Real Digital website live

We knew that all last year. It's just a revamp of their site.

They have to keep the same rules as Sky.

So same stuff but just an updated website.

You do realise that Real Digital can't legitimately supply a card in UK / London for RTE any more than Sky can.

Even if Real Digital gets launched it does nothing at all to advance reception of RTE in England. At best it can only be a slightly cheaper and equally proprietary way to "grey import" Irish Subscriptions.

Those four bullet points were all claimed last year.

• Conax encryption
• Carriage deals about to be in place
• Sky Sports 1 & 2 to be carried
• Irish terrestrials to be carried in Ireland as and when deals in place

Real Digital have to pay for Carriage and Encryption and promise to not let RTE cards out of Ireland. That's the only deal possible.
They may have to pay for uplink too. Very likely.

Who is financing and how much?

How are they going to compete in Ireland when

• UPC & Sky have oversaturated the Pay TV market (82%)
• Sky adding Broadband and phone to compete with UPC in Bundles (launch Aug to Oct?)
• Saorview is launched and has loads of approved gear plus UK Freeview HD PVRs kinda work. see http://www.saorview.ie/products-retailers/saorview-approved-product-listings/
• Saorsat is testing and works even with Generic DVB-S2 HD with no Ka band settings. 20,000 cheap LNBFs available shortly. Massive FTA signal. Dual feed with Freesat works.
• Freesat now has C4 and 5 as well as BBC/ITV and HD

UK is the bigger market and less saturated (52% I think). Competition is BT Vision and Topup TV (apart from the obvious Sky & Virgin).

I'd love to see viable competition to Sky, but I can't see why you are so enthusiastic. Rapture TV's track record isn't great. This does nothing to promote RTE International TV Channel.

rlogue wrote: »

I don't think Real Digital and Saorsat are at all in competition. After all Saorsat is specifically designed to fill in reception blackspots

Absolutely, glad you agree, but David Henry (boss of Real Digital) didn't seem to agree. He was very upset about Saorsat.

rlogue wrote: »

Can anyone imagine their technically illiterate parents/grannies etc. fiddling about with Freesat boxes in non-Freesat mode to watch RTE?

Agreed, no. But there are solutions to this.
1) Small changes by Freeset box makers (UK & Irish Governments have a harmonisation agreement).
2) RTE pays for a dummy Freesat entry and it only appears on N.I. Postcodes (as N.I. is part of FTA Saorsat target). With Diseqc support this allows integrated RTE/Saorsat & BBC/Freesat on one EPG
3) Generic DVB-S2 boxes or TVs with CI+. CI for CAMs is now obsolete, replaced by backward compatible CI+. CI+ includes MHEG5 as standard.
4) RTE can transmit an MHEG5 based EPG application. This works with (3) and any Freesat HD that don't disable MHEG5 in "other Channels" (There is no official or financial reason to disable MHEG5, this can easily be changed by set/box makers, except probably Panasonic. Philips is exiting the market.).

Early adopters of Saorsat will be hobbyists but before Oct 2012 (ASO) there will be simple easy to use Freesat HD + Saorsat PVR and non-PVR solutions.

Sceptics denied a regular box would work at all. But as forecast a regular HD box doesn't need to "know" anything about Ka band and works as if it's on a regular "universal Ku LNB".

In fact it would even work on a Sky HD box if there was any way to enter SR 25000. Sadly Sky HD boxes are likely not even EU legislation compliant.

rlogue wrote: »

I'm keen on Real Digital as it opens up satellite competition. My personal wish to see an RTE International channel FTA has nothing to do with that - though if there is more than one provider out there the transmission costs - which is the sticking point between RTE and the Irish government - may in due course come down.

An RTE International doesn't depend on Sky or Real Digital Transmission costs. It depends on Astra and Eutelsat Transmission costs.
Also to meet target market they need to pay to be on Sky EPG (costs SAME as transmission cost!) and pay to be on Freesat EPG.

Also it's a pointless exercise if it's really only "RTE UK" and just on the 28E "ghetto" position. It needs to be on 13E or 19E too and in USA, Australia etc.

I'm keen on competition. But it needs to have a viable business plan and adequate funding. I've seen no evidence of either of these with Real Digital TV.

watty wrote: »

Have they even officially & publically admitted that Saorsat uses Ka-Sat?

No.

Real Digital latest........for what it's worth.

"During a five minute podium slot at the Futuresource Summit (16th - 17th June), David Henry, M D of REAL Digital TV, announced the company's plans for launch of real Digital.
He confirmed plans to test the signals within 4 weeks, with a launch penciled early September. He said that with a secure viewing card, the platform will launch with HD as standard, a free pack of channels and services with every box, called Basic Essentials, and Sky Sports 1 & 2 at very competitive prices, called Sports Essentials.

Paddy Latham, Marketing Manager adds, 'We also plan to offer a reasonably priced channel pack we are calling REAL Essentials. We are still in the process of confirming what that will include, but we are excited about offering the public greater choice at a more reasonable price."

We can only wait and see.......

Maybe Sky have wind that something is on the horizon... I've had an email asking if I want a free sky hd box replacement because i've been with them so long... yeah OK!

Perhaps, it is a pre-emptive strike to sign me into another 12month deal... ?

Sky will do anything to keep subscribers!