Failed bidders

Does anyone have any information on the other proposed services for what became Channel 5 and ONdigital?

What kind of programmes/channels did they want to broadcast and who owned them?

Do you think they were better or worse than the consortia which eventually won the contract?

Thanks

Well the DTT group wasn't really a group at all.

It was messed about by the ITC until they decided - in their wisdom - that it worked.

Essentially, Carlton had spent years developing DTT and had done it well, but they needed a partner. Who was doing well in the multi-channel world? Sky...

So, Carlton and Sky are in the deal together. But in treads the ITC and flicks out Sky - On D's chance of survival now = 2%.

Sky say to Granada 'get in there' and so Granada - known as 'The Slug' for being so slow in picking up chances in the ITV market - take over where Sky left off. Granada sell their shares in BSkyB and they all live happily ever after... yeah right.

Go to Amazon and buy Sky High - well worth reading.

Anyone remember the ONdigital adverts with Julian Clary?

Well I've got 2 of the 'Hello This is your TV speaking' ads on tape.

Hang on, wasn't it the BBC's R&D department who actually invented the DTT chipset??

Quote: from c@t on 11:03 pm on Dec. 15, 2001
Well the DTT group wasn't really a group at all.

It was messed about by the ITC until they decided - in their wisdom - that it worked.

Essentially, Carlton had spent years developing DTT

Rubbish - Carlton did not develop DTT at all. DVB is an international standard and most of the research into the specific DTT system we use here was done by the Beeb and ITC/NTL research teams. Carlton do not have the resources or money to develop a new TV system!


and had done it well, but they needed a partner. Who was doing well in the multi-channel world? Sky...

So, Carlton and Sky are in the deal together. But in treads the ITC and flicks out Sky - On D's chance of survival now = 2%.

Sky say to Granada 'get in there' and so Granada - known as 'The Slug' for being so slow in picking up chances in the ITV market - take over where Sky left off. Granada sell their shares in BSkyB and they all live happily ever after... yeah right.

Again, not true at all. The original bid was Granada, Carlton and BSkyB. the ITC awarded them the bid on the agreement that BSkyB left the consortium.

The other bidders were DTN (headed by CableTel), what ended up as SDN (headed by S4C) who were the sole bidders for MUX A and Digital 3&4


Go to Amazon and buy Sky High - well worth reading.

Even hough it was written years before digital TV?

http://web.ukonline.co.uk/tv.home/forum/emoticons/confused.gif


(Edited by Larry Scutta at 1:03 am on Dec. 16, 2001)

Full details of the bidders for Digital TV here:

http://www.itc.org.uk/news/news_releases/show_release.asp?article_id=22

SDN has always intrigued me - apart from S4C, who else is involved - and except for ITVand Ch4, is anyone else involved with digital 34 (or whatever its called)

SDN is S4C and NTL - that MUX has to carry Channel 5, S4C and TeleG, they can fill the rest with what they want (currently Shop!, ITV Select and until recently BBC Knowledge)

Digital 3 & 4 is just a company formed by ITV and Ch4 to operate their MUX on which they are garaunteed space

Quote: from Larry Scutta on 12:53 am on Dec. 16, 2001

>Rubbish - Carlton did not develop DTT at all. DVB is an international standard and most of the research into the specific DTT system we use here was done by the Beeb and ITC/NTL research teams. Carlton do not have the resources or money to develop a new TV system!

Carlton did, whether you want to believe it or not, pump a hell of a lot of money into the concept of a DTT system for the UK. Yes, it was mostly developed by the BBC, but it certainly wouldn't be at the stage it's currently at if Carlton hadn't spent so much time looking into it.

>Again, not true at all. The original bid was Granada, Carlton and BSkyB. the ITC awarded them the bid on the agreement that BSkyB left the consortium.

It is true. BSkyB did encourage Granada to get in on the act because they knew they were going to be removed from the consortium.

>Even hough it was written years before digital TV?

Not sure which book you've been reading. It has about 2 chapters about digital TV in mine and the bidding rounds.

Thanks guys - but does anyone have any idea what the channels package on the CableTel service would have been - or what the original proposition was from ON - I know there was something mentioned like 'Carlton Eye' which never came about involving Sky news

I know that Thames bid for the Channel 5 license when it was first adverised. It failed, but Pearson, Thames's owners won it a few years later.