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Rainbow, but not rainbow

🌈 (February 2020)

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NL
Ne1L C
Neil Jones posted:
james-2001 posted:
Sky One wasn't 24 hours, I've seen footage of it sharing with "The Arts Channel" in its early days, there's footage of them closing down into the 90s too (though I imagine it's likely they didn't share the transponder with anyother channel at that point). I think MTV Europe was 24 hours though.


Sorry, I meant Sky One in its later years in the 1990s it was primarily 24hrs, if it wasn't by 1993 it wasn't far off by I think 1995?. Of course prior to it being Sky One it would have only been part time broadcasting and probably shared its transponder, of course back when the parent company lost money like there was no tomorrow...


Ne1L C posted:
Its strange to think in this multi-channel, multi-platform era that barely 25 years ago channels had to share


Another one of those "that's what it was at the time" situations. Bit like when you watch old clips of now disgraced personalities who are clearly popular, well in fashion and in demand, but looking from a modern viewpoint you think "pervert" or whatever. Have to remember they weren't seen as a pervert then.


As we all know hindsight is useless. It was a case of "if we knew then what we know now"
IN
Interceptor
Inspector Sands posted:
Neil Jones posted:

You had a split of children's channels in the daytime and general entertainment after 7pm. Nickelodeon and the first incarnation of the Paramount Channel are the best known example of this (and also The Children's Channel and Family Channel, which was relatively unique as they swapped over at 5pm). Fox Kids according to the table on Wiki timeshared with Sky Two as well at some point.

Everything else just sort of crammed on where they could.

And that's the case with a few Freeview channels now, most well known being Cbeebies and BBC4. It's a lot easier to do digitally as its essentially just reconfiguring a multiplex, switching off one data stream and replacing it with another and sending out new metadata.

I always wondered why ONdigital/ITV Digital always grouped the timesharing channels together on the same EPG slot, yet the BBC managed to split them and reconfigure in around 5 mins. I guess in the case of the Nickelodeon/Paramount share that meant they'd have had to lose either the last 5 mins of Nickelodeon or the first 5 mins of Paramount, but in the case of UK Style & Horizons where Style had Mon - Thu and Horizons Fri - Sun it surely wouldn't have been so hard to sort.

Incidentally you'd have thought such switches would have been automatic at a certain time on the dot, but it didn't appear to be when watching (on both analogue Diamond Cable and ITV Digital), even though the channels involved would typically do a long ident or menu up to the changeover so give them plenty of opportunity to do it cleanly.
NJ
Neil Jones Founding member
Ne1L C posted:
As we all know hindsight is useless. It was a case of "if we knew then what we know now"


Hindsight is not "useless".

Hindsight is the tool we use to translate mistakes, screw-ups, wrong decisions, into wisdom. If we had no hindsight, we would have no regrets, no lessons.

Everything we do is determined by hindsight.
NL
Ne1L C
Neil Jones posted:
Ne1L C posted:
As we all know hindsight is useless. It was a case of "if we knew then what we know now"


Hindsight is not "useless".

Hindsight is the tool we use to translate mistakes, screw-ups, wrong decisions, into wisdom. If we had no hindsight, we would have no regrets, no lessons.

Everything we do is determined by hindsight.



That's a good point. With people's recent behaviour and its effects in the news hindsight is relevant.
IS
Inspector Sands
Interceptor posted:

I always wondered why ONdigital/ITV Digital always grouped the timesharing channels together on the same EPG slot, yet the BBC managed to split them and reconfigure in around 5 mins. .

For all but the last few months of ITV Digital's existence they didn't. It was only when CBBC and Cbeebies started that the EPG positions were split
IN
Interceptor
Inspector Sands posted:
Interceptor posted:

I always wondered why ONdigital/ITV Digital always grouped the timesharing channels together on the same EPG slot, yet the BBC managed to split them and reconfigure in around 5 mins. .

For all but the last few months of ITV Digital's existence they didn't. It was only when CBBC and Cbeebies started that the EPG positions were split

Yes, but it proved there was no technical reason why it couldn't happen (same platform, same hella clunky STB firmware...)
DJ
DJGM
Ne1L C posted:
Its strange to think in this multi-channel, multi-platform era that barely 25 years ago channels had to share. Here's a trip down memory lane:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VkTwSdr0V0


Case in point with a screengrab from that video showing several channels time-sharing on one analog transponder.


*


(And with only the sanctimonious bull**** not being behind the Sky paywall.)
MA
Markymark
Interceptor posted:
Inspector Sands posted:
Interceptor posted:

I always wondered why ONdigital/ITV Digital always grouped the timesharing channels together on the same EPG slot, yet the BBC managed to split them and reconfigure in around 5 mins. .

For all but the last few months of ITV Digital's existence they didn't. It was only when CBBC and Cbeebies started that the EPG positions were split

Yes, but it proved there was no technical reason why it couldn't happen (same platform, same hella clunky STB firmware...)


Not quite the same platform, the BBC added a 7 day EPG layer when it morphed into Freeview. OnD was only basic Now and Next.
IN
Interceptor
Markymark posted:
Interceptor posted:
Inspector Sands posted:
For all but the last few months of ITV Digital's existence they didn't. It was only when CBBC and Cbeebies started that the EPG positions were split

Yes, but it proved there was no technical reason why it couldn't happen (same platform, same hella clunky STB firmware...)


Not quite the same platform, the BBC added a 7 day EPG layer when it morphed into Freeview. OnD was only basic Now and Next.

CBBC and CBeebies started life on the DTT platform, in Feb 2002 while ITV Digital had the reigns over it. It wasn't until October that Freeview was launched (ITV Digital went under in April/May) and I'm pretty sure the 7 day EPG was still some way off at that point.
MA
Markymark
Interceptor posted:
Markymark posted:
Interceptor posted:
Yes, but it proved there was no technical reason why it couldn't happen (same platform, same hella clunky STB firmware...)


Not quite the same platform, the BBC added a 7 day EPG layer when it morphed into Freeview. OnD was only basic Now and Next.

CBBC and CBeebies started life on the DTT platform, in Feb 2002 while ITV Digital had the reigns over it. It wasn't until October that Freeview was launched (ITV Digital went under in April/May) and I'm pretty sure the 7 day EPG was still some way off at that point.


Yes, I now think you're right, it did take a while to get it going
IS
Inspector Sands
Interceptor posted:

Yes, but it proved there was no technical reason why it couldn't happen (same platform, same hella clunky STB firmware...)

Not on the STB end, it may have been that the BBC had or invested in newer kit/software that enabled them to.... whereas ITV DIgital had other priorities at that point
BR
Brekkie
As for Freeview now (how gloriously off topic we are!) other than the late night timeshifting place holders and the odd shopping channel I don't think there is much timeshifting other than CBBC, CITV and CBeebies.

Back to the original and don't remember that at all, though GMTV wasn't part of my routine at all growing up.

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