RTÉ Player blocked outside Ireland

It's new, it's shiny and yet again if you are outside Ireland you can't see it.

Yep, those technical boffins at RTÉ have decided that those of us outside Ireland cannot use the new RTÉ Player.

"See what you're missing"?

How appropriate.

Where to now for Irish Digital TV?

The demise of Boxer won't lead to the end of the DTT platform in the Republic. RTÉ are obliged to migrate their exisiting channels to DTT as are TV3 and TG4.

FTA DTT is the only way we can have free digital TV in Ireland thanks to RTÉ's secret deal with Sky so we can forget about cheap satellite transmission filling in the many analogue blackspots. TV3's scandalous neglect of Donegal and much of rural Ireland must be sorted out or else TV3 should lose their licence. DTT must have greater coverage than the exisiting analogue network. Irish people should not have to rely on a Sky sub or a deflector for Irish TV.

The TV3-Setanta-Eircom consortium seem doomed to me. I can't think any of the partners are that cash rich that they could go ahead and launch a pay-TV service in this market. In my opinion the only viable DTT pay TV platform would be a discounted Sky Sports package. That's about the only driver for Pay TV apart from relaying the UK channels.

From my time inside the BBC there is no way the Beeb or any other UK terrestrial broadcaster would be prepared to offer their channels for free to an overseas broadcaster. So those channels have to be paid for too.

What options are available?

I bet there'll be a merger between the TV3/Setanta/Eircom and the RTE/UPC consortiums. It makes no sense for the remaining two bidders for the DTT licence to be at loggerheads. Not in this economic climate.

A two tier package should be made available. The basic pack would have the Irish channels plus the UK terrestrials including BBC HD. The premium pack would be Setanta plus Sky Sports. The premium pack would have to be VERY competitively priced as a cheaper alternative to satellite.

Will this happen? If all the parties have any sense it might.

Boxer do a runner

Yup, as widely suspected over the last few weeks Boxer have cacked their pants and run away from the Irish Digital TV market.

So where do we go now? First off, why should anyone pay for channels they can get for free on satellite - all the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 channels are available for nothing provided a dish and a box is connected to a TV. Given that Free to Air satellite channels are readily available, why should anyone pay a DTT operator for that channel?

It doesn't make sense.

Meanwhile RTÉ are rolling out the DTT network for the exisiting Irish channels and to date this remains the only way Digital Irish TV can be watched for free since RTÉ remain wedded to their secret Sky deal that stops you the viewer from watching our own TV for free on satellite.

Eoghan Ó Neachtain - Censor in Chief

Many of you will by now have heard of the silly story concerning the placing of nude paintings of Brian Cowen in the Royal Hibernian Academy and at the National Gallery.

Perhaps this story would have died a natural death if it wasn't for the childish antics of Fianna Fáil after the story was covered by RTÉ on the Nine News on the 25th. The Government Press Secretary Eoghan Ó Neachtain got on the phone to Montrose and demanded that the item was pulled and no doubt also insisted that RTÉ issue a grovelling apology for having the cheek to run the item.

RTÉ duly pulled the item not only from other bulletins but also from their website. Happily we live in the age of You Tube so the report can still be seen in all its glory.

This incident raises serious questions about the integrity and independence of our national broadcaster and it also raises serious questions about the government. Are they that thin skinned that they wheel out Eoghan Ó Neachtain to demand the piece be pulled?

Do we live in a democracy or a dictatorship? I think most people are beginning to realise that our democracy is under threat.

RTÉ: Your suggestions to free satellite TV are "Out, Out, Out"

It's been suggested in more than one place that were RTÉ to shift all the remaining imported programming and sports from RTÉ One to RTÉ Two then there would be no need to keep RTÉ One scrambled on satellite.

Well, I put this to Peter Feeney of RTÉ and here's what he said:

RTÉ is experiencing considerable financial difficulties as the advertising market contracts as a result of the economic woes being experienced throughout the world. We have to take measures to cut our expenditure in anticipation of a significant drop in income in 2009.

OUT:Unfortunately the planned start up of an RTÉ service for the UK has had to be put back. We are still committed to getting this service off the ground in 2009, but we do not have a date yet for the planned start of the service. You may describe this as a “disgraceful” decision, but the fact is that we have to be prudent and not spend money we do not have.

OUT:Your solution of moving all RTÉ originate material to one channel and all acquired programming to the second channel would put us in an even more difficult financial situation as it is the judicious mix of home production and acquired programming on each channel that maximises our audiences and therefore our commercial revenue.

OUT:Your solution also does not take account of the financial cost of satellite carriage costs which apply irrespective of the programme mix.

A couple of interesting points arise from this email. Firstly it is clear that RTÉ get absolutely free carraige from Sky but if and only if the Irish channels are encrypted. Were RTÉ to make RTÉ One FTA as I had suggested then RTÉ would have to pay for the carraige. The second point, and as yet unanswered by Peter Feeney or indeed any other RTÉ representative, is what about Free To View?

As most readers of this page probably know, Ireland is pretty well unique in Europe in that it does not offer any free viewing of their national channels. It could - the Irish channels could remain encrypted but free for any Irish based Sky viewer to watch. At present you have to have a Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland Sky sub to watch the Irish channels. Once you stop paying that sub, you stop receiving RTÉ, TG4 and TV3. This is a ridiculous situation. There are plenty of reception black spots in Ireland and yet those who live there not only pay their television licence, but then have to subscribe to Sky to watch RTÉ.

The rollout of Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) appears to be focussed on the main transmission sites, however many transposer sites (Moville is the one my family use) are not even in the first wave of DTT rollout. RTÉ would argue that analogue terrestrial is their main service and that is free to air. Well it is to a point. For instance TV3 is never going to be made available from any more transposer sites like Moville and DTT rollout is some years away.

Meanwhile, people living in these areas have to pay twice to watch RTÉ.

And that, like the cancellation of the Diaspora TV service, is disgraceful.

RTÉ puts two fingers up to the Irish in Britain

As reported in the Sunday Times yesterday, RTÉ has reneged on its committment to provide RTÉ International, a free to air satellite channel aimed at the Irish in Britain by St. Patrick's Day 2009. The excuse has been given that RTÉ cannot afford to provide the channel.

An alternative that would not involve extra recruitment would be to move all non Irish programming and sport from RTÉ1 television and make that channel free to air. However this may be a bit too much lateral thinking for the mandarins in Montrose. We shall see, or in this case, not see.

RTÉ recommences digital terrestrial tests

The DTT tests run by BT Ireland on behalf of the Department of Communications ceased at the end of July and as and from 4th August, RTÉNL recommenced testing from Three Rock, Claremont Carn and Mount Leinster.

The Three Rock tests are on Channel 54 and are in MPEG4. That means that the UK sourced boxes used by many technical enthusiasts here are of no use as they decode MPEG2. We await (without baited breath) Boxer's launch of their DTT service and its services, reinforcing in the Irish public's mind the false assumption that Digital equals Pay television.

Freesat's High Definition PVR is due to be launched in December.

The rise ... of Setanta

Something rather familiar is happening within the TV industry, I feel.

I wonder are Setanta starting to over-stretch themselves? With less than six months before their biggest deal, 46 live and exclusive matches in the English Premier League appear, are we seeing something that happened before again?

In the past year, Setanta has grown to become a decent competitor to Sky in terms of what rights they have picked up. As well as the football, and the Scottish Premier League and Magners League rugby, they got the US PGA tour from Sky for 6 years. They also have the exclusive rights to most of the Rugby World Cup on Irish TV.

But lets look at these deals in more detail.

They paid the Rugby World Cup an undisclosed amount, possibly a few million; the US PGA maybe up to €120 million over the lifetime of the deal, the Premier League £392m million for 3 years. But the thing is… what exactly have they got for their money?

They won't have exclusive coverage of Ireland's Rugby World Cup matches, they had to sell that package on to TV3 for the Ireland games, as they are designated events by the Government, but also nearly all of the other games will be freely available on ITV1 (UTV) and ITV4 and S4C. It’s the same with the Magners League. Why pay if you can tune into S4C and BBC 2 Wales on satellite for free, and get most of the games?

On the Premier League front, they have the packages that effectively Sky thought was the least/worst option; Saturday after 5pm and Monday nights. You wont see Man Utd, Chelsea or Liverpool playing on a Monday night, as Sky well know, and as European games occur, those teams would prefer a Saturday lunchtime fixture, which Sky appear to have. £392m looks a huge figure now.

On Golf, Setanta have the rights to the main US PGA tour events. But that equates to two or three hours per weekend of live coverage from the event. Is a dedicated 24 hour channel a bit overkill? Sky still retain the rights to the Ryder Cup, 2 US majors (US PGA and US Open), all the World Golf Championship games and the Solheim Cup, as well as 30+ events on the European Tour. Sky's cupboard is far from empty. Sky still have a good few biggies.

Also, the cost of their packages appears to be rising. It was €15 pm or €180 per year, but it is going up to €18 / €216, and maybe once more by the time the Premiership appears. Granted, announced this week, they will launch a channel on Freeview's TopupTV, and give them an audience that hasn’t had Premier League football since ITV Digital…. Ahh… yes… Its all becoming clear now….

That's my huge fear for Setanta, that they will become ITV Digital mk 2. While paying for a slice of the Premiership in the UK and if the return in subscriber numbers and revenue doesn't follow..... NTL in the UK almost succumbed too when it got the Pay-per-view games in the 2000 round of rights buying, before selling onto Sky.

I wonder how profitable the SPL and Magners League has been for them. Those two leagues will suffer if Setanta have issues, much like the Football League in England did when ITV Digital collapsed.

I hope they don't. It's good to have competition, but people are no mugs. When the European Commission and the Premier League decided how football should be shown on TV, I think the EC's idea of competition was bunk when the rights went to two pay-TV operators. I'm no fan of Sky, but I resent having to fork out more for less, and also having to pay to another company for the same things I paid for before, for more again.

And if people do vote with their wallets…. It's not Sky who will disappear.