[opendtv] Re: More on UK spectrum for HDTV
- From: "Bob Miller" <robmxa@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 12 Apr 2007 12:52:54 -0400
If Freeview is successfully making profits from ad supported OTA
broadcasting and it can be shown that there is more money to be made
that way than via a subscription service then the capital markets
should deploy more money to any Freeview venture than to a competing
subscription based venture.
If more money is available to a Freeview type venture than they should
win any auction.
The fact that Freeview spectrum was or was not acquired via an auction
is irrelevant.
One fact that suggest that Freeview is more profitable than a
subscription service using OTA spectrum is the fact that a number of
subscriber fee based satellite channels have switched to Freeview and
given up their subscriber fees.
Another supporting argument is the number of people that say that any
OTA subscriber service is doomed to failure.
I am in the middle and think that a hybrid model would make the most
money and attract the most capital for such an auction.
However anyone proposing an all HD OTA free or subscriber based
venture would probably not get the funding they need to win this
auction. If they proposed an IP OTA broadcast venture with a
combination of HD, SD, free, PPV and subscription services they should
get the max funding and be successful IMO.
Bob Miller
On 4/12/07, Manfredi, Albert E <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
It seems so strange that Ofcom doesn't get what people are fretting
about.
When their stated position is: "Ofcom announced in December that it
favoured an auction of the entire spectrum on the grounds that the
regulator was not best placed 'to decide which services should get
access to spectrum,'" obviously the TV viewing public concludes that
Ofcom will sell the spectrum to the highest bidder. What else could
anyone conclude?
Isn't it highly unlikely that Freeview can compete for spectrum, at an
auction, against companies that sell subscription services? Did Freeview
get their current spectrum through an auction?
Bert
-----------------------------------------
http://www.dtg.org.uk/news/news.php?class=countries&subclass=0&id=2361
Ofcom's mind 'not made up' on DDR
Ofcom CEO Ed Richards has insisted the regulator did not go into its
consultation on the future of spectrum due to be liberated from digital
switchover with its mind made up. The consultation on the Digital
Dividend Review (DDR) closed last month amid calls from an alliance of
public service broadcasters, consumer electronics manufacturers and
retailers that a third of the spectrum be set aside so that five
high-definition TV channels could be launched on Freeview.
Ofcom announced in December that it favoured an auction of the entire
spectrum on the grounds that the regulator was not best placed "to
decide which services should get access to spectrum". In a wide-ranging
interview with Ofcomwatch, the blog that comments on the regulator's
activities, Richards told founder Luke Gibbs: "People keep saying to
me-'you've made your mind up on DDR'. But we haven't! We absolutely have
not.
"We have made some proposals for a way forward, and there are
complicated issues-around the HD position, around PMSE [programme making
and special events], around local TV. We have put a lot into the first
consultation but I am not going to sit here and say everything we always
say or talk about in the initial consultation is right. Part of the
process is to flush out what is or isn't right or develop a different
way of thinking about it."
Last month broadcasting minister Shaun Woodward said ministers were
keeping an "open mind" on calls for spectrum use after digital
switchover. Asked by Lovelace Consulting if spectrum would be set aside,
Woodward said it was "very important" that Ofcom's "work is allowed to
play out". "We are very mindful of the public service arguments," said
Woodward, but ministers could not predict what the spectrum might best
be used for in future. The danger here is that we try to see around
corners."
Lovelace Consulting 12.04.2007
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways:
- Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at
FreeLists.org
- By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word
unsubscribe in the subject line.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways:
- Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at FreeLists.org
- By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word
unsubscribe in the subject line.
Other related posts:
