Multichannel numbers

nani17 · 03-01-2022 9:43pm #1

I was talking to my friend today about the multichannel black box and we were trying to remember what channels we had and the numbers. I remember years ago coming across a Web page showing the information but can't see to find it.

1.Rte

8. was BBC

Does anyone know them all?

Glaceon · 08-01-2022 11:55pm

It would have varied depending on the area you lived in and the provider you had. There was no set standard as such, even two areas served by the same provider may have had different numbering or channels.

Hotblack Desiato · 05-06-2022 6:06pm

Do you mean Cork?

There were no boxes in Dublin until digital cable came along.

EnzoScifo · 26-06-2022 11:53pm

In Cork it did change frequently. This is as far as I remember and the channels in the higher numbers are very hazy in my mind!

RTE 1
Show Channel (Local sports)
TV5 (French Channel
TV3
MTV/CMT
RTE 2
BBC1
BBC2
Discovery
UTV/HTV
Channel 4
Sky 1
Nickelodeon/Paramount
Sky News
Eurosport
Technical
TG4
Sat.1 ;)

35 Sky Sports 1

36 Sky Sports 2

37/38/39 Sky Movies

40 Sky Sports 3

from 20-30 there were various channels like Granada, Bravo, Trouble, Nat Geo etc.

Antenna · 27-07-2022 3:58pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119255254#Comment_119255254

RTE2/Network 2 had previously been on number 4 in Cork on these cable decoders, however when TV3 came along, TV3 replaced RTE2 on 4, with RTE2 moved up to 6.

It seems there was some sneaky deal done between TV3 and some cable operators to directly replace RTE2 with TV3 (with RTE2 being moved), it happened in other parts of the country too:

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/channel-shift-causes-rte-to-consider-legal-action-1.194032

as RTE said, there was no technical justification to move RTE2 to a higher number

Tax The Farmers · 06-07-2023 3:58pm

"Do you mean Cork?"

Yes in Cork (which was the first cable network to use any form of encryption/set top box) the term "black box" was local slang for cable. (In Dublin and some other places it was "pipe" which is even more bizarre)

Hotblack Desiato · 07-07-2023 11:49am

The media often referred to programming as being "piped into the home" so calling cable "the pipe" was natural.

Tax The Farmers · 13-07-2023 4:04pm

OP if you can find an old copy of the Cork Examiner newspaper they used to publish a list on their TV page (or did in the early 1990's anyway)

Antenna · 13-01-2024 9:32am

Controversy in the early 1990s recalled in another thread elsewhere about the German Sat1 channel on the above Cork cable service:

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058330964/channel-18

Multichannel numbers

Comments