SD : Sky Discovery (potential) switch-off (technical)

[Arthurgray50@blu]

Its ok for the deal with Sky. But, VM don't put these extra channels on. I think VM should carry all channels that Sky have.

Its like Sky are going to do channels without the need for a dish. Similar to Cable.

[Onramp]

Cable doesn't currently have the capacity for broadcast that Satellite does.

That could change if the fibre went straight to the set top box - and they start using more than just 1550nm. They could carry multiple separate RF spectrums on multiple wavelengths (in theory).

Or, it could work like satellite. In an RFog area, the cable box could send tones of 22 - 25khz to the ONT outside the house which would then selectively pass the chosen wavelength back to RF (e.g. 1560, 1570, 1580nm). Each one could carry a separate block of spectrum from 45Mhz - 1.2GHz (for example)

That possibility might be used instead for node splitting, however.

[Stephen]

Originally Posted by Arthurgray50@blu

Its ok for the deal with Sky. But, VM don't put these extra channels on. I think VM should carry all channels that Sky have.

Its like Sky are going to do channels without the need for a dish. Similar to Cable.

No Arthur it's nothing like cable. The reason for no dish is that they will provide the channels over the Internet.

[theone2k10]

Originally Posted by Arthurgray50@blu

Its ok for the deal with Sky. But, VM don't put these extra channels on. I think VM should carry all channels that Sky have.

Its like Sky are going to do channels without the need for a dish. Similar to Cable.

It'll be nothing like cabletv although i can see why you thought it would.
It will be more like bt,plusnet and talktalk method of delivering tv via broadband.
Wether or nit Sky will use multicast like bt,plusnet and talktalk do is unknown at this time.

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by Stephen

No Arthur it's nothing like cable. The reason for no dish is that they will provide the channels over the Internet.

That's right, but surely, VM could do that as well, couldn't they? What problems might there be with this?

[Onramp]

Depending on how many people are watching any given channel on any given fibre node, the rest of the bandwidth available would fluctuate. This will probably happen (is happening?) eventually.

At the moment it's simpler to spray every channel down every fibre simultaneously (with the exception of some on-demand stuff).

The channels are already delivered via multicast from the super headend on the vm backbone, it's just the regional headends (as far as I know) that are streaming these channels via IP multicast with receivers there (at the regional headend) - and then modulate them all to RF channels in groups for transmission to all the nodes simultaneously.

In theory if nobody is watching a particular channel on a particular node, that RF frequency could be used for data instead until one of the subscribers tunes back into it for TV purposes. There would be similar ways of doing this also (but over DOCSIS) but you probably don't gain a huge amount.

The more segmented the network, the more you could get away with reusing TV bandwidth for data (even if that data is for streaming a particular channel over multicast temporarily) depending on who's looking.

[RichardCoulter]

AIUI the extra PBS programming will be shown on the linear channel.

I've not seen anything to suggest that it will be via VOD, the only mention of this is in relation to the Discovery channel itself.

Have I missed something?

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter

AIUI the extra PBS programming will be shown on the linear channel.

I've not seen anything to suggest that it will be via VOD, the only mention of this is in relation to the Discovery channel itself.

Have I missed something?

The details of the agreement with PBS have not been revealed at this stage. We don't know whether there will be extra channels, more on demand or whether the nature of programming on the one channel will be changed. However, the fact that Sky had contingency plans to replace the Discovery channels with PBS leads me to believe that perhaps additional channels were envisaged to give the impression that Sky viewers hadn't lost out.

[muppetman11]

You do like a conspiracy don't you Old Boy , I'm pretty sure it will just be PBS content they show on linear made available also via On Demand.

[denphone]

Originally Posted by muppetman11

You do like a conspiracy don't you Old Boy , I'm pretty sure it will just be PBS content they show on linear made available also via On Demand.

Perhaps he has learnt from you.

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by muppetman11

You do like a conspiracy don't you Old Boy , I'm pretty sure it will just be PBS content they show on linear made available also via On Demand.

Not a conspiracy, MM, just a straight forward proposition. It's certainly what I would have been aiming for if I were in charge of these arrangements at Sky. It is easier to meet complaints about channels no longer being available to your subscribers by saying, look - you've got these replacement channels instead, and this has avoided a price rise.

I do think there would still have remained some discontent with the loss of Eurosport, though.

[RichardCoulter]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

The details of the agreement with PBS have not been revealed at this stage. We don't know whether there will be extra channels, more on demand or whether the nature of programming on the one channel will be changed. However, the fact that Sky had contingency plans to replace the Discovery channels with PBS leads me to believe that perhaps additional channels were envisaged to give the impression that Sky viewers hadn't lost out.

Richard Kingsbury, "Boss of PBS America" as he describes himself, has stated on Twitter "fear not, we've just offered Sky some on demand content. We are still a free to air channel".

Perhaps this means that the new VOD content will indeed be only on Sky??

I can't see a channel with such limited funds not showing the content in linear form too though.

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter

Richard Kingsbury, "Boss of PBS America" as he describes himself, has stated on Twitter "fear not, we've just offered Sky some on demand content. We are still a free to air channel".

Perhaps this means that the new VOD content will indeed be only on Sky??

I can't see a channel with such limited funds not showing the content in linear form too though.

Well, that's certainly one of the possibilities, but I still go back to how Sky would have responded to angry customers who complained about the loss of Discovery channels, had that happened. I don't think increasing on demand material would have cut it, quite honestly - currently, too many people remain wedded to their familiar 'channels' and it will take a little time before on demand content actually replaces those channels in a big way. The trend towards exclusive on demand content via Sky, Virgin and other cablecos has already started, of course, but it still has a long way to go before the general public mindset changes.

[denphone]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

Well, that's certainly one of the possibilities, but I still go back to how Sky would have responded to angry customers who complained about the loss of Discovery channels, had that happened. I don't think increasing on demand material would have cut it, quite honestly - currently, too many people remain wedded to their familiar 'channels' and it will take a little time before on demand content actually replaces those channels in a big way. The trend towards exclusive on demand content via Sky, Virgin and other cablecos has already started, of course, but it still has a long way to go before the general public mindset changes.

So l gather that is a big majority of the general public mindset l gather you are talking about OB?.

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by denphone

So l gather that is a big majority of the general public mindset l gather you are talking about OB?.

I've never, at any time, stated that we are ready to give up on broadcast channels at this stage, Den. I've been talking about the likely media landscape in 10 to 20 years' time.

However, the first signs of change are already there. The steady increase in the use of on demand services, the on demand VM exclusives, the embracing of on demand alternatives by Sky, the conversion from a broadcast linear channel to on demand only of BBC3, the sheer number of original new series on Netflix and Amazon and the rapid increase in subscriptions to those services - and the list goes on. This is just the beginning of the beginning of a massive change that will be hitting us over the coming years as viewer behaviour changes.

But in this particular case, Den, if I were Sky, I'd want to replace like for like as far as possible to head off the customer grumpiness that always results when you take things away.