Attention ITV Digital Subscribers

A rumor has headed my way about new channels coming to ITV Digital.

Sky News is on the list...

Wether or not this is true, we will see.

So all who have ITV Digital and like sky news, you should start to be very happy........ now!

That would be brilliant as I may get ITV Digital for my house in Durham next year where I can't really get Sky Digital (it's a rented house).

Does anyone know if ITV Digital boxes are in stores, how much they are and whether you can take them from house to house...!!

Cheers (and sorry for going off topic!)

Get them from most highstreet elecrical retailer - Currys/Comet etc.

You can move them from house to house, but as the box is not your property, you have to contact them to change your contract details

I wonder which channel ITV Digital will ditch to accommodate Sky News... Currently ITVDigital (ONDigital as was) are at full capacity - and are squeezing as many channels as they can into their three multiplexes.

I think that BBC Knowledge is likely to leave the C5/ONRequest multiplex later this year (when the BBC have installed the kit needed to add it to theirs - that's why Knowledge is not available on DTT as much as DSat) so I guess that space may be available.

I'd have figured that they'd try to get ITN's channel on 24-hours (currently just mornings) before putting on the news channel of a competitor.

Hmm - ITN News Channel is a joint venture between ITN (not ITV) and NTL - so in some ways is also a competitor (as NTL is a pretty large cable operator...) Though ITN is partially owned by most of the ITV companies - it is not that closely linked with ITV Digital.

I would imagine that at the moment ITV Digital wants whichever channels are more likely to encourage new subscribers (they are at 1.1m vs Sky Dig 5.3m) - and Sky News and News 24 are massively more popular than the ITN channel (moreso than can be explained by ITNs more limited availability) If ITV Digital think that Sky News will attract new viewers I think they would go for it...

The BBC Ten O'Clock News had an interesting report comparing the two services - ITV Digital get an average of £230 per subscriber/year, Sky Digital get £330 I think... But Sky pay more in advertising and free box offers than ITV Digital.

I think it will be interesting to see how ITV Digital continues, and if their ownership changes in the near future.

Yep - as Techy peep said most large electrical retailers should sell them. Generally a year's pre-pay subscription is £99, but they sometimes welcome hagglers, or a discount if purchased with another appliance (I suggest a 52' Surroundsound Widescreen Home Cinema!!).
If you want it with ITV Active (formerly ONnet - Prepaid Plus) I think it retails at £159, but beware of the £5/month extra subscription cost, plus 2p/min peak, 1p/min off peak, PLUS local phone charges!

I think it's HIGHLY unlikely that Sky News will join ITV Digital. . I can't see ITV Digital being very keen to carry it as it's a free-to-air channel so they wouldn't make any money out of it. Also, there's virtually no spare capacity

If it were to go on SDN's multiplex, it would probably end up being on air for just a few hours in the morning like ITN. And again I can't see SDN wanting to take it, as it would mean competition for (or even replace) the ITN News Channel, which is part owned by NTL, who also have an interest in SDN.

So don't get your hopes up.

To clear up the Sky News rumour - it has been denied by ITV Digital's PR earlier this morning. Secondly, the ITN News Channel is next in the queue to gain any spare slots on the SDN multiplex, because NTL have shares in both companies. Thirdly, and most importantly, although Sky News is FTA to viewers, Sky charge the platform operators to broadcast it, so naturally, SDN or ITV Digital won't get any money from Sky News, thus it is not in their interests to broadcast it.

Does anyone know whether Telewest has acquired (is that how u spell it?) any other channels?

http://www.telewest.co.uk/images/static/logo.gif

i'm saving up for ITVdigital as soon as I go back to skool.

I've worked out that as I never spend £2 on lunch (how else do i keep my slim figure) I can ave up the subscription.

Anyhoo my dad would neva let my have a sky dish attached to the house.

In terms of subscribers it would not really help ITV Digital at all.
It would only help Sky News, as it gives them a) more exposure and b) more money.
ITV Digital would in fact have to pay Sky News to put the channel on their service, hence the big row about News 24 replacing Sky on certain cable platforms.
News channels are traditionally not big subscriber pullers so ITVD would not go out of its way to get Sky News on the platform.
When Sky was originally involved in the DTT contract, before the ITC banned them, a smaller version of Sky News was to be introduced to the DTT platform. This never happened because Sky were forced out leaving only Carlton, Granada then came in, sold their stake in Sky leaving us with the Carlton/Granada consort we have now!