BT 'in bid to gain control of YouView'

A report in the Telegraph suggests that BT are looking for control of the YouView project and have started talks with Talk Talk to acquire their stake. Presumably TT will retain rights to use the technology in their services.

BT is exploring buying TalkTalk out of their set-top box joint venture YouView as it seeks to gain more control and accelerate development in an attempt to catch up with Sky.

The telecoms giant is understood to be considering a bid to take full control of YouView, allowing it to invest more heavily in TV technology.

BT executives have opened informal talks with TalkTalk over whether it would consider stepping away from the venture. YouView develops the software used by BT and TalkTalk set top boxes.

It was originally conceived in collaboration with the terrestrial broadcasters as the next generation of Freeview, but has morphed into a pay-TV platform as the two broadband providers have sought new growth in the living room. As a result, the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 have sharply cut their funding of the venture, leaving BT and TalkTalk to pay for upgrades.


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BUSINESS on TELEGRAPH.CO.UK
19-Mar-2016 @ 21:49

BT TV does not work with satellites, so lots of people can't move over from Sky.

Not quite sure why that point is relevant. They're two different platforms, and BT competes with Sky in much the same way as Virgin Media competes with Sky.

Broadcasting is shifting from traditional over the air linear broadcasts to IP delivered linear and on demand broadcasts. BT is looking to bolster their quadplay offering, so it makes absolute sense for them to invest in YouView. TalkTalk is struggling after the data leak last year, so they may be interested in selling up their share too.

But equally, at the moment BT supports UHD already, whereas Sky are still in their testing phase of UHD content.

Obviously you need a decent, high-speed broadband connection for IP TV services at broadcast quality HD (i.e. the same quality you get on Freeview HD or Sky HD) but this also means you can receive their services in areas where dishes aren't an option (listed properties, conservation areas, or locations where a clear line-of-site of the satellite isn't available)

The point was that, many customers are not going to want to pay for an arial to be installed, so that they can move from Sky to BT. If BT had a box that worked with SATS, it would be an easy switch.

Lots of TV of course is coming over IP TV now.

I've never lived in a house without an aerial feed.

I know some new flats have Sky outlets only - but AIUI they often they are often fed via multiswitches with a DTT aerial feed. DVB-S/S2 is such that the IF band output by an LNB or multiswitch >900MHz, so you can also carry UHF/VHF TV (and DAB/FM Radio) on the same cable without interference.

I guess some new builds may have satellite only - but every house or flat I've lived in has had a standard UHF aerial feed as standard. (And I've lived in quite a lot...)

I suspect that the TV/FM and Sat sockets I have in my lounge are fed from the same cable for the reasons you describe above.

There are many fairly new blocks of flats (I'm talking about those built in the last 15 years or so) that only have a single sat feed, so no good for Sky+/Sky Q etc, and aren't able to get fibre/cable internet either.

Many people with the choice of all three options (Sky, BTTV, Virgin Media), which is great for competition, but also many limited to Freeview/Freesat/basic Sky and ADSL.

I still find it surprising that many, if only for simple contingency arrangements in case of satellite or cable connection or equipment failure, people now resist installing a plain passive UHF antenna.

At our old flat we had two inputs linked to the main Sky dish (ie for Sky+ functionality), a socket for the aerial and a return function so we could link it to the socket in the bedroom.

The satellite one was useful for the Sky engineer, however Channel 4 SD from that socket was weak, it was the same when I had Freesat plugged into the socket.

My uhf aerial is not particularly useful, pointing at a relay that provided a ropey analogue signal and now a pretty unwatchable Freeview Lite. I think it is on that particular tx due to ghosting from the main station, which shouldn't be an issue for digital.

I haven't felt the need to have it fixed/replaced. Satellite works very well and gives me everything DTT would. I have fast broadband and a roku so steaming is there for contingency usage, as well as having my old Sky SD box sat gathering dust, which could be pressed into service if my HD box dies.

I actually find C4+1 HD quite useful - and that's Freeview only I think.

4seven HD and Al Jazeera HD are exclusive to Freeview, as well as most of the local channels. I do think however that 4+1HD should be replaced by E4 HD or Film4 HD