Scottish Independence

Thanks for posting, I found this very interesting. I guess it depends on how much Licence Fee could be collected in an independent Scotland and whether these channels have advertising. Although these examples sound the best way, it'll be interesting to see what an independent Scotland could actually afford when it comes to PSB channels.

We might get one BBC channel if we do the unthinkable and leave the UK. In theory we would be able to receive (legally) BBC World News as technically we wouldn't be a part of the UK anymore...Or am I on the wrong wavelength?

Well I don't think Scotland will be regarded as a foreign country even if they do vote Yes. Under UK law (Ireland Act 1949) The Republic of Ireland isn't a foreign country. I presume the Scots will get the same deal. So Scottish TV could continue to be discussed as if it was Domestic Television.

Ireland is very complicated because of the Northern Ireland issue. (Good Friday agreement et al.)

I suspect Scotland will be significantly different. Particularly if they aren't in the EU. We could end up with some complicated set-up like the Nordic nations have between EU Nordic members (Sweden, Denmark, Finland) and non-EU Norway.

You can legally recieve BBC WN now if you point a dish in the right direction (although the BBC aren't mad keen on you doing that) but I get what you mean, the channel would probably appear on Scottish cable tv and maybe even DTT.

Many Scots will still want to receive UK domestic channels and will still be able to unless Freesat is abandoned (unlikely) or the spot is broadcast more narrowly over the new UK.

Isn't Freesat postcode restricted?

As is SkyDigital. One assumes any card with a Scottish postcode will change to receive Scottish Sky, likewise viewers with English postcodes will have Scottish channels blacked out, probably including STV via Other Channels.

Yes, because the Freesat (and Sky) EPG systems are proprietary, so receiver behaviour can be controlled by the broadcaster, but any vanilla DVB-S/S2 receiver will receive anything that's FTA. It's only the UK that tends to have this level of control freakery regarding EPG positions and geographical control.

Indeed. Elsewhere in Europe, the reception of signals from other countries is seen as perfectly normal and unremarkable, but I've noticed that some Britons get distinctly uncomfortable about the international distribution of domestic signals (or vice versa, such as watching BBC World News in the UK). I remember reading that years ago, when Republic of Ireland viewers would phone into British talk shows, the hosts would sometimes get nervous and tell them that they weren't supposed to to be watching. And in the 1990s, a friend of our family got into trouble for sending us a Sky satellite card -- authentic and paid-for, not fake -- to Slovenia by mail. (Does UK Customs not have more important things to worry about than someone outside the UK watching Sky?)

Considering that signal overspill has always been a feature of television transmission, and that 21st century Europe is so closely integrated, such attitudes can be a bit puzzling. Yes, I know that British companies export a lot of their programming to the Continent and that widespread direct reception of the British channels would hurt those exports, while also getting Hollywood upset (because of the American import son British TV), but some of the enforcement does indeed strike me as heavy-handed and petty.

Its because the programmes are in "English"

I know, but some of it does seem like an overreaction.

I know but copyright claims from those big muit-national companies don't help.