[opendtv] News: Sealed bids for Freeview channel

Via Advanced-Television.com


Hmmmm...


I have often written about the decoupling of content and carriage; 
about the creation of a REAL marketplace for carriage, where content 
creators compete for bandwidth, paying market driven rates.

Looks like Freeview is getting dangerously close to what I have 
envisioned, although the companies that now operate The UK DTTB 
service are in BOTH the content creation and distribution businesses.

With limited channel capacity, companies are now bidding for the 
right to program a channel on the Freeview system.

I love what happens when the marketplace is allowed to work!

Regards
Craig

Sealed bids for Freeview channel

  UK's ITV and Channel 4, are facing a bid battle over a new Freeview 
channel amid rising demand on the digital television platform. Both 
companies are considering multi-million pound offers for the channel, 
which is being sold by Crown Castle. Sealed bids, due next week, may 
also be submitted by US networks ABC and NBC.

  More than 4.2m households have switched to Freeview since the 
service was launched in October 2002, backed by the BBC, British Sky 
Broadcasting and Crown Castle UK. ITV and Channel 4 declined to 
discuss their bids. But ITV, which already operates ITV 2, ITV 3 and 
ITV News on the platform, said: "Capacity on Freeview is in very 
short supply, and we need to make sure we can take advantage of 
capacity that becomes available."
 
 
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