Will terrestrial TV become obsolete?

political analyst

The BBC, according to its director-general, will close its linear channels as it focuses on digital broadcasting. There is further info on the Digital Spy broadcasting forum thread, which includes the article that is the source of the statement, that I'm linking here.

https://forums.digitalspy.com/discussion/2439175/bbc-to-close-linear-channels-and-move-into-an-internet-only-digital-future

To be honest, I find the idea of terrestrial TV becoming obsolete difficult to take in. I mean, is it actually going to happen?!

L1011

Switzerland has no terrestrial of any description anymore; and there are other European countries where its near irrelevant - Netherlands for instance.

Freeview is so entrenched, and also quite useful as a basic service so I can't see the UK being too close to switchoff.

Gerry Wicklow

BBC3 online was such a success they had to revive the linear channel and thats aimed at the tech savvy yuff. No hope of all BBC online going down well with a wider audience.

decor58

With the cost involved with traditional broadcasting, terrestrial and satellite, providing a network, maintenance and upgrades, the Internet seems like a good solution but given the fact that BBC and others, have put so much into providing an alternative to commercial operators, freeview and Freesat, viewers would in an Internet world be forced to have an internet service provider and the broadcasters would be at the mercy of those commercial operators. Aside from all that it would be the end of Free to air tv for those of us that have availed of the opportunity for years.

banie01

I think it's certainly at risk in the UK and that outside of a USO type service, that it may will be wound down.

2 of my TVs have access to the Freeview play app and the entirety of the UK players. The way that Freeview play ties together the disparate apps, the EPG and catch up services as well as watch live is very handy and quite an impressive aggregation of services.

When that convenience is balanced against the money the UKG can crystallize from potentially auctioning off the TV bands of radio spectrum? I think that it will only be a USO that delays any migration to wholly IPTV/Broadband service.

decor58

Freeview and the add ons have been a success, of sorts, to date, but when it comes down to money some broadcasters have reduced there services, closing the +1 service, going on line, look at Smithsonian channel during the week. How much of a viewership do some of the smaller channels have, is it economical to pay, Sky or Freesat or go online, what are the costs there. The rise of brand tv', LG, Samsung, tv+, if they were to land one of the big broadcasters it would be a real coup. Freeview could end up in a Saorview position, where only the the PSB's are on the service.

Charles Babbage

Terrestrial broadcasting provides a certain security of service and is quite efficient for things like the World Cup finals or the Queen's funeral where a lot of people are watching something in real time.

However, Freeview broadcasting uses a lot of bandwith as they are duplicating SD and HD channels and have a lot of small channels showing repeats that might as well be moved to the Internet. Half of this could be taken off the air.

dxhound2005

They only have to provide whatever bandwidth the broadcasters pay for on each transmitter. They have an obligation to the BBC and others to provide 98% coverage, which can be done mostly from high power Full Freeview transmitters. They have to infill with low power Freeview Light transmitters, so called because some of the channels on Full Freeview do not pay for inclusion on those.

I think there is a plan to do away with SD services which duplicate HD. At least in the future if there is no terrestrial, TV screens will still be of some use. Unlike FM/AM radio sets which will just be dumb boxes for domestic services. And if everything goes online, then the satellites will be out of business as well.

The Camlough (Northern Ireland) mast is a public service broadcasting (PSB) transmitter, it does not provide these commercial (COM) channels: 4seven, 5Action, 5STAR, 5USA, Al Jazeera Eng, Blaze, Blaze +1, CBS Reality, Challenge, Channel 5 +1, CITV, YAAAS!, Dave, Dave ja vu, DMAX, Drama +1, E4 Extra, Film4 +1, Food Network, GB News, GREAT! movies, GREAT! movies action, HGTV, HobbyMaker, ITV2 +1, ITV3 +1, ITV4 +1, ITVBe +1, Legend, PBS America, pick, Pop Player, Quest +1, Quest Red, Really, Sky News, Smithsonian Channel, Talking Pictures TV, TCC, That's TV (UK), Together TV, W, Yesterday +1.

If you want to watch these channels, your aerial must point to one of the 80 Full service Freeview transmitters.

Montage of Feck

There's something a bit cold and disconnected about streaming compared to terrestrial.

TAFKAlawhec

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120005843#Comment_120005843

Though SRG SSR had shut down their DVB-T network back in 2019, a small level of DTT remains - there is a transmitter near the Switzerland/Austria border (in the St. Gallen canton) relaying the Swiss-German language SRF 1 & SRF 2 channels (supposedly to provide a feed for an Austrian cable network whom pay for the infrastructure costs) while there are two sites out west near the border with France relaying mainly the French-speaking RTS 1 & 2 along with a few other channels, with the intended audience being French viewers near the border though a good bit of Romandy is covered within Switzerland.

https://2222.ch/tnt/tnt-suisse (in French)

The ITU regional conference next year will be the main arbitrator as to what future UHF terrestrial TV broadcasting will have in Europe. In some countries where terrestrial viewership is very low largely thanks to a high cable and/or satellite take up, there would be little controversy in allocating more sub 1GHz spectrum to mobile networks by taking it from UHF broadcasting frequencies I'd imagine. However in countries where terrestrial TV reception still provides the main means for household reception (or even just for secondary sets) for a large section of its population, I doubt a further squeezing of the UHF TV broadcast band will be met with enthusiasm.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120007233#Comment_120007233

To me there was an opportunity to convert at least more of the UK DTT network to DVB-T2 around the time of the 700 MHz clearance, but that opportunity has long passed, I'm not sure now if we'll ever see DVB-T MPEG2 SD channels ending on UK DTT before terrestrial TV in the country eventually gets switched off, whenever that may be. Unlike satellite where the vast majority of households with such a receiver are nowadays DVB-S2 & MPEG4 capable and thus can easily downscale to SD only displays, there's still a notable amount of SD only Freeview (or other DVB-T) receivers out there in the UK wherever built in to the TV or using an STB, mostly in places like bedrooms, kitchens, sunrooms etc.

ExPatIrish

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058276102/will-terrestrial-tv-become-obsolete

Is there a particular reason the OP might struggle to think of a world without terrestrial television at all? My understanding was that it's the way of the world now and that most European countries at least are abolishing this form of media.

ExPatIrish

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120007717#Comment_120007717

You know, I don't disagree with that, in the sense that I find the same when buying a game direct from my console, then streaming that title as I play it as opposed to going to the store, purchasing a copy, putting the disc in the drive and playing it

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120005843#Comment_120005843

All but a small percentage of Swiss had already voluntarily switched from dvb to cable / satellite, as the mountainous terrain made dvb reception difficult. So maybe not that similar a lead to follow.

Charles Babbage

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120008397#Comment_120008397

The UK messed up by not requiring sets on sale to have DVB-T2 MPEG4 from 2014 or so. Had they done so then they could just announce the end of SD from the next year or two.

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120008978#Comment_120008978

Well thank goodness for that then

I for one am glad they messed up. I like my Sky. Now if only they would get rid if them gimicky HD channels and just leave the SD ones I would be very happy.

I hope terrestrial TV and SD TV never dies at least not for 70 or so more years. I should be dead by then lol.

dxhound2005

If anyone is interested in the details and coverage of Freeview Light transmitters, a way I found to check is to replace the e.g. Divis in the address bar on this site

https://ukfree.tv/transmitters/tv/Divis

with the name of a low power transmitter e.g. Kilkeel from this map. It is from 2009, so probably not fully up to date.

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/52256/ulster_v2.2.pdf

It also works for the high power Saorview transmitters on Page 1 of this list, and for some of the low power ones on the other pages.

https://2rn.ie/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/2RN-DTT-Television-Transmission-Network-Sept-2019-Rev.1.2.pdf

mikeecho

I think terrestrial tv should continue, if anything for state security.

In the event of a national emergency, we need our own infrastructure to broadcast information, we can't be reliant on foreign companies .

Just look at the energy crisis, ppl are calling for the grid to be nationalized (that ship has sailed)

Our terrestrial broadcasting infrastructure is an important assest that should be preserved, just like the railways and light rail systems we had many years ago should have been.

We sold whitegate refinery, if we had kept that in state control, we could control refining costs (which are a large part of the energy cost increase).

You get my drift.

dam099

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120045321#Comment_120045321

Our grid is still state owned we only liberalised the generation side.

L1011

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120045321#Comment_120045321

We still own both the power and the gas grids (and NIs power and partial gas).

Whitegate produces a fraction of the refined fuel used here and the current refinery cost issue is down to gas prices, not something ownership influences

Marcusm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120009008#Comment_120009008

Well Sky has committed to satellite until 2028 at least but there are persistent rumours that it will announce an end to installation of satellite dishes sometime in 2023. That won’t signal an end to the delivery by satellite but will begin a modal shift to streaming only in time.

Count Dracula

Far too useful as a medium for government propaganda to ever be let go off air.

The internet is too vast to control, although it is not out of the question that what the internet is broadcasting and the publics' perception of it will warrant further scrutiny, investment and manipulation.

People need to be informed and pushed in certain moral directions, to ensure they are being happily farmed, taxed and controlled. Future governments, or other absolute power structures, will always need a generic, accessible medium, to enable themselves to communicate whatever diatribe they decide to control their populations with.

People still listening to the radio, which is still a powerful medium al said. Listenership has far greater reach than TV insofar as you can carry out simultaneous activities whilst being splatterdashed with advertising, propaganda and socially acceptable dross.

icdg

Let’s not feed the trolls, please. The thread generally is appropriate for discussion.