AN OPEN LETTER TO BANG MEDIA

glad to hear progress is being made and things will be sorted soon

If they really wanted to quash the conspiracy theories they could have had a stab at explaining what these technical issues are instead of flannelling us with corporate bullshit.

. . . and tell us how it is that the problem affects both Sky and Freeview and how the latter manages to transmit a signal for a second or two and then vanish.

It doesn't sound good really! Sounds like they in the right shit!

(24-11-2010 03:11 )vila Wrote:  . . . and tell us how it is that the problem affects both Sky and Freeview and how the latter manages to transmit a signal for a second or two and then vanish.

It has been posted elsewhere, that Sky is in control of ch20 on Freeview since they took it over from Virgin some time ago. Ch98 timeshares with ch20.
It has also been reported some time ago on another forum, that Sky might be closing down ch20 (renamed as "channel one" by them) since they consider it to be too similar to Sky3 which is also on Freeview.
I also seem to remember reading somewhere that if a Freeview program ceases to transmit for some period of time, that their licence can be removed. Perhaps they just transmit a few seconds each day to comply with this.
Seems like some dispute, not necessarily financial, between Sky and Bang to me.
A serious technical problem would surely have been fixed by now.

That just about sounds like the most believeable reason we have had so far.You never want to admit financial problems to anyone otherwise the girls will run for the hills!!!

(24-11-2010 12:11 )TheWatcher Wrote:  I also seem to remember reading somewhere that if a Freeview program ceases to transmit for some period of time, that their licence can be removed. Perhaps they just transmit a few seconds each day to comply with this.

I'm sure that's quite definitely not true. A licence does not carry any obligation to broadcast. Bang have got 2 freeview licences which have never been used as they have never broadcast anything on them, so why haven't they been lost? If you remember, they obtained 3 licences for freeview but have only ever used 1 of them, so where are the few seconds a day broadcasts to keep the other 2 licences going???

(24-11-2010 12:11 )TheWatcher Wrote:  I also seem to remember reading somewhere that if a Freeview program ceases to transmit for some period of time, that their licence can be removed. Perhaps they just transmit a few seconds each day to comply with this.

Could be true, there is very limited Freeview capacity, but might not be the explanation right now. Its probably only an issue if a prospective broadcaster complains, and even then only if they channel remains unused. Broadcasting a few seconds wouldnt count as serious use.

PS Did you know pubs used to be in a similar position? They could loose their licence if they did not open at the licenced time, closed early, or had days off? Magistrates granted licences as a special dispensation, and by heck they expected them to be used.

Re: Open letter to Bang Media. Well done. Your letter encompasses everything that needed to be said and seems to have elicited a semi-informative and at least coherent response. Thanks.

great letter...agree with all you have writen...one thing i will say is if we lose bangbabes for whatever reason it will in my opinion be the end to phone channels because all the others are a major bore to watch or have gone off the boil...fingers crossed things will be sorted & it returns the same way it left & not toned down in any way