How Many Satellite Dishes Have Been Turned Down?
You may remember in the UK one of the big advantages of British Satellite Broadcasting when it started approx 18 years ago was that the dishes were tiny and almost invisible. Another was that we were being promised a high quality signal sound and vision and five extra channels including sport and a dedicated movie channel.
Then Murdoch stepped in and decided to buy transponders on an Astra Satellite positioned more directly over the European continent offering more channels and choice plus the option that you could see some foreign channels too. And over the years as more of these satellites were launched into the same position there was more and more channels on offer. The downside being that the dish had to be quite a size and there was no way it could be easily hidden.
This resulted in lines of houses and flats all having large dishes on show. Many households were taken in by cowboys who wanted to install dishes as quickly as possibly so where they could've been hidden better but it would've taken longer to complete the job they were told the opposite.
Some problems were caused by local authorities and councils objecting and refusing planning permission.
Sky won the day and became the main and in the end only real satellite broadcaster for the UK. BSB was bought out and Sky took on the BSB name changing the middle name from Satellite to Sky. What also helped Sky succeed was a number of promotional deals offering free installation and often free systems given away to households.
The head quarters of BSB(the original home of the now defunct company)was sold off and taken over by QVC(the home shopping channel who are still in that building)Their satellite was moved and purchased by broadcasters in the Scandinavia which used it to carry their own programming to their viewers.
We move on some 12 years approx and improvements in technology saw Sky being able to supply and offer a similar promotion to new and existing customers and now there are many, many more channels available and services with the advantage of a much smaller dishes placed on houses and the weather now has to be absolutely the worst that you can imagine for the picture to break up, the old system could during rainstorms suffer with lots of spots or loss the picture altogether.
The only problem being that Sky had satellite broadcasting sown up. But with various promises of new ways of receiving tv and radio, competition may still open up again but then we get into whether the UK is going down the best route again. Is Ofcom and the government seeing £ signs in the eyes again and putting revenue above more important issues? That they want to sell off the analogue radio spectrum for other business to buy or rent. That they are not picking the best system of broadcasting and receiving signals in comparison to the rest of the world.
Its been admitted that digital radio if continued as it is needs more transmitters placed around the country to get a strong enough signal across the whole of the UK. Even then some areas will never have a strong signal(I have seen people in Scotland say that they have been told that Digital radio will never be available)even though AM/FM does reach them now. The problem being that as DAB radio is run by commercial companies no one seems to have said "You have to build new transmitters" they can decide not to from what I understand. I understand that as the local multiplexes are also commercially run they were told to carry the local BBC Radio stations on their transmitter.
And the same problem exists with Freeview which many are choosing to get television as the transmitters are turned off. Ofcom reckons as many as one in ten households will find that they are unable to receive all the channels and again more transmitters are required but so far no one is promising to build them.
So initially the title of this blog was about how many dishes were refused planning permission...it appears that the Government have rubber stamped some simplifications on seventy things that once needed permission for installation but now probably will go through on a nod and a wink or without asking for permission and one such change is satellite dishes. It appears that you can in most cases(depending on size)put two dishes onto a property and if you take care on where it is situated even homes in a conservation/preservation area will now be allowed to installed a dish. I suppose if the Government and Ofcom are pressing for people to switch to digital, they probably had to make the switch over easier and could not really object to people needing to erect a dish so they can receive a decent television and radio signal and a greater choice of entertainment.
So Sky will either become even more powerful or perhaps we may see the new and often promised satellite system offered as a co project between the BBC and Commercial television in the UK and I understand it will carry all BBC and ITV/C4/C5 stations radio and television for free. Thus giving an alternative to paying a monthly subscription to Sky. I suspect that many other stations carried by Sky could jump to and be allowed to broadcast on this alternative system because their carriage will be lower than what Sky charges but I see the most important thing being that this needs to be launched as quickly as possible and a big promotion done.
On the other hand just as with the BBC I have concerns with Sky, my problem is that thanks to both these broadcasters whilst in some ways I can see disadvantages that have affected broadcasting and in many cases made affording access to television and radio more expensive and some check needs to be put there to protect the audience, I have to admit that my main listening of radio is still BBC produced and then thanks to satellite I am now watching and listening to BBC programmes from locations not aimed at my area. So I will speak up in favour of some of what has happened...for now.
If Freesat offers what I want at a lower cost or for free as the name suggests, I may very well switch myself.
Then Murdoch stepped in and decided to buy transponders on an Astra Satellite positioned more directly over the European continent offering more channels and choice plus the option that you could see some foreign channels too. And over the years as more of these satellites were launched into the same position there was more and more channels on offer. The downside being that the dish had to be quite a size and there was no way it could be easily hidden.
This resulted in lines of houses and flats all having large dishes on show. Many households were taken in by cowboys who wanted to install dishes as quickly as possibly so where they could've been hidden better but it would've taken longer to complete the job they were told the opposite.
Some problems were caused by local authorities and councils objecting and refusing planning permission.
Sky won the day and became the main and in the end only real satellite broadcaster for the UK. BSB was bought out and Sky took on the BSB name changing the middle name from Satellite to Sky. What also helped Sky succeed was a number of promotional deals offering free installation and often free systems given away to households.
The head quarters of BSB(the original home of the now defunct company)was sold off and taken over by QVC(the home shopping channel who are still in that building)Their satellite was moved and purchased by broadcasters in the Scandinavia which used it to carry their own programming to their viewers.
We move on some 12 years approx and improvements in technology saw Sky being able to supply and offer a similar promotion to new and existing customers and now there are many, many more channels available and services with the advantage of a much smaller dishes placed on houses and the weather now has to be absolutely the worst that you can imagine for the picture to break up, the old system could during rainstorms suffer with lots of spots or loss the picture altogether.
The only problem being that Sky had satellite broadcasting sown up. But with various promises of new ways of receiving tv and radio, competition may still open up again but then we get into whether the UK is going down the best route again. Is Ofcom and the government seeing £ signs in the eyes again and putting revenue above more important issues? That they want to sell off the analogue radio spectrum for other business to buy or rent. That they are not picking the best system of broadcasting and receiving signals in comparison to the rest of the world.
Its been admitted that digital radio if continued as it is needs more transmitters placed around the country to get a strong enough signal across the whole of the UK. Even then some areas will never have a strong signal(I have seen people in Scotland say that they have been told that Digital radio will never be available)even though AM/FM does reach them now. The problem being that as DAB radio is run by commercial companies no one seems to have said "You have to build new transmitters" they can decide not to from what I understand. I understand that as the local multiplexes are also commercially run they were told to carry the local BBC Radio stations on their transmitter.
And the same problem exists with Freeview which many are choosing to get television as the transmitters are turned off. Ofcom reckons as many as one in ten households will find that they are unable to receive all the channels and again more transmitters are required but so far no one is promising to build them.
So initially the title of this blog was about how many dishes were refused planning permission...it appears that the Government have rubber stamped some simplifications on seventy things that once needed permission for installation but now probably will go through on a nod and a wink or without asking for permission and one such change is satellite dishes. It appears that you can in most cases(depending on size)put two dishes onto a property and if you take care on where it is situated even homes in a conservation/preservation area will now be allowed to installed a dish. I suppose if the Government and Ofcom are pressing for people to switch to digital, they probably had to make the switch over easier and could not really object to people needing to erect a dish so they can receive a decent television and radio signal and a greater choice of entertainment.
So Sky will either become even more powerful or perhaps we may see the new and often promised satellite system offered as a co project between the BBC and Commercial television in the UK and I understand it will carry all BBC and ITV/C4/C5 stations radio and television for free. Thus giving an alternative to paying a monthly subscription to Sky. I suspect that many other stations carried by Sky could jump to and be allowed to broadcast on this alternative system because their carriage will be lower than what Sky charges but I see the most important thing being that this needs to be launched as quickly as possible and a big promotion done.
On the other hand just as with the BBC I have concerns with Sky, my problem is that thanks to both these broadcasters whilst in some ways I can see disadvantages that have affected broadcasting and in many cases made affording access to television and radio more expensive and some check needs to be put there to protect the audience, I have to admit that my main listening of radio is still BBC produced and then thanks to satellite I am now watching and listening to BBC programmes from locations not aimed at my area. So I will speak up in favour of some of what has happened...for now.
If Freesat offers what I want at a lower cost or for free as the name suggests, I may very well switch myself.
posted by The Great Gildersleeve | 2:01 pm
2 Comments:
When we first got SKY about eight or nine years ago you could tune it into other satellite stations that were affiliates of Astra but not actually available on Sky. There used to be a website which gave you all the locations and using the handset you could go into a field called 'owners preferences' on the TV screen and add channels - that isn't there anymore as far as I can see.
Such sites still exist and I understand with another LNB riding piggy backor having a slightly larger dish you can use the one dish to get stations from Europe but as the Sky box only uses certain frequencies not all would be viewable using the Sky box but some are.
Such websites with details of what's out there and where are still available but yes, there is the facility on Sky boxes to add quite a few extra's I have all of the BBC and ITV local stations across the country and BBC1 and BBC2 services as seen in Wales, Scotland and N. Ireland so I can see programmes that they show when they opt out of the main service as supplied from London.
And hidden away in the settings I can also tune into BBC Radio London. But its not as if they help you with the information required.
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