TV New ITV HD channels! .... er hang on?

old.user4556

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Well,

Freesat launched in mid-2008, I was an early adopter as I'm not that big into TV but was looking to get maybe 5 to 10 decent HD channels (eventually): BBC HD, ITV HD, Channel 4 HD, E4 HD with maybe BBC 2 HD and News 24 HD down the line. Two years on and still a fucking pawltry selection of two channels, just two!!. Even then, BBC HD just shows rehashed shite most of the time.

So, you can expect my excitement when I FINALLY heard this morning that the rest of ITV's mediocre channels were going to be available in HD, it got me thinking that the BBC would follow suit and I'd get my "5 to 10 channels". But no, they're going to be exclusive to Sky just like Channel 4 HD and E4 HD (also available on Virgin). Well suck my cock.

Q&A: ITV's new HD channels | This is Money

What is / was the fucking point in Freeview HD or Freesat HD? A total white elephant. I'm just tired of the utterly botched HD TV situation and I feel like a mug for buying into it early. I'm not angry at Sky, I guess if you want good HD TV, you need to pay for it. I just wish Murdoch would buy out the Beeb, scrap the licence fee and if you want TV you can get a basic Sky package for licence-fee-per-month money but with some decent HD content on "basic channels".

(...then there is the downloadable content angle which I am all for given the quality of the 720p downloads I've seen lately...)

Thoughts?
 

Ch3tan

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Not a surprise, sky and virgin will continue to monopolise HD channels to ensure they have a usp. Until oftel decides it's not cricket, then you are stuck with it.
 

Ch3tan

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Well,
looking to get maybe 5 to 10 decent HD channels (eventually):


ITV 2, 3 and 4 decent? LOL

(yes I know I have taken your post out of context :) )

You aren't missing anything, they won't be showing any actual HD content, you know it will just be scaled SD. And just look at the shite they actually show on those channels!

There are only a few channels worth having in HD, Sy-Fy and FX, BBC, ITV1 (only for footy though), Euro-sports HD and sky sports HD. The rest are meh.
 

Deebs

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Hopefully after 2012 the BBC licence fee will get scrapped and then you can decide where you want to spend your money. Personally I am all for it, I am happy to pay the BBC for 40% of their programming but I am not going to fund that fucking crap known as Eastenders for anyone.
 

Turamber

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Hopefully after 2012 the BBC licence fee will get scrapped and then you can decide where you want to spend your money. Personally I am all for it, I am happy to pay the BBC for 40% of their programming but I am not going to fund that fucking crap known as Eastenders for anyone.

Bit off-topic but I worry that stuff like Coast-to-Coast, Coast and The Normans would be dropped by a changed BBC and more shit like Eastenders put on. I rather like the breadth of programmes shown on the Beeb, I'd be worried that they'd become another channel 5 with populist low brow crap.
 

nath

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Bit off-topic but I worry that stuff like Coast-to-Coast, Coast and The Normans would be dropped by a changed BBC and more shit like Eastenders put on. I rather like the breadth of programmes shown on the Beeb, I'd be worried that they'd become another channel 5 with populist low brow crap.
Quite. Despite its flaws, the beeb is the best TV network in the world, as far as I'm aware and in my not tremendously humble opinion anyway. If the license fee were replaced with a subscription service it would almost certainly start to cater for the lowest common denominator and that means reality TV type shite.

Just like with capital punishment, the great unwashed shouldn't get a vote on whether we keep the license fee or not. They don't realise what's good for them so fuck 'em.

I just wish Murdoch would buy out the Beeb, scrap the licence fee and if you want TV you can get a basic Sky package for licence-fee-per-month money but with some decent HD content on "basic channels".

You want that insane **** running the beeb? Are you out of your freaking mind?
 

Deebs

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Excuse me? The great unwashed? I am happy to pay to watch TV and if the BBC decided to split up into "soap trash", "documentaries", "drama" I know 2 of which I would happily subscribe to.
 

old.user4556

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Sky has me thinking.

Currently I pay:

£17 a month line rental to BT
£12.50 a month to O2 broadband - up to 8 Mbit

£29.50 in total

I could pay:

£11 a month Sky line rental
£7.50 a month Sky BB - up to 20 Mbit
£18 a month basic Sky sub (free HD pack, free Sky HD PVR, free installation)

£36.50 in total, a mere £7 a month more for faster BB, a chunk more HD and HD recording functionality.

Tempted.
 

nath

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Excuse me? The great unwashed? I am happy to pay to watch TV and if the BBC decided to split up into "soap trash", "documentaries", "drama" I know 2 of which I would happily subscribe to.

Yeah but there simply wouldn't be enough subscribers to keep it going without adverts, that fundamentally changes the way its programming would work. I'm not saying the beeb is perfect but it's certainly better than the rest and that's due to how it's funded.
 

Wazzerphuk

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And yet they still can't make a good, serious drama for shit.
 

Calaen

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Sky has me thinking.

Currently I pay:

£17 a month line rental to BT
£12.50 a month to O2 broadband - up to 8 Mbit

£29.50 in total

I could pay:

£11 a month Sky line rental
£7.50 a month Sky BB - up to 20 Mbit
£18 a month basic Sky sub (free HD pack, free Sky HD PVR, free installation)

£36.50 in total, a mere £7 a month more for faster BB, a chunk more HD and HD recording functionality.

Tempted.

Is that including the raise of £3 pounds that sky is throwing on the top of everyones bills next month? They are trying to make up for the fact their interactive tv is fucking shit in comparison to Virgin media!!

Sky Anytime is the biggest joke in the world of on demand tv, yeah you can watch stuff on demand, but it's gotta be stuff we have picked at random for you!!!! Virgins on demand services are in a different league, free music when you want it, free tv series, updates every couple of months so you can follow the whole thing through, stuff in HD also. I really hope the extra money on top of the 80 quid I pay for at the moment gets me an on demand service that I can actually use!!!
 

Wazzerphuk

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Saw it, posted about it. Decent, watchable - but would you really watch it again? It was pretty flawed.
 

Ch3tan

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Is that including the raise of £3 pounds that sky is throwing on the top of everyones bills next month? They are trying to make up for the fact their interactive tv is fucking shit in comparison to Virgin media!!

Sky Anytime is the biggest joke in the world of on demand tv, yeah you can watch stuff on demand, but it's gotta be stuff we have picked at random for you!!!! Virgins on demand services are in a different league, free music when you want it, free tv series, updates every couple of months so you can follow the whole thing through, stuff in HD also. I really hope the extra money on top of the 80 quid I pay for at the moment gets me an on demand service that I can actually use!!!

Virgins on demand is excellent, but as an ISP they are draconian. They also charge way too much for their top packages.

As for the £3 increase, I have not had a letter about that to my house, you know that if they increase your contract you can probably terminate the contract at no charge if you disagree with the change?
 

GReaper

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ITV barely has the content to fill ITV1, there is the occasional watchable programme on one of the other ITV channels - but certainly not anything of any quality to justify it. They've also hardly got any HD content on ITV1, they'll probably only have a few shows on ITV2/3/4 which are in HD as well.

This feels like it's just an attention grabbing headline by ITV. Content is king - and ITV just doesn't have it. They've been becoming increasingly irrelevant over the years apart from just a few shows.
 

MYstIC G

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Check around. There were rumours somewhere that they were going to drop the HD £10 a month fees sometime soon.
 

MYstIC G

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Oh and the £3 thing, I can find nothing but a €3 bump for irish subscribers?
 

Roo Stercogburn

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Saw it, posted about it. Decent, watchable - but would you really watch it again? It was pretty flawed.

Largely I agree that 90% of what is on the Beeb is purest shit but then I am not a big TV watcher. They pull the odd rabbit out of the hat though and Luther is just rabbity enough I felt to be worth mentioning :)

I'm not sure whether this makes them worth the license fee or not. I'm not selfish enough to think that just because they don't cater exclusively to my tastes that in principle the license fee is not a good idea.

However, its hard for me to argue against abolishing the license fee because I'm not convinced they justify it and since I pay for so many other media in other places I do slightly begrudge the fee for the very little service I personally receive.
 

Raven

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Is that including the raise of £3 pounds that sky is throwing on the top of everyones bills next month? They are trying to make up for the fact their interactive tv is fucking shit in comparison to Virgin media!!

Sky Anytime is the biggest joke in the world of on demand tv, yeah you can watch stuff on demand, but it's gotta be stuff we have picked at random for you!!!! Virgins on demand services are in a different league, free music when you want it, free tv series, updates every couple of months so you can follow the whole thing through, stuff in HD also. I really hope the extra money on top of the 80 quid I pay for at the moment gets me an on demand service that I can actually use!!!

To be fair, who gives a monkeys arse hole about interactive TV? The internet = on demand TV anyway. And £80? What on earth on? Porno subs?

I only have sky for the football, doesn't really matter about the rest of it, it makes no difference which supplier is broadcasting the overall dreadful TV output.

As for the licence fee, you would get better value for money buying the dvd boxsets of any decent BBC output, a couple of decent dramas a year and the odd nature series, the comedy is not funny any more, hasn't been since the early 90s. Their web service is a joke and their radio is cringe worthy. I would rather not pay it and not receive any "free" BBC content, just buy what I want to watch.
 

Ch3tan

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To be fair, who gives a monkeys arse hole about interactive TV? The internet = on demand TV anyway. And £80? What on earth on? Porno subs?

I only have sky for the football, doesn't really matter about the rest of it, it makes no difference which supplier is broadcasting the overall dreadful TV output.

As for the licence fee, you would get better value for money buying the dvd boxsets of any decent BBC output, their web service is a joke and their radio is cringe worthy. I would rather not pay it and not receive any "free" BBC content, just buy what I want to watch.

you have to have had virgin on demand to appreciate it, it's instant, it's there. It has ITV, BBC and channel 4 and 5 on demand (iplayer, 5 player, 4od etc) all there, it has the best picks of the weeks TV, lots of movie and music stuff, and lots of HD content. It's very user friendly, something that the internet is not always.
 

Raven

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Yeah but its still rubbish, why would I want rubbish on demand?
 

Ch3tan

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Yes but you are worse than Wazz for finding things not to your taste.
 

Wazzerphuk

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I've noticed that my Virgin on-demand stuff isn't really updating C4 on the catch up stuff. Annoying.
 

PLightstar

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I've noticed that Channel 4/E4 stuff tends to be day or two late. Aside from that still think it is a brilliant service. I don't pay for a Virgin + box so it comes in handy with many series I watch, especially things like Top Gear or How I met your mother, where I forget or don't have time to watch it and can choose to watch at another time more convenient to me. Its great for my GF who often works late, she can catch up on her Hollyoaks and strange documentaries about people who have botched surgery or 3 heads on her days off. Virgin keep sending me info about upgrading to HD but until I see more channels and cheaper prices I will keep turning them down.
 

MYstIC G

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Sky have all the HBO stuff though. So nuts to Virgin.

Sky anytime is indeed utter gash, Sky player isn't so awful though.

I don't claim to know what the horsepower of the set top boxes is (probably nil) but I'd imagine going forward Sky's goal is that you'll be able to stream shit from them which will assist them in tying you into a broadband package.
 

Ch3tan

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Which HBO stuff, thought they had the same channels with most US stuff...
 

MYstIC G

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Some deal about basically all HBO stuff for the next 5 years.
 

Wazzerphuk

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I've noticed that Channel 4/E4 stuff tends to be day or two late. Aside from that still think it is a brilliant service. I don't pay for a Virgin + box so it comes in handy with many series I watch, especially things like Top Gear or How I met your mother, where I forget or don't have time to watch it and can choose to watch at another time more convenient to me. Its great for my GF who often works late, she can catch up on her Hollyoaks and strange documentaries about people who have botched surgery or 3 heads on her days off. Virgin keep sending me info about upgrading to HD but until I see more channels and cheaper prices I will keep turning them down.

We have stuff from C4 that's 5-6-7 days old and not on there at all. :(
 

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