BBC Red Button services join Freesat

As previously mentioned ( http://satandpcguy.com/blog/2013/05/bbc-wimbledon-coverage-bbc-red-button-channels ) the BBC have been testing some new channels, or rather BBC Red Button channels.

Presumably this will be for the duration of thee summer so that they can use it for multiple matches during Wimbledon and for their Glastonbury coverage.

In the last few days two of these "BBC Red Button" channels have been added to Freesat receivers.

BBC Red Button 1 HD is now on Freesat channel 980
BBC Red Button 1 SD is now on Freesat channel 981

They are not yet available on a Sky box, but presumably they will be part of the BBC Red Button service via the Red Button Menu, as in previous years.

They can be added NOW to non SKy and non Freesat boxes using the following frequencies:

BBC Red Button 1 SD tagged as '6390' is on 10.773 H 22000
BBC Red Button 1 HD tagged as '8900' is on 11.023 H 23000 HD

In addition, the two other channels tagged as 54380 and 54381 on frequency 12.643 V, SR 27.500, FEC 2/3 and are showing a BBC test loop, and showing BBC Red Button on their programme information banner. They are still showing a BBC test loop. Will this mean more BBC Red button streams using these two channels?

Loss of ITV reception in the UK and Spain : 4th JUne 2013

Message from ITV: 

Thousands of TV viewers across the country have had their TV reception affected by a technical problem this evening. The technical fault occurred around 6.20pm and appears to have affected homes in every TV region apart from London and ITV Granada.

The problem affecting the standard definition services which normally run on channel 103 on BSkyB. ITV services on high definition (HD) on Sky channel 178 appear to be working normally . FreeSat is affected too - Freeview services are working normally. 

Technicians at the transmission centres are working to restore normal services. You can also see ITV on Sky 973 - and on FreeSat on channel 977 for ITV SD and channel 177 for HD.

Middle East English Premier League Broadcast Rights update - still no deal

Middle East football fans face missing the kick-off to the English Premier League (EPL) football in August as negotiations over broadcast rights drag on, a Dubai-based TV operator has warned.

Broadcast rights for the Middle East are still undecided, amid a deadlock over fees to air EPL games.

This means that – with just three months to go until the start of the next season – fans of teams such as Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur have no idea how they will be able to watch the games in this region.

http://satandpcguy.com/blog/2013/06/middle-east-english-premier-league-broadcast-rights-update-still-no-deal/

Some more filmon.com news about retransmitting channels without permission...

Several USA broadcasters filed a lawsuit against filmon this week, and as a result, filmon has pulled all main USA TV channels from their service - leaving only a handful of local TV channels.

(http://www.deadline.com/2013/05/alki-davids-filmon-ending-streaming-networks-in-dc/ ) -

"Alki David, the founder of Internet TV streaming service FilmOn, has said he will remove the US’s major broadcast networks from the platform. David’s move follows a May 23 filing in the Federal District Court in Washington DC of an action against FilmOn and Aereokiller, with ABC, NBC and Fox claiming copyright infringement."

So again, there is uncertainty about UK channels on filmon, as if the UK broadcasters follow suit, and are successful, then filmon broadcasting UK TV channels without permission, may also be removed... and may also affect the smart tv systems that use streams from filmon.

On screen mesage form Sky about "We need to update your service"

What to do if you are seeing a "We need to update your service. Please give us some info at skyviewinghelp.com"" message from Sky on your SkyHD and SkyHD digibox.

 

http://www.satandpcguy.com/Site/sky_viewing_cards_skyviewinghelp_message.php

New BBC "test" channel appears on UK TV satellite

A new BBC "channel" is presently testing on Astra 2F at 28.2, tagged as "8900".

It is using the same BBC frequency as some of their other HD channels (BBC1 Wales HD and BBC 1 HD Scotland), of 11023 H, 23000, FEC 2/3 frequency.

It is not available to manually add on SkyHD boxes.

At the moment it is showing BBC2HD content, but the EPG (programme guide) data is showing BBC Red Button data from the Freeview BBC Red Button channel.

Does this mean that the BBC are going to have a BBC Red Button HD service soon?
Perhaps in time for Wimbledon in a few weeks time?


Update: 29/5/13: This channel, tagged as 8900, now has programme data "This is BBC Red Button HD", so it looks this will be used for some red button hd tennis coverage.

In addition, two more "channels" tagged as "54380" and "54381" have appeared on frequency 12.643 V, SR 27.500, FEC 2/3 and are showing a BBC test loop. So perhaps the BBC are temporarily expanding the number of Red Button screens for their Wimbledon coverage?

Smart TV vs Satellite TV : Picture Quality comparisons

Some people have been using Smart TV / Android technology as a way to receive UK TV.

Some of the companies selling these systems use "scare" tactics to try and push a sale - saying things like "You WILL lose UK TV in Spain soon and our product is the only way to keep watching UK TV!"

We covered a few points in a previous post (http://costablancasatellite.blogspot.com.es/2013/05/iptv-sales-talk-confusing-and-scaring.html ).

But here we compare the picture quality of such systems.


An image quality comparison test between Smart TV Internet streaming (top) and Satellite TV (bottom).

The image quality of the Smart TV is blurry, whereas the image from the satellite TV is sharper and more defined.

And the comparison will become more noticeable when the systems are compared on large TV screen that many people are using these days. The low image quality from the Smart TV Internet system will be a lot more noticeable than the direct from satellite system.

Why?

Well most of the Smart TV internet streaming services use a low resolution for their streaming - this resolution is sometimes only 480.

Normal standard definition TV resolution is 576.

Full High Definition resolution is 1080.

So the image resolution between Smart TV Internet streaming is less than half the resolution to HD TV, and about 16% lower than standard television transmissions.

So for LIVE TV, satellite Tv is produced the best image quality.

And when most UK satellite TV channels, like BBC, ITV C4 and Fives are available for free and on a small satellite dish, why compromise on image quality using an internet TV system for your live TV?

Why use a lower quality resolution TV rather than a high definition satellite systems on your HD TV. That is like buying a Ferrari and then replacing its v8 engine with a lawnmower engine!

French Open Tennis 2013 - TV Coverage.

French Open Tennis starts this weekend - with live coverage on ITV1, ITV3, ITV4, Eurosport, Eurosport2 and canal+.

Bet ITV are kicking themselves given they will not get good ratings now Andy Murray has withdrawn from the French Open!

http://www.satandpcguy.com/Site/french_open_tennis_roland_garros_paris_satellite_tv_coverage.php

F1 Monaco Grand Prix 2013 Coverage: Live on Sky and Antena 3 - highlights BBC

F1 Monaco Grand Prix on Sky Sports F1

Times in GMT / BST

THURSDAY 23 MAY

Practice 1
Programme Start 08:45             
Practice 1 Start 09:00

Practice 2
Programme Start 12:45
Practice 2 13:00

                                      
 

SATURDAY 25 MAY

Practice 3
Programme Start 09:45
Practice 3 Start 10:00

QUALIFYING
Programme Start 12:00
Qualifying Start 13:00

                                      
 

SUNDAY 26 MAY

Grand Prix
Programme Start 11:30
Grand Prix LIVE Start 13.00

 

The 2013 F1 Monaco Grand Prix is also available for free on Spanish TV on Antena 3.

 

The 2013 F1 Monaco Grand Prix is also available for free on satellite TV on : Sport 1 Germany and
RTL - both of which are available for free on the Astra 1 satellite located at 19 east.

 

This s one of the races that is exclusively live on Sky Sports in the UK, and so the BBC will only have highlights of the 2013 F1 Monaco Grand Prix, although live commentary is available eon BBC Radio 5 Live.

IPTV sales talk confusing and scaring worried expats about the future of UK TV in Spain.

IPTV sales talk confusing and scaring worried expats about the future of UK TV in Spain.

Interesting to hear that some companies offering “IPTV” in Spain, as ring people up and saying “You will lose your Satellite TV later this year, but our IPTV system will work fine”

A few points:
a) How do these companies know what the signal will be like in Spain for a satellite that has not yet left the factory, and expected not to be operational until September?
b) How do these companies know if all of Spain will be affected or only some areas be affected – like the fact between Alicante and Valencia we can get the first new satellite nice and easily on a 1m satellite dish...
c) No matter what, you will always be able to receive SOME UK TV channel via satellite, as some of the channels are on a “European beam” which is nice and easy to receive, and some channels are not even on the Astra satellites that are being replaced!
d) They fail to mention what the quality of IPTV / internet TV is like – which is pretty poor when you watch it on your 50” HD TV – especially when compared to the full 1080 HD image which you can get on Freesat HD and Sky HD – which you can get on a 1m satellite dish!
e) And not to forget that some systems offering UK TV over the internet as simply using the free streams from filmon. And some systems even ask you to PAY for these streams even though they get them for free

True, later this year things may change, they may not, they may change for the better, they may change for the worse. 

But until it happens, no-one knows for sure.

So why do these companies insist that they know that all of UK TV in Spain will end later this year, and try to confuse and scare people into thinking they will lose their UK TV channels in Spain come the new satellites, Oh I know – spill the doom and gloom for sales purposes, and to confuse people into buying something when in fact, come September, all UK TV may still be available in Spain.