i t v DIGITAL is almost gone now!

IMO the DTT platform should be what the analogue terrestial platform is at the moment - free (with the exception of the licence fee).

There could be a few subscription channels, but manily the platform would be FTA. Therefore, I think it is good that ITV Digital is going down.

If people want extra channels, interactive services etc., then they can get Digital Sattelite or Digital Cable. DTT should be a simple solution to getting all the current services on analogue terrestial, plus others.

What about if you want the extra channels and live in a listed building and cannot have a dish or cable installed? Will they just have to 'put up with it'? The DTT platform is a really good way of getting channels across but it was disasterously used! People should be able to access these services - where or whatever they live in.

Also, someone seems to have overlooked the fact the report says ITV Digital could be pulled in 10 working days , and with the Easter Holiday weekend, that means it's they still have a good couple of weeks to try and come to some kind of solution.

The problem with DTT is capacity, it simply cannot carry all the channels and services that DCAB and DSAT can. DTT should have the best of DCAB and DSAT, but because of technology issues with DTT set top boxes, DTT can't carry many of the interactive services that the other platforms can, such as BBC News Interactive.

The situation with BBC News Interactive may change though, if ITV Digital do collapse, and the BBC are awarded another multiplex. As to weather that will happen, who knows?

What did people do before ITV digital and they wanted extra channels? - if you buy a listed property you should no the 'do's and dont's' of living in a listed property

Just because someone owns a certain type of house shouldn't stop them from having the opertunity to have pay-TV. DTT provided people with a convenient way of getting pay-TV, so just because a few of you can't grasp the idea of getting pay-TV without a cable or a dish shouldn't mean the rest of us should have to get a dish or cable to get more choice.

Could you imagine a situation where parts of the country could only have one brand of cola because the other brands for some reason couldn't be deliviered there - what you guys seem to be suggesting is as daft as that.

No you are being daft, living in a listed house has many disadvantages like tougher planning regulations (which of course this come under). DTT doesn't have the capacity to offer a full scale service. I'd say from the 6 muxes there are, ITV, C4 and C5 should be put on one, the BBC given 3 (for now atleast [with the combination of CBBC and Cbeebies onto one channel that is a seperate channel, 3 and 4 also going 24 hours, the introduction of BBC 5, pictures of parliament and interactive services) and the other two having channels distributed by the ITC. This is because as stated before few channels at the moment could go FTA and pictures are (aparently) chronic, and then in the future when compression gets better the other BBC one can go into control of the ITC (and with a bit of luck when compression increases further [dream levels], the second BBC mux can go to the ITC).

DTT must be developed as FTA, with quality improved, to get the nation Digital, once this has been done and more space becomes available that can be used on PayTV (which could then be profitable).

Okay, perhaps my example above isn't the best, but I think most people would get the kind of idea.

Of course there are disadvantages about having certain types of house - living in a flat or a listed house. Often these people are not allowed cable or Sky, so DTT should target these people to give them worthwhile additional choice above the FTA offerings with a subscription package.

I agree too much is sometimes being crammed on the system at current , but the picture on the BBC, ITV and SDN mux is acceptable - certainly significantly better than our normally quite fuzzy analogue reception. Basically, only 4 or 5 streams should be on each MUX to ensure decent quality instead of cramming upto 7 which is the case now.

Pay-per-view definately doesn't have a place on the system in my view, but there is capacity for a small range of subscription channels - such as MTV, E4, UKTV, Sky One and British Eurosport, as well as some premium channels such as Sky Sports 1-3 and FilmFour. This would give people who can't have Sky or cable a viable alternative for a cost of perhaps £5 a month for the normal subscription package, £11 with Film4 and £15 for the complete package (the normal sub. channels, Film4 and Sky Sports).

Three MUX's for the BBC is a bit much - I think two should really do them, with the one mux for the main channels and the other for the interactive content, just like their setup on DSat. I wouldn't have thought it would be too difficult to link the main BBCi text service to the normal channels on the other BBC mux via the text button and visa versa, whilst also providing the space for special stuff like MOTD/News Interactive.

I'm all for more FTA channels but I also think there should be some subscription channels to give the platform an additional offering over and above simply being 'FTA Digital'.

Unless there are some last-minute developments, I hear there will be an announcement made to Nasdaq (not sure why they're announcing it to an American stock exchange) this Friday which should let us know which of the following options ITV Digital will choose:

- Immediate shut down of services
- Slow winding down of services
- Closure of ITV Sport Channel, continuation of other services
- Continued discussions within the company about what to do next
- Going to court with Football League
- Plans to find a larger sum of money for the clubs

Any one of the first 4 choices is equally likely, the last two are less likely but nobody can really predict what will happen next. The possiblilty for a fast closure of ITV Digital is, I'm sorry to say for staff and subscribers, getting more and more likely. The ITC are already standing by to re-advertise the licence.

The repuation of Carlton, Granada and the ITV name as a whole (and, I'm sad to say, digital TV as a medium) is sinking rapidly in the public eye. It's difficult to say at this point what the effects will be, but it seems they will be big and far-reaching. I only hope some good, such as a restructuring of DTT into a more FTA based platform, will come out of this, and that as little damage as possible will be made to the lower-league football clubs and digital television as a whole.

(Edited by Blake Connolly at 5:48 pm on Mar. 25, 2002)

One effect of Mr Murdoch's being locked out of the terrestrial market would be to deepen the uncertainty over the future of troubled ITV Digital.

His television company BSkyB has been viewed as a possible saviour of the digital terrestrial broadcaster.

This is a quote from the end of a BBC News Online article about Rupert Murdoch and his future in UK Terrestrial TV.

It is officially recognised now that Sky could save ITV Digital, so never say never...

Original Article

I jolly well hope ITV Digital doesn't get saved by anyone - the future of digital terrestrial television is free to air!

well i think there is room for a certain degree of pay tv market.

Pay Per View, where everyone has the opertunity to order a movie or event,

a small selection of Subscription services(note services not necceserily channels)

many free to air channels

interactive info for important services...
(stuff that people do almost all the time, that can be made easier to do through tv)

and a few pay channels taking up the other available space.

and these could expand, as the government allocate more spectrum and multiplexes to pay tv companies, till we have a booming service, EVERYONE has access to.