Channel 4 & UTV

Aquos76

On Wednesday of this week I rang Sky posing as a potential new customer in the Republic Of Ireland. I asked them if and when the irish channels would become available on the SD platform and if there were any other channels coming our way. The answer which i was given sort of surprised me. They told me that the four irish stations were coming on 23rd April and that Channel 4 and UTV would follow on in the first week of may. The guy on the phone actually quoted that when these two stations come on in Ireland, Sky would then be a main competitor to Ntl in my area (waterford city).
What i found strange about this conversation is that i was not aware that any agreement had been reached with either channel 4 or utv so i rand up sky again and asked the same questions to another person and when i asked about C4 and UTV the girl on the phone said that there was no plans at the moment for these stations to come on in the Rep Of Ire.
Did anybody else get any information about the arrival of these two channels?

Charles Slane

Haven't heard anything. Intriguing ....

chernobyl

You were told what you wanted to hear, the guy just wanted to close a sale as they cant* be held accountable for lying/making a mistake about such information.

*it is assumed you wont persue a mislead: Sky can be pricks.

ifconfig

interesting. I don't know anything about this but ....

I was in touch with sky subscriber centre on Thurs
in relation to dropping Film4 off my subscription and
at the end of the subscription change conversation
the attendant asked me if he couldhelp me with anything
else. I mentioned the fact that the RTE1/N2/TG4/TV3
and radio stations would be coming in late April and
he kind of acknowledged this (nothing surprising there)
but I went on to enquire as to whether Family pack would
be the minimum pack from which ROI subscribers could
receive the Irish terrestrial channels. He didn't agree
or disagree but one telling thing (or perhaps not) he said
was that it wasn't public as to whether those channels
would be free-to-air yet. I'm pretty certain he said 'yet'or
words to that effect. Anyway this could all be moot.

However, the idea that C4/ITV could be coming in
May would be exceptionally interesting news. My gut
says it can't be true but it is hard to rationalize why
any Sky attendant would blurt it out even erroneously
if there wasn't some grain of truth to it somewhere.....

Charles Slane

Well there are those extra test channels on the RTE transponder, maybe they'll do the sensible thing and put on Irish ads version of UTV and Channel 4. And maybe even ITV2 ...

wolfman

Originally posted by Charles Slane
Well there are those extra test channels on the RTE transponder,

What's the story with Lyngsat or where do they get their details from?

Would they not have the details if it was CH4 and UTV???

There are a couple of thousand people working in the Sky call centre.
I haven't rang them a couple of thousand times yet, so I can only say that, everyone, I have ever talked to at that call centre has given me a different answer, no matter what my query.

I can only conclude that the poor thing's are bored and don't mind these"anything else I can help you with" chats.
I would presume that UTV would not need a new Mux for to appear to ROI at a different spot on it's EPG?,does BBC NI have one, and if so where? ie is BBC NI transmitting twice?
Unless UTV would want to do seperate advertising for ROI-the extra leasing costs would offset the advantages enough to rule that out methinks.
The present system where they are taking advertisements almost exclusively aimed at ROI, but shown to NI aswell works well I think.
I know the terrestial version of Ch4 in NI has local advertising-Does the Sky dig version in NI have that also? as if so then they could well just flick a switch(so to speak) and relay that somewhere on the ROI EPG .

Since I first joined this forum, I have always thought and said it here that the likes of UTV and Ch 4 would come after RTE and TV3, but not before them.
RTE/TV3 will be at the top of the ROI EPG and might feel less threatened by them then.
I can remember less than a year ago RTE's D.G being on the Sunday business programme on Today F.M and back then he stated that it was likely that UTV and Ch 4 would go on Sky in ROI.
That comment copperfastened the notion in my head that that could well be happening after the ROI channels arrived.
mm

Charles Slane

Originally posted by madman
Unless UTV would want to do seperate advertising for ROI-the extra leasing costs would offset the advantages enough to rule that out methinks.

the only thing that would make me think that it might be worth their while having a seperate Irish ad feed is the fact that Sky already do it with Sky One and News.

I f they could get the cable companies to use the Irish ad feeds it might be a sensible option.

Although there is an NI ads version of Channel 4 already on Sky Digital.

Otherwise I agree with everything you said.

If (and when) UTV and Channel 4 make it onto Sky Digital, the platform will start to make huge headway in Ireland.

Here come the dishes !!

byte

I do hope you're right Sky Digi Kid, and if you are, you would have been the first with the exclusive news!

Roll on May.....:)

Richard

Originally posted by Charles Slane


Although there is an NI ads version of Channel 4 already on Sky Digital.


Here come the dishes !!

I don't think it would do any harm to have a seperate ROI ads feed. After all, many potential ads are only relevent to the Republic.

I'm surprised that Channel 4 hasn't got a Welsh ads feed though, given that in the digital world it is officially available in Wales.

carrolls

Hi Sky Digi Kid,
I did the same thing as you twice and got a bloke and a woman respectively.
On both occasions when I enquired about RTE was told
that as far as they were aware, RTE have no plans to appear on Sky Digital. (They were not aware that RTE was launching on the 23rd.)
When I enquired about ITV/CH4, they said that neither ITV or Ch4
have a license to broadcast in the Republic.
I asked if this was ever likely to change, and they said no, but it was down to the directors of the respective broadcasters and wasn't Skys fault.
I said Chorus Cable in the Republic carries ITV and CH4,
and the woman said
"Well unfortunately at the present time Sky cannot carry these channels in the Republic, and had no immediate plans to do so. Sorry"

So Digikid, I think in light of the two Identical answers from two different people in the Sky help desk, I think you have either made up your story, or Sky have had a sudden policy change in 12 hours.

vampyre

I was on to sky today and asked about utv and C4. The man put me on hold for a respectable length of time, not eternity but not a microsecond either and came back with the response that the programming dept(I think) say sky are in negotiations with ITV and C4. But indeed every operator will probably say something different when asked.

Aquos76

I can assure you that i did not make up the information. I dont take to kindly to people making me out to be something that I an not. I would prefer if you keep those remarks to yourself.

I just felt that I may have got some information reguarding these two channels whether this info was correct or not I just thought that I would pass on what I was told. I'l know in the future.

carrolls

Sorry Sky Digi Kid for shooting you down,
It was uncalled 4 and I hope you accept my apology.
But I think pigs will fly before we see UTV/CH4 in early May.

Aquos76

Apology accepted. No hard feelings.
You are proberly right about these channels though but it would be great if they were to appear.

unknown_a38

HI I HEARD UTV WAS GOING ON SKY ALSO. THE SKY REP. TOLD ME THAT WHEN I PHONED UP. ALSO I HEARD THAT SKY ACTIVE MIGHT BE LAUNCHING ON THE 23RD OF APRIL.

Cap locks=shouting
Shhhh....we're not deaf.
No need to get excited untill you see it;)
I think the protocol in here , written/unwritten kinda means it's best to part with this info, in existing threads.
People who have then been reading that thread regularily have the option to click "go to last post" or "last page" for the latest info.
Those who are new have the option to read as much or all of the existing thread as they want.
That way you ensure that all relevant info is contained in the same place and not mixed in a heap of threads.
mm

byte

As a Newbie, you'll be excused!:) Damien or Ronan could merge this with existing UTV thread. I hope you're right about UTV but I would be more interested in Channel Four as a lot of UTV is already on TV3.;)

DMC

God, I come back after 4 days away.... and .....
I jest!

Action: Thread merged.

ShaneOC

Originally posted by DamoDMC
God, I come back after 4 days away.... and .....
I jest!

Action: Thread merged.

I didn't hear anyone say you could go away

DMC

Ye cant take your eyes off this for one second, let alone 4 days, believe me!

TinMan

Heres a mail thread from my dealings with getting some answers from Channel 4, thought I would share it with ye :mad:

Looks like it wil never happen!


ME:
I was wondering when Channel 4 plan to broadcast its services to Sky Digital viewers in the Republic of Ireland?
Viewers of cable and mmds services in the Republic can view Channel 4, so when can Sky Digital subscribers expect to get this channel?

Channel4 :
We do not have license to broadcast in the Republic of Ireland and there are no plans at present to change this. Sorry to have to disappoint.

ME:
If you do not have a license to broadcast in the Republic of Ireland, why can everyone in the Republic get Channel 4 on an analogue connection through
Choras and NTL? We have had Channel 4 through analogue for as long as I can remember in this country, so what difference does it make whether its broadcast on analogue through NTL or Digital through Sky?

This is slightly confusing!

Channel 4:
Dear John, basically as we've said we don't have the rights to broadcast in ROI, anyone getting the Channel does so through luck basically from the transmitter/cable that broadcasts to Northern Ireland.
Regards,
Lucy Brooks
Information Officer

Genghis

Originally posted by TinMan
Dear John, basically as we've said we don't have the rights to broadcast in ROI, anyone getting the Channel does so through luck basically from the transmitter/cable that broadcasts to Northern Ireland.
Regards,
Lucy Brooks
Information Officer

Ha Ha, they can't be bothered typing 'Fortuitous Reception' anymore, when 'luck' will do!

byte

Well, here's an email I got today from UTV:

Thank you for your e-mail.

Our position remains the same as before – we are continuing to work with the ITV Network to make UTV available on satellite s quickly as possible in the South.

Thank you

Not much progress there by sound of things but at least they're trying. Pity C4 didn't think the same way.
:mad:

Mossy Monk

maybe they are negotiating without telling anyone (i really am hoping that is the case). remember when the BBC came on and we had a short while to get used to the fact that digital quality BBC1 and 2 were coming our way. come on Channel 4. analogue is useless at the best of times. ugly 4:3 picture :mad:

robert muldoon

I found that the the best person to speak to about UTV comming on the Sky platform in ROI is Orla McKibben(press officer UTV Belfast), I found her very cooperative and helpful Tel:048 90262188, she will definitely know what is happening, as she has an interest in the subject, I want to give her a rest,so maybe someone else might give her a call, I hav'nt spoken to her for a couple of weeks, but a day is a long time in this business as so much seems to be happening - but we live in hope!! I found the people in Channel 4 most disinterested and unhelpful- let me know how you get on

TinMan

Well Robert I was talking to Orla yesterday afternoon about UTV in the ROI, I said that I was speaking to a sky rep the other night and they told me that UTV would be available to us in May (all lies of course!)

She said that she doesn't know where the people in sky get thier information from and that unfortunately that was wrong, she said things are still the same as they were 2 months ago and as soon as she heard anything at all she would let us know.

robert muldoon

Thank you TinMan, I think you will find that her information can be depended on

carrolls

The bottom line is UTV need us more than we need them.
You see we have TV3 as a near replacement.
Not being available to a million+ potential viewers in a market so small and competitive is suicide.
They simply cannot afford not to be on Sky in the South.
It is literally a sink or swim decision for them.
Channel 4 NI is the same but on a smaller scale.

PPC

I have UTV and ITV and the rest of them on Sky digital.
I had to tune them in my self.

Channel 4 London Sky Digital TV UK Trp 24 (27500, 2/3) ASTRA-2 North
Free Conditional General Entertainment English 12.168 GHz / V 28.2°E
Channel 4 Midlands Sky Digital TV UK Trp 24 (27500, 2/3) ASTRA-2 North
Free Conditional General Entertainment English 12.168 GHz / V 28.2°E
Channel 4 North Sky Digital TV UK Trp 24 (27500, 2/3) ASTRA-2 North
Free Conditional General Entertainment English 12.168 GHz / V 28.2°E
Channel 4 Northern Ireland Sky Digital TV UK Trp 24 (27500, 2/3) ASTRA-2 North
Free Conditional General Entertainment English 12.168 GHz / V 28.2°E
Channel 4 Scotland Sky Digital TV UK Trp 24 (27500, 2/3) ASTRA-2 North
Free Conditional General Entertainment English 12.168 GHz / V 28.2°E
Channel 4 South & East Sky Digital TV UK Trp 24 (27500, 2/3) ASTRA-2 North
Free Conditional General Entertainment English 12.168 GHz / V 28.2°E

UTV Sky Digital TV Ireland (Republic of),UK Trp 54 (, ) ASTRA-2D
Free Conditional General Entertainment English 10.906 GHz / V 28.2°E
ITV 2 Sky Digital TV Ireland (Republic of),UK Trp 54 (, ) ASTRA-2D
Pay TV General Entertainment English 10.906 GHz / V 28.2°E
ITV1 Anglia Sky Digital TV Ireland (Republic of),UK Trp 53 (, ) ASTRA-2D
Free Conditional General Entertainment English 10.89125 GHz / H 28.2°E
ITV1 Border Sky Digital TV Ireland (Republic of),UK Trp 53 (, ) ASTRA-2D
Free Conditional General Entertainment English 10.89125 GHz / H 28.2°E
ITV1 Border Sco Sky Digital TV Ireland (Republic of),UK Trp 53 (, ) ASTRA-2D
Free Conditional General Entertainment English 10.89125 GHz / H 28.2°E
ITV1 Central Sky Digital TV Ireland (Republic of),UK Trp 49 (, ) ASTRA-2D
Free Conditional General Entertainment English 10.832 GHz / H 28.2°E
ITV1 Channel TV Sky Digital TV Ireland (Republic of),UK Trp 54 (, ) ASTRA-2D
Free Conditional General Entertainment English 10.906 GHz / V 28.2°E
ITV1 Granada Sky Digital TV Ireland (Republic of),UK Trp 53 (, ) ASTRA-2D
Free Conditional General Entertainment English 10.89125 GHz / H 28.2°E
ITV1 London WETV Sky Digital TV Ireland (Republic of),UK Trp 49 (, ) ASTRA-2D
Free Conditional General Entertainment English 10.832 GHz / H 28.2°E
ITV1 Meridian Sky Digital TV Ireland (Republic of),UK Trp 53 (, ) ASTRA-2D
Free Conditional General Entertainment English 10.89125 GHz / H 28.2°E
ITV1 Tyne Tees Sky Digital TV Ireland (Republic of),UK Trp 53 (, ) ASTRA-2D
Free Conditional General Entertainment English 10.89125 GHz / H 28.2°E
ITV1 Wales Sky Digital TV Ireland (Republic of),UK Trp 49 (, ) ASTRA-2D
Free Conditional General Entertainment English 10.832 GHz / H 28.2°E
ITV1 West Sky Digital TV Ireland (Republic of),UK Trp 49 (, ) ASTRA-2D
Free Conditional General Entertainment English 10.832 GHz / H 28.2°E
ITV1 West Country Sky Digital TV Ireland (Republic of),UK Trp 49 (, ) ASTRA-2D
Free Conditional General Entertainment English 10.832 GHz / H 28.2°E
ITV1 Yorkshire Sky Digital TV Ireland (Republic of),UK Trp 53 (, ) ASTRA-2D
Free Conditional General Entertainment English 10.89125 GHz / H 28.2°E

Sorry if i read the post wrong but theres the codes.

PPC

The Channel 4 ones are UK only i think but the UTV and ITV ones work.

carrolls

If you have an Irish card, all of those channels will be blocked.
As things stand, ITV or Ch4 from any region is blocked in the south (With an Irish card).

robert muldoon

PPC- could you clarify what card you are using UK or IRISH or OTHER- thank you

Well PPC-It hadn't occurred to me to tune in the NI version of Ch 4 and now i have-thanks for that....now I can hear all about D***es stores better value sale at the end of part one of Brookie:D
Only on my BBC Card though.
mm

PPC

Originally posted by robert muldoon
PPC- could you clarify what card you are using UK or IRISH or OTHER- thank you

I have an Irish card but i can only get the ITV and UTV ones.

robert muldoon

Sorry PPC -but can you explain yourself a bit better- as I understand it, you say you have an Irish Sky card and you are able to recieve UTV. What part of the world are you living in because nobody else seems to be able to get ITV or UTV with an Irish Sky card

Actually there was a poster on this board recently with an Irish card and a confused box.
It gave a "08" on 214 BBC one and you could add all the ITV channels and the digi beebs(4 and news 24 etc) yet it had the Irish EPG with Irish Sky one and news etc.
It does happen:)
mm

jimbob

Madman i remember that one last week and there were more a few months ago

~The thing is ppc. I know you said you had an irish card but is it an ROI card or NI card.
Do you get RTE

Mountjoy Mugger

Back on topic. http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=184&si=738230&issue_id=7275 tells an interesting tale about C4 and UTV "in discussions with their programme rights holders about going onto Sky".

DMC

Thanks for the link, Mugger.

Interesting to hear Mark Deering that "UTV and Channel 4 are in discussions with their programme rights holders about going onto Sky" First time we have heard Sky talk in those terms publicly.

I loved this bit......
"Willie Fagan, a director of Chorus, said the company currently had 20,000 subscribers paying for digital services. He pointed out the cable group offered a free additional TV outlet in customer's homes."

Wwwwoooooooo! Where do I sign? Where do I sign?????
Oh. erm.........

ifconfig

Also the NTL spokesperson stated that it beggared
belief that the minimum Sky package in ROI
containing the RTE/TV3 channels was the 27euro
package rather than the 19euro one. Is this
correct? I could have sworn I read on these
boards yesterday that they (Sky) have introduced
the RTE/TV3 coverage on their basic package.
I can't tell as I have the 27euro package
myself.

--e

Originally posted by eirin
Also the NTL spokesperson stated that it beggared
belief that the minimum Sky package in ROI
containing the RTE/TV3 channels was the 27euro
package rather than the 19euro one. Is this
correct? I could have sworn I read on these
boards yesterday that they (Sky) have introduced
the RTE/TV3 coverage on their basic package.
I can't tell as I have the 27euro package
myself.

--e

RTÉ are on the €19 package allright.
mm

Charles Slane

mmmmmm ... could this be a case of mischief and misinformation from the cable companies.. like the cable guy who told one of our posters that BBC would be coming off Sky Digital soon ?

carrolls

Sky will be talking to their legal team about this

speedfreak

Yeah NTL and Chorus are scared little bunnies now! I had to laugh this morning. Ian Dempsey got into a spot of bother with an "irate" NTL employee who rang in this morning. Apparently yesterday Dempsey announced the arrival of the RTEs on SKY and he said "sure why would you want to bother with NTL or cable at all"!! Yer man wasn't happy at all and he said that Dempsey shouldn't be promoting an English company. Like NTL are so Irish aren't they... I wouldn't be happy with total SKY domination but the cable's haven't been up to scratch at all. They've had it their own way for far too long. People are voting with their feet. God bless the (relatively) free market.

It's really the politicians that the cable co's should be lobbying-to get Sky digital regulated and paying taxes and levies etc

Now heres a question though-does our subscription include vat at 21%??
Or the uk rate?
or are sub's treated different to rentals?
mm

speedfreak

well I'm no tax expert but its my understanding that if a product is sold in Ireland its liable for VAT ..dunno what rate though. Papers and magazines are lower than 21%. Services like plumbers etc have a rate of 12.5%

Genghis

Originally posted by madman
It's really the politicians that the cable co's should be lobbying-to get Sky digital regulated and paying taxes and levies etc

Now heres a question though-does our subscription include vat at 21%??
Or the uk rate?
or are sub's treated different to rentals?
mm

Sky are actually almost as bad as Chorus when it comes to accounts matters - I'd say I have received just one invoice for the last five months. So it would be difficult to know what VAT rate applies, particularly since the vat rate went up

(I wonder did the subscriptions nip up too? - Sky certainly won't highlight this, I'm guessing until RTE are firm bedded in)

AFAIK though, payments are made through an Irish office, and so treated as an Irish sale.

Genghis

Originally posted by speedfreak
Yeah NTL and Chorus are scared little bunnies now! I had to laugh this morning. Ian Dempsey got into a spot of bother with an "irate" NTL employee who rang in this morning. Apparently yesterday Dempsey announced the arrival of the RTEs on SKY and he said "sure why would you want to bother with NTL or cable at all"!!

Dempsey often makes gaffes like that - I find that if he isn't actually reading what he is saying, he sometimes come out with mad stuff altogether!

I read on another non-TV / general board that it was announced on Today FM that ITV would be on Sky 'by June'. Does anyone know if it was Dempsey off-script, or something more concrete?

Incidentally,does anyone know if Today FM will make it or have any intention to go on Sky Digital?

robert muldoon

Is there someway of getting a line into this Mark Deering chap,who seems to know a lot of whats going on in ROI than those poor Scot chappies in their dungeons in West Lothian, who to me are a total waste of space when it comes to issues relating to ROI