Sky to launch a pay-TV digital terrestrial service

I can't be the only one to doubt Ofcom's going to OK this.

I hope it goes t*ts up. I never put my trust into $ky when it came to free TV services, hippocritical traitors as they are. They are a disgrace to the Freeview consortium.
This just shows that $ky are weak and a broadcaster which gets jealous when somebody else gets bigger than them (Top Up TV)

I'm not clue up on the differences between MPEG4 and MPEG2, but as they have to share a mux with UKTV History and E4+1, which would remain available on Freeview, that might prevent them making the maximum use out of their space if they're only applying this new coding to part of the mux, rather than the whole mux.

Sky have had room to launch another channel as basically when Freeview launched they got 75% of Mux C. Currently three out of the five channels on Mux C are from Sky, so increasing this to four would still be under the 75% mark.

Firstly - the use of "$ky" is highly annoying.

And I really really fail to see how Top Up TV has become bigger than Sky by any stretch of the imagination.

It isn't "becoming bigger" - it is bigger on the DTT market.
Top Up TV offers pay-tv programming on DTT. BSkyB (swearword in my language) do not. Therefore Top Up TV is bigger on the DTT Pay-TV market than you-know-who.

This will p*ss off many Freeview viewers not only is Sky Three getting removed but Sky News as well. I'm sure a lot of Lost fans will be furious that they can't get it even on Sky Three anymore, and I'm sure Sky News will lose some of it's target audience because it abandoned Freeview viewers.

While technically true, you make an incredibly limited point.
They may each be the leaders on their respective platforms
TopUpTV is not performing well, and Sky are.

Sky's aim here is nothing to do with beating TopUpTv, it is almost certainly about getting a subscription foothold on DTT. Although as I said before, their methods are madness.

Aside from the topic, BSkyB operate a very successful business - i'm not sure why you dislike them so much.

You know what I meant. Top Up TV is almost universally recognised as DTT's "pay-TV" operator and Sky would have a pay-DTT reputation to re-gain
Both have experience in the DTT pay-TV platform anyway. BSkyB was one of the selling points of ITV Digital.

I'd be fairly confident that the average viewer knows very little about TopUpTV. Sky certainly don't have a reputation to regain as they never had one on DTT. The fact that they were a channel provider for ITV Digital isn't really relevant.

I doubt Offcom will agree to the necessary licence changes, but from Sky's plans that is probably better for everyone.

Seconded. I hope OFCOM say no tbh.

Then again OFCOM are sh*te so they'll probably let it go ahead.

I'm not happy about this at all, I can't afford Sky/Cable so having those channels on there was great, well Sky Sports News is.

Bad move IMHO

I see you point, however isn't there ads all over DTT for Top Up TV anyway? Channel 43 "Top Up TV Promo" relaunched today, and then there's the offscreen MHEG's on their streaming channels, plus TUTV Active on 107.

BSkyB were one of the larger broadcasters in the ITV Digital service, and was probably one of the reasons why we subscribed to it. It was a big name and has since had no input to pay DTT, so I personally would say it has something to regain.

Sky Three, Sports News & News are on Multiplex C on DTT. When the licences were issued in 2002 after the demise of ITV Digital, the requirement on Multiplexes B, C & D was was to carry free services.

That was then, so don't hold your breath for OFCOM intervention, they lifted this requirement last year so have already paved the way.

This is the relevant bit of the blurb ;

Multiplexes are licensed by Ofcom under the Broadcasting Act 1996 or, in the case of multiplex 1, granted by the Government. Three of the six multiplex licences (multiplexes B, C and D) contain a requirement that all the services they carry “shall be provided on a free to air basis save with the prior consent of Ofcom”. This requirement was inserted to reflect commitments made by the applicants for these licences when the licences were awarded in 2002.

Ofcom believes that there are good arguments to support a proposal to remove the ‘free to air only’ (FTA) requirement on multiplexes B, C and D on the basis that the requirement is no longer necessary and there are no compelling reasons to retain it. Ofcom has consulted on whether the requirement should be removed. The consultation was published 27 October 2005 and closed 12 January 2006. We received 21 responses from individuals and 12 from organisations. The responses were varied and ranged from strongly supporting the proposal to strongly opposing it.

Decision

Ofcom has concluded that the restriction on the services that can be carried on multiplexes B, C and D is no longer necessary, and can be removed without adverse effect on any other relevant Ofcom duties, including our duty to further the interests of citizens and consumers, promote competition, ensure efficient use of the radio spectrum and ensuring the availability of a wide range of TV and radio services from a sufficient plurality of providers. Ofcom is minded to remove the requirement in response to a request from each licensee, without further public consultation.

But yes it stinks, and a complete change of business plan for Sky who must be struggling to sell any more dishes.