for those without a HD tuner), which is replacing the existing 10HD (which has already had all of it's non-sport HD-only content taken off, ready for the launch of OneHD in a few months).

As usual, if you want "the truth", you have to go to the source (e.g. a 10 website) - journo's wouldn't know what the truth was if it bit them on the bum.

[BroadbanD]

afl, nfl, nrl, soccer... it doesn't matter. FREEVIEW Australia is

NOTHING compared to what other countries have. we're still

waaay behind other nations when it comes to entertainment.

15 channels is nothing.

[Timmy Downawell]

Hopefully the negative press will give Seven/Nine a boot up the bum towards actually announcing something. But I wont be holding my breath.

[interceptor1503561690]

I got a funny feeling the Seven Network will launch their channel first some time in feb - march followed by TEN in April (as we all know) then NINE. I could be wrong, but my suspicion.

[digitalj]

I got a funny feeling the Seven Network will launch their channel first some time in feb - march followed by TEN in April (as we all know) then NINE. I could be wrong, but my suspicion.

based on when the HD Multichannels started?

also that 7 didn't announce their multichannel till the day it started!

[digitalj]

finally a correct article:

New free digital channels just marketing: report

Media experts have cast doubt on the claim that new digital free-to-air channels will revolutionise the industry.

In a report by The Sydney Morning Herald, some industry figures argue that Freeview, a term used to describe the new channels, is merely a marketing exercise to encourage viewers to switch from analog to digital, and to slow the flow of consumers to pay TV competitors.

"They are making Freeview sound like this wonderful new service when in fact it's not offering anything particularly different," media commentator from tvtonight.com.au, David Know said.

Mr Know added that Seven Network and Channel Nine are lagging behind Channel Ten in announcing their plans for digital channels.

He suggested that both could be waiting to see what the other does.

http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf...6R?OpenDocument

Edited January 11, 2009 by digitalj

[Timmy Downawell]

finally a correct article:

Almost... they got David Knox's name wrong.

[digitalj]

Freeview 'digital mutton dressed as lamb'

IT'S being touted as the dawn of a new era in Australian home entertainment but media experts have derided it as "lipstick on a TV pig".

Freeview is the umbrella term for the free-to-air networks' new channels. The 15 free digital channels are made up of the existing five networks, their high definition (HD) versions and their new standard definition (SD) offshoots.

But only the SD channels are new. The five free-to-air channels have been around for decades and the first HD channel was launched on January 1, 2007.

Rather than offering viewers greater choice, Freeview is a marketing ploy designed to encourage viewers to switch from analog television to digital and slow the flow of viewers to pay television, some television experts say.

"We are a bit pessimistic about it," said media analyst Steve Allen of Fusion Strategy. "It is little more than a marketing tool designed to staunch the onward march of pay TV and encourage people to switch to digital."

Digital television has existed in Australia since 2001 but the take-up has been low. About 40percent of Australian households have made the switch.

The Federal Government announced recently it would cut off the analog TV signal in 2013, requiring all Australian viewers to have a digital tuner or set-top box to receive a signal.

"That will entail some expense for everybody and that's what the Federal Government and the networks are worried about," said media commentator David Knox, of tvtonight.com.au.

"So they are making Freeview sound like this wonderful new service when in fact it's not offering anything particularly different."

Of the SD channels, only ABC2 is well established, with new programming as well as time-shifted programs from ABC1.

The proposed World channel from SBS is dependent on government funding. Of the commercial networks, only Channel Ten has announced plans for its new SD channel. Called One, the 24-hour sports channel will begin broadcasting between April and June this year.

Mr Knox said: "Ten is fairly well advanced with its plans [but] I find it staggering that Seven and Nine, who have known for a long time that as of January 1, 2009, they would have all these extra channels, are yet to announce what they are doing. I think it's a case of each one waiting to see what the other guy is doing."

The commercial networks are also wary of further fracturing their audiences, which have been in slow decline over the past decade due to the advent of pay television and the internet.

Mr Allen said: "Content is the biggest problem for anyone launching a new channel. Are we to believe there are all these hidden gems out there in the world that we haven't seen? I don't think so."

Mr Knox is also sceptical. "I can't see the networks making loads of new programs for these channels. And I can't see them cannibalising the main channels to provide extra entertainment on the new ones. It's just mutton dressed up as lamb."

Foxtel also questioned the 15-channel claim, saying only three of them - One and the yet to be announced channels from Nine and Seven - were new.

But Freeview chairman Kim Dalton said: "[Freeview] means more channels and that means more content and greater choice."

"The digital service also offers better picture quality and better sound quality."

But he admitted: "The reality for the commercial channels will be that new local content will be limited because of the cost of producing new programs."

http://www.theage.com.au/news/home/technol...1608576080.html

Not sure where they got the information saying that the first HD Channel was launched on 1/1/07, the first announcement of a new HD channel wasn't till 18/9/07 and the first actual broadcast was on 15/10/07.

[EvanOnTheGC]

1/1/07 was the first date that the commercial networks could legally show different programming on their HD channels.

It took them 10 months for any of them to get around to doing anything.

2009 appears to be a bit of deja-vu (except for Ten/One).

Evan :->

[digitalj]

Freeview - full of sound and fury but signifying nothing in 2009

The launch of three extra digital channels this year could be the last throw of the dice for Australia's free-to-air broadcasters.

The Freeview campaign from the free-to-air broadcasters comes across as a branding exercise desperately trying to repackage boring old television as an exciting new product. One of the big selling points is that this so-called new Freeview service has no subscription fees, which is obviously a dig at pay TV provider Foxtel.

All this talk of fifteen channels sounds exciting until you do the maths. In Australia's capital cities you've already got a standard-def and high-def channel from each of the five broadcasters, plus a second standard-def channel from the ABC and SBS. So there's 12 channels already, and once the commercial networks are allowed to broadcast a second standard-def channel this year you'll have your 15.

Actually, it's really 14 because Network Ten intends to ditch its high-def channel in April and replace it with 24 hour sport. Ten's new second SD channel will be a simulcast of the HD sports channel. As a result, sci-fi fans will no longer have access to the extra sci-fi content that's been screening on Ten HD at night, such as Buffy and The X Files, plus the sci-fi programming on Ten's primary channel will no longer be available in HD. All this will do is drive viewers back into the arms of BitTorrent, where they can download all their favourite shows in HD direct from the US.

What Freeview is really about is the tiny Freeview logo that will be stamped on compatible televisions and recorders. Of course any device with a high-def television tuner is Freeview-compatible, but don't expect devices which support ad-skipping, such the Topfield and Beyonwiz PVRs, to get permission to use the Freeview logo. The networks realise they can't stop vendors from selling PVRs which offer ad-skipping, but they can trick people into not buying them.

Freeview might be the last throw of the dice for old school broadcasters looking to fight off threats from pay TV and internet downloads, legal or otherwise. Ironically, the internet could be television's salvation. Putting the internet on your television seemed to be one of the main themes of this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Samsung and Toshiba were among those showing off televisions at CES with embedded Intel chips, letting you superimpose Yahoo's Widget Channel over what you're watching. The initial widgets offer access to basic news/ sport/ weather information, although this is set to expand with Toshiba demonstrating a MySpace widget.

Television networks generally tend to fear new technology, because it fragments audiences and draws their eyeballs away from the idiot box. I actually think widgets on the screen could be good for the networks, as it will bring people back to the television who might otherwise be in the next room indulging in Facebook or MySpace. I'd say 2009 is make or break for free-to-air broadcasters.

http://www.hydrapinion.com/index.php/play/...y-but-sign-2009