REAL Digital TV - coming soon

Some of you will know that there's been a rival satellite broadcasting system to Sky and Freesat in the works for a while. They've now soft launched but as yet have still not got their reciever boxes into retail stores. Apparently this will be by spring this year, starting with Maplin.

It's called 'Real Digital TV' and seems to be a combination of Sky and Freesat as it offers all the channels that Freesat offers (ie FTA) plus an additional free HD channel and a selection of pay TV channels that will be cheaper than they are on Sky.

I was just looking at their latest channel list and I noticed that unlike Freesat they carry all the babe channels in the EPG. With Freesat you have to tune them in manually and you can't record them.

On Real Digital they are PIN-protected but still free to view. This is something we've been discussing on here for a while as a possible way round Ofcom's apron strings, so it will be interesting to see what kind of PIN implementation it is and whether this could tempt the babe channels to offer something more risque on Real Digital than they can on Sky or Freeview? If it worked well on Real Digital then it would make sense for Sky to implement a similar system.

http://realdigitaltv.com/entry008_channels.html
(Scroll to the bottom of the page for the babe channels list)

Interesting stuff although there's not much information given about who's behind or running the company behind all this?

I'd certainly not heard of it before this thread, seen no mention of it elsewhere (not even on Digital Spy!) or via collegues at the BBC or ITV or a friend that is a Maplin store manager.

Unlike Sky & Freesat, I don't think they're charging any of the stations to be on their EPG guide as you have to pay seperate fees each to be on both Sky & Freesat EPG's.

Interesting in the radio section to see where Radio Caroline have been positioned!

Wonder if it'll have much impact on the other satellite platforms?

(28-01-2012 00:31 )Digital Dave Wrote:  On Real Digital they are PIN-protected but still free to view. This is something we've been discussing on here for a while as a possible way round Ofcom's apron strings, so it will be interesting to see what kind of PIN implementation it is and whether this could tempt the babe channels to offer something more risque on Real Digital than they can on Sky or Freeview? If it worked well on Real Digital then it would make sense for Sky to implement a similar system.

Interesting, as HoneyRocks says. As for the PIN-protected stuff, harder content would of course mean the channel concerned having to set up a separate broadcast to their Sky one, as BS have done with BSX, but I can't imagine that would be too much of an issue. They would also have to (initially at least) tread carefully as I'm not aware of Ofcom making any provisions for soft-encrypted, fta adult channels.

About time there was an alternative to the emerging Sky monopoly - they host 10 times as many channels as the BBC, ITV, Four and Five combined.

Encryption could be difficult if broadcasting on Astra and providing another route to channels available on Sky. Sky boxes use proprietry encryption and none other, as an anti piracy measure. (There is no legal reason for unauthorised sales of compatible decoders). So the system could use "encryption" that is really nothing more than an easily bypassed flag. If non Sky encryption is used the channels would not work on Sky boxes. If Sky encryption was used it would have to be licenced from Sky, raising all sorts of questions about independence and encryption costs.

My guess is that they are licencing Sky encryption but only using it for pay channels, most of which will also be available via Sky. That avoids duplication in channels and overheads. Sky Sports 1 and 2 must be made available to competitors under anti monopoly law - remember the big spat with Virgin?

So what advantage does it offer? It offers the full range of free channels and more, cuts out the basic Sky rental, and offers some pay channels, without having to pay for all the dross that Sky forces people to pay for even if they dont watch it.

However using Sky encryption is not free, even if all that is required is a PIN. I seem to remember it costing about £50k which is one reason why channels dont use it. Simply requiring a PIN might be cheaper. Interesting to see what 0fcom make of it.

It does open up the possibility of proper hard pay channels that Sky might refuse to list, particularly foreign registered ones.

(28-01-2012 02:43 )eccles Wrote:  My guess is that they are licencing Sky encryption but only using it for pay channels, most of which will also be available via Sky.

They have licensed a non Sky encryption.

Great update Dave but you say you can't record Freesat???
Think your mistaken unless I have missed your point (sorry if I have).

S

(28-01-2012 11:37 )shylok Wrote:  Great update Dave but you say you can't record Freesat???
Think your mistaken unless I have missed your point (sorry if I have).

S

Ah, thanks for the correction. I made that point based on the experience of a friend of mine who bought a Freesat PVR when they first came out and found that he couldn't record any channel that wasn't on the actual epg (ie manually-added channels).

If that's no longer the case then it's good news!

NB By Freesat I mean boxes with the branded seven-day Freesat epg, rather than generic FTA receivers that only tend to have now/next programme info.

Thanks for the extra info Dave.

I only have experience of FTA receivers so I can't comment on the FREESAT PVR's. Bit of a limitation though if its true.

BTW I have scanned the RD TV transponder and it's live but no channels are up yet (today anyway). 12688H symbol rate 22000 DVB-S

S

(28-01-2012 13:25 )Digital Dave Wrote:  Ah, thanks for the correction. I made that point based on the experience of a friend of mine who bought a Freesat PVR when they first came out and found that he couldn't record any channel that wasn't on the actual epg (ie manually-added channels).

If that's no longer the case then it's good news!

NB By Freesat I mean boxes with the branded seven-day Freesat epg, rather than generic FTA receivers that only tend to have now/next programme info.

(28-01-2012 16:23 )shylok Wrote:  BTW I have scanned the RD TV transponder and it's live but no channels are up yet (today anyway). 12688H symbol rate 22000 DVB-S

Interesting - perhaps they're only transmitting occasional test streams at the moment.

There is a current Digital Spy thread on the subject of RD but there's lots of cynicism - not surprising because the launch, and now the supply of receivers, has been postponed so many times. I do hope they succeed though.

http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthrea...43&page=19

So separate encryption and separate transponders? That costs money. Are all the channels actually signed up? Do they have a backer with sufficient funds to run at a loss for 12 months while the big boys undercut them?