Timeline: 2024 Week 3

A round-up of the week’s stories and observations.

• TUE 16TH JAN (9PM)
  ITV reshuffles SD services on to single transponder
• WED 17TH JAN (12.20PM)
  Migration of BBC Radio to DVB-S now complete

Tuesday 16th January

9pm ITV reshuffles SD services on to single transponder

ITV has brought together all its remaining SD channels on to one satellite transponder. SD is now mostly being kept alive for +1 channels.

STV meanwhile has confirmed the absence of STV Dundee (Tayside) from FTA satellite is “temporary”. The SD service closed last week, but the HD version is still encrypted.

Courtesy @a516digital.

Wednesday 17th January

12.20pm Migration of BBC Radio to DVB-S now complete

The BBC has completed the migration of its radio stations on satellite, from DVB-S to DVB-S2.

Some users, particularly abroad, have wondered why the BBC hasn’t used the opportunity to improve or upgrade the audio codec, like other PSBs have done in Europe.

The reason: the BBC is aggressively pushing all IP-delivery above all else.

So the recent HD upgrade was the last big upgrade on traditional TV platforms. The UK’s effectively closed satellite TV market means the BBC can easily push the BBC Sounds app to newer receivers on the two platforms, Sky and Freesat.

If listeners want better quality, they have to use BBC Sounds.

Once a listener has migrated to BBC Sounds, they won’t notice so much in future years that the satellite signal has been turned off *.

* The satellites used for Sky UK/RoI and Freesat UK reach end of life later this decade, so it’s a natural point to end the service. Any Freesat user switching to Freely will be automatically pushed to IP by the BBC, receiving BBC via internet and other channels via satellite.

Courtesy @a516digital.

RELATED ARTICLE: Timeline: 2024 Week 2.

RELATED ARTICLE: Timeline: 2024 Week 4.

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