Channel 4 abandons Freesat HD in TWO DAYS
With only two days’ notice, Channel 4 is abandoning Freesat.
Channel 4 HD has been on air for over a decade, but it seems that they no longer need to broadcast to the whole of the UK public.
Channel 4 is a public service broadcasting channel that pays for the programs it broadcasts using the in-show ad-breaks.
However, it seems that it can fork out £75 million to steal The Great British Bake Off from the BBC but can’t afford to show the channel in HD to Freesat users.
Which is a shame, as High Definition channel has always been part of the Freesat HD line up.
It’s interesting to note that the channel still will be shown to Sky viewers in HD, and will also continue Freeview HD.
Perhaps we have reached “peak television”? Perhaps Channel 4 is so undermined by Netflix and Amazon it can’t afford to broadcast itself properly anymore?
But surely If a public service channel can pay out £2.5m a year to four members of the management team each year, it is shocking that it can abandon Freesat HD viewers.
| Whenever i watch moving sport especially football I experience much poorer pictu | 1 |
11:10 AM
Michael:
Reading your original post make it appear as if you think your system absorbs power from the satellite - it does not! All the power your system uses comes from your electrical supply. The satellite uses solar cell arrays and storage batteries for its power needs to run all of the transponders and its own internal guidance systems to maintain its orbital position.
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1:03 PM
Channel 4 is still available on a Freesat by going to the non freesat part of the menu and tuning it in on the 5000 series of numbers once the appropriate transponder has been tuned in.
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1:14 PM
Ian Smith: Channel 4 HD TP 11127(v) 22,000 should have been included in my1:03 PM entry
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1:04 PM
This is appalling. What about Formula 1? It was bad enough when the BBC gave up their F1 contract half-way through the 4 year agreement so that they could afford to keep Wimbledon for 2 weeks of the year! My Freeview TV doesn't have HD so I usually watch F1 on Ch4 HD on Freesat. One of the main reasons that I have Freesat is for HD but now I'm stuck with SD or I'll have to go and buy a new TV with Freeview HD. Anybody want a second hand Humax?
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2:39 PM
Rega: An HD settop box will cost a whole 44.
Manhattan Plaza HD-T2 Freeview HD Box with Apps: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics
Mine's a bit slow on the EPG at the moment, but its cheaper than buying a new TV.
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2:51 PM
Rega: Or even 34.99 for the newer model at Argos - Manhattan T1 Freeview HD Zapper Boxby Manhattan674/6320
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5:56 PM
StevensOnln1: Indeed! As long it doesn't freeze up quite as often as mine, fantastic!
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6:14 PM
MikeB: Hi
You suggested that I am not paying for my TV. You are absolutely right, but surely isn't that the whole idea for FREEview?
Can you explain what my installer meant when he said 'they have shifted the footprint and reduced the power as well'?
Why was the footprint moved?
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6:52 PM
How sad - public service broadcaster, but no public service. Are we to take C4 seriously?
Oddly S4C HD has continued, despite fewer than 50,000 viewers at best (on their own figures).
Obviously as a savvy techie, I can get it on FTA or Freeview, but average joe public viewers will be watching mushy SD or more likely other channels...
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9:46 PM
Michael: No, but I am saying that if your in Spain, then the adverts that pay for the programmes that you watch are useless to the advertisers that pay for them. And thus you are 'spillage'.
Since 'spillage' isn't really part of the providers business model, they've moved the footprint, so that they are not giving you things for free.
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