was/is Saorview a flop?

Andy From Sligo

Do you think saorview was/is a success? - is it being used to its full potential? - Do you think people went for Sky/Chorus/Virgin media for the channels that you can get on Saorview?

readytosnap

Saorview is sh ite
have it in the tv but have watched it once since it came out the usual Irish lets try to be different way of doing things.

TheDriver

Tend to watch everything on freesat instead. Itneeds more HD and include catchup etc. At moment its only handy to have to flick.
Got freesat+ box last week to replace old one, 252 euro and no fees and series link etc. Saorview still hasn't got good hardware to replace that

samarillo

Its a very big flop.

Andy From Sligo

As far as I know Saorview havent even got any Proper recordable Set-Top boxes out yet (apart from the ones where you put a memory stick or external usb hard drive into the usb socket) but no box with a built in Hard Drive have they like the Freeview HD+ boxes the UK have.

So you know these Goodmans Freeview HD+ boxes you can get from ASDA for around £80 sterling .. has anyone tried them on the Irish Saorview at all, wonder if they work and are totally compatible with the Irish saorview signal?

Johnfred

Humax freeview boxes work fine with Saorview. Records no problem.

PabloAndRoy

TheDriver wrote: »

Tend to watch everything on freesat instead. Itneeds more HD and include catchup etc. At moment its only handy to have to flick.
Got freesat+ box last week to replace old one, 252 euro and no fees and series link etc. Saorview still hasn't got good hardware to replace that

Personally, I think Saorview is OK, as long as it is combined with Freeview/Freesat.

I totally agree with the lack of HD. We combine it with Freesat and our channel running order is RTE1, RTE2, BBC1, BBC2, ITV, CH4, BBC3 (for the moment anyway), BBC4, (all HD) then... TV3, TG4, UTV Ireland, 3e, Channel 5, ITV2, etc., ...

So for us, we have all the (entertainment) HD channels at the top and almost all of our linear TV viewing happens in that space. TV3 almost never gets watched, not only because its awful, but mainly because it is only SD and slides down our list too far. Most of what is interesting on TV3 or UTV Ireland has already been in HD on ITV ... I genuinely believe that I have never even clicked 3e.

I see Saorview as an augmentation for Freesat rather than the other way around. If I didn't have it, I feel my TV wouldn't be complete as RTE 1 has been channel 1 on our family TV for as long as I can remember. It just wouldn't be "tea time" without the Angelus followed by the News...
YMMV

homer911

Saorview has announced a tie-in with Freetime so we should see high-quality recording boxes with 7-day EPG and replay/lookback service (via broadband) before too long


As someone who doesn't subscribe to pay TV, I'm quite happy with Saorview, would just like more HD content.

AlanG

I know lots of people using Saorview as part of a combo setup and they mostly like it. Personally it saves us around 60 euro per month. With RTE in HD it is good for the sports and I find BBC4 is my favourite channel as it usually has something interesting on. When I left UPC they didn't offer BBC4, not sure about now.
In my area I woudl say about 25-30% of houses have an external Saorview aerial.

ShakerMaker91

The Saorview signal around me is so bad that when there's a bad rain shower RTE 1 goes!

CramCycle

Saorview is grand, got rid of UPC tv once it came out, pick up a fair bit of freeview with no box, just using an old fashioned aerial.

Not sure what the negativity is for, it was meant to replace our old signal transmission, it did, reception is clearer and more consistent, job done.

kooga

I wouldn't say its a flop but certainly not achieving its potential.

If there was a bit of proper management and financial realism no reason why tv 3 and tg4 utv Ireland could not all be in HD. Plus add a freesat box to make it a serious platform alternative to pay TV

MillField

kooga wrote: »

I wouldn't say its a flop but certainly not achieving its potential.

If there was a bit of proper management and financial realism no reason why tv 3 and tg4 utv Ireland could not all be in HD. Plus add a freesat box to make it a serious platform alternative to pay TV

I agree. A lot of potential but still a bit half baked.

Andy From Sligo

homer911 wrote: »

Saorview has announced a tie-in with Freetime so we should see high-quality recording boxes with 7-day EPG and replay/lookback service (via broadband) before too long......

thats interesting, never heard about that

barry181091

It's not a flop. They wanted to free up the frequencies taken up by analogue, as it was wasting valuable bands.

Mint Sauce

Wouldn't call it a total flop, although do most of my viewing on Freesat and Netflix, with only the very Saorview channel watched.

Courious about this Saorview/Humax box, but only if its Freesat as opposed to Freeview. More so from a personal preferance. Currently to record Saorview services I need to use an external hard drive, with often the end of a programe missed, or ocassionally the start. Plus other boxes that are just FTA, or none Freesat branded, lack too many features.

Mint Sauce

Johnfred wrote: »

Humax freeview boxes work fine with Saorview. Records no problem.

Although a lot of money to spend if you just want to avail of a reliable record fuction, and you dont live in a boarder or east coast area and cant pick up Freeview/UK TV.

The Cush

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

thats interesting, never heard about that

Thread on it here - http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=92585646#post92585646

Andy From Sligo

barry181091 wrote: »

It's not a flop. They wanted to free up the frequencies taken up by analogue, as it was wasting valuable bands.

Sorry for the question, not tech'ed up enough on it but what is valuable about the analogue bands?

Milly33

I wouldn't say it was a flop just really stupid.

They should have just left things as they were. In fairness there was no need to charge more for it, what was wrong with how the channels were. And someone mentioned money for RTE and that that's bull, they get paid enough. And most of the stations are badly done..

They always play movies at the wrong time, they put repeats on during reg hours and then put great movies and shows on late on weeknights when people go to bed early. Or at the weekends at around one in the morning.

There seasonal stuff is shocking.. Halloween at Christmas and Christmas at Halloween.. Muppets

Regarding did it make more people got to chorus and the likes, I dont think so..As you tend to have two sets of watchers really those who watch a lot of TV and plan their lives around it and those who dont...

Atlantic Dawn

It was never going to be a substitute for Sky or UPC, just a replacement for the old analogue system, in that respect it's a success. It's biggest failure is the brutal PVR and the need for a combined box which links in with Freesat.

bulbs2010

very poor channel line up,it would be good if they had the uk channels on it

Effects

Works fine for me. More channels than I had before it and in better quality.

The Cush

Andy From Sligo wrote: »

not tech'ed up enough on it but what is valuable about the analogue bands?

Part of the UHF band (800 MHz) previously used for analogue TV was sold off in 2012 to the mobile network operators for about €285m and is now used for mobile 4G data. Another slice of TV spectrum is to be sold off in the next few years, the 700 MHz band for the same purpose.

These lower frequencies are valuable because it means less base stations are required for coverage compared to higher frequencies.

Andy From Sligo

The Cush wrote: »

Part of the UHF band (800 MHz) previously used for analogue TV was sold off in 2012 to the mobile network operators for about €285m and is now used for mobile 4G data. Another slice of TV spectrum is to be sold off in the next few years, the 700 MHz band for the same purpose.

These lower frequencies are valuable because it means less base stations are required for coverage compared to higher frequencies.

Ah I see right. Thanks for the explanation ....

Harry Palmr

saorview is doing exactly what it was meant to do at the most basic level, however its clearly a long way from what was envisaged about 12-15 years ago when the first DTT proposals were floated.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxer_TV_Ireland

Until they get into the 21st century it'll be just what it is - domestic telly for those who like me watch most stuff on Freesat....

Andy From Sligo

Effects wrote: »

Works fine for me. More channels than I had before it and in better quality.

Quality is debatable (picture/sound signal quality - programming quality now there is a different topic!) - I was getting wonderful RTE1 & 2 on my VHF Aerial setup (on ch8 and 12 wasnt it?) - pictures were great, sound was great.

Maybe I am getting old (or my TV is , only 720pHD) but damned if i can tell difference in picture quality ... and I have conspirancy feeling about the HD audio.... they have only just upped the volume on HD channels, pretty sure of it (to give people the illusion its a clearer sound?) - if I switch from SD channel to HD channel the audio is louder! - yeah, so what! , aint no clearer to me (unless me hearing is going as well as my eyes , thats another possibility I suppose) ... im only 50 though... thats not time for me eyes and hearing packing up is it?

Harry Palmr

HD is a quantum leap better than the old 625 analogue picture, dunno how anyone could deny that!

That said by the same token the SD picture is worse!

Digifriendly

Effects wrote: »

Works fine for me. More channels than I had before it and in better quality.

Surely the small no. of channels is a problem. For a country the size of ROI surely there should be at least a few more channels and both TV3/TG4 should be HD by now. IIRC when DSO happened in UK all 4 main channels were in HD on Freeview. Only Channel Five (of main channels) has remained in SD on that platform.

The Cush

In countries like Holland, Belgium, Norway, Denmark etc. a similar number or even less FTA channels are carried on their DTT networks, pay DTT dominates.

Digifriendly

The Cush wrote: »

In countries like Holland, Belgium, Norway, Denmark etc. a similar number or even less FTA channels are carried on their DTT networks, pay DTT dominates.

I stand corrected. Thanks for this info. Still think that more channels should be in HD though.