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Originally Posted by RichardCoulter
Apparently, when the mux that provides regionalisation for the PSB's has been rebuilt, it"s believed that there will be room for an extra HD channel. It's thought that this will be used for BBC News or BBC4. BBC4 would be better (unless they have plans to close it now with the new TVL freeze), as BBC News is available in HD for much of the time anyway when it simulcasts with BBC1 & BBC2.
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What I find a little bizarre when most people on various forums talk about this is they always
only mention BBC4, and ,more recently, almost always mention its possible closure. And yet they never mention CBeebies HD which BBC4 HD shares with. CBeebies is a significant ratings winner for the BBC, extremely highly regarded, and often outrates BBC4. And it's extremely important that the BBC keep catering for the youngest of demographics.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RichardCoulter
Freesports initially said that they wouldn't be joining Freeview because it was too expensive, but then the much cheaper temporary Com muxes became available. Unless they have now become really successful, I can't see them being able to afford a 'proper' slot that's available.
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Many channels have went on Freeview without being successful beforehand. Freeview is the biggest platform by far, so just being on a main mux can be enough to give a significant boost to keep them there once on it. As they say, you have to spend money to make money.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RichardCoulter
If it could go onto all the local muxes, this would broadly be the same number of potential viewers as Com 7.
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All the Local muxes carry the same channels except for the Local channel itself. So it's either on all the Local muxes or none. (I'm not counting the NI and Manchester muxes as Local muxes, those are different beasts.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by RichardCoulter
If it has to come off Freeview, I wonder if it might return to Freesat to help to replace their lost viewers (especially now that Freesat has a new charging structure)??
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COM7 even with its limited geographic coverage and DVB-T2 only tuner availability probably still is on significantly more screens than via Freesat boxes. If it can't find a way to stay on DTT I have no doubt it'll return to Freesat, but I think it came off mainly to save money to fund future options on DTT, with a "wait and see approach" to see what possibilities may crop up as they wait for COM7's inevitable closure.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RichardCoulter
The other option is for them to remain on Freeview via streaming, but I imagine that a lot of people don't bother with this option for various reasons. It will help now that streaming channels are allowed to have their own EPG slot.
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Streaming channels have been allowed their own EPG slot for years in the Ch260-upwards range. Most of the streaming services on Freeview are presented as part of a portal partner rather than individual channel numbers, but there has been an option of an individual listing for some time even if few have chosen to do so. Current examples of streamed channels with EPG slots that aren't part of portals are Sonlife Ch 263 and Arise News Ch 269. Most Freeview streamed channels clearly prefer the portal route, I'm guessing as it's cheaper to pay a partner (i.e. the portal operator) than paying for the individual EPG slot.
The change that happened amongst the recent(ish)
consultation was that broadcasters with a Freeview Play app will be able to add IP-only channels to the Freeview channel list between Ch300 and Ch599.
It's not clear to me what this gives over what is currently available via the Ch260-range streamed channels. My only guess is that broadcasters can bulk-add channels they already stream via their own apps, and this would work out cheaper and more convenient.