Cablecom HDTV service (+ channel info)

Tech, TV, Mobile, Internet and Geek Corner
21
go speak to the wasserwerk shop in the metalli building in zug, im sure they can clue you in.

22
I just noticed the following quote which i found on the internet....

ProSiebenSat.1 drops HD channels

18 Feb 08

Country: Germany

Topics: High definition television (HDTV), Pay television

Source: Online Services/Intelligence/TV and Broadband/Updates

ProSiebenSat.1 is to scrap its two HDTV simulcast channels, ProSieben HD and Sat.1 HD, dealing a blow to the development of HDTV in Germany. The surprise decision led to immediate outcry among German platform operators as the move leaves just one free-to-air HD channel in the German market: the small Anixe HD channel. It is likely that no other major free channel will launch before 2010, when ProSiebenSat.1 plans to re-launch services and both ARD and ZDF are planning to launch HD feeds in time for Vancouver Winter Olympics. Our take...

The termination of ProSiebenSat.1 HD channels is a vote of no confidence in German HD TV. The group was an HD pioneer in Europe, launching its HD feeds as early as October 2005. ProSieben blamed the termination of the channels on a disappointing consumer uptake (only 150,000 homes watching the HD feeds, through cable or satellite after two years of operation). The audience was too small to justify the uplink and transmission costs. Despite the set-back, ProSieben hinted that it will re-launch the channels in 2010, by which time it will have extra transponder capacity and the HD-ready market should have developed.

ProSieben's move represents yet another blow for pay TV operator Premiere, which is also having trouble selling HD to the German public. Its HD package added just two further pay HD channels to those offered by ProSieben. Premiere reached just 110,000 HD subscribers at the end of 2007 after two full years offering the package. Premiere HD quarterly additions are currently running at 15,000, compared to 60,000 for BSkyB in the UK. Due to the lack of HD content in Germany, we forecast only 4.6m HD homes (of which 750,000 for Premiere) in Germany by 2012, or 12 per cent of the population, half our Western Europe average forecast uptake (25 per cent).

In stark contrast to Germany, Austria will kick-start its HD migration in the next few weeks as public broadcaster ORF introduces an ORF1 simulcast before the UEFA Soccer Championship due to take place this summer in Austria and Switzerland. The feed should begin on free satellite and rapidly become available through IPTV (trials are already underway with Telekom Austria) and digital cable.

23
Now, didnt Cablecom have these channels on their HDTV service?

I just checked their TV guide and now the only cablecom hdtv channels are HD Suisse, BBC HD, Anixe HD and National Geographic HD.....

so have cablecom already dropped two channels....???

and isnt Nat Geo HD quite a cool new addition??? Seems like quite a lot of content in English.

krlock3

24
Yes cablecom did have them, and dropped the two channels. The subscribers are really pissed off, but it's not cablecom's fault of course. They replaced them with natgeo (that it's not free) and anixe, and again the people are pissed off because anixe airs mostly old stuff, while pro7 and sat1 aired much better programs.

25
from my memory, anixe was part of the original lineup and not a replacement for anything. therefore they scrapped two channels, i would say clearly the two main channels, and have replaced it with one new one, which is a documentary channel rather than major channel.

wow. unbelievable.

26
Here the discussion on a users' forum (warning - German inside):

http://www.cablemodem.ch/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7570

People are really pissed off

27
not nearly as annoyed as they should be (or i would be)!

28
No, Cablecom did not 'drop' the channels (Pro7.HD and Sat1.HD).

Pro7.HD and Sat1.HD decided that HDTV was not a good business to be in, and the TV station switched off the channels themselves.

See http://www.digitalfernsehen.de/news/news_258952.html

Cablecom could do nothing about it.

Neither could any other cable TV company in Europe that was distributing the Pro7.HD and Sat1.HD channels.

Everyone Europe-wide lost the channels, because the makers decided to switch them off.

29
You can't really blame Cablecom.

Pro7 and Sat1 stopped broadcasting. And there is no good FTA channel they could bring.

30
Well, all the good FTA channels are already on Cablecom.

There are no more good FTA channels left.....

31
how short sighted to drop those channels.

32
Well, Pro7.HD and Sat1.HD believe they have strong commercial reasons not to broadcast in HD at this time.

Cablecom didn't want them to stop, nobody really did. But maybe the advertisers don't want to pay extra for HD ads?

Maybe the public are not buying HD receivers at a fast enough rate?

At the end of the day, running a TV station is a commercial business, and Pro7.HD and Sat1.HD obviously couldn't get the numbers to work.

That's cutting edge for you - sometimes you bleed...

33
Of course consumers are not buying HD receivers.

And therefore of course they couldnt get the numbers to work.

This because

a) most of the channels are filler.... so you pay through the nose for something that just produces pretty pictures and not content.

b) clever station owners overcharge to make up the shortfall in customer take up by OVERCHARGING. this means even less people buy or rent the receivers.

c) lets then offer better technology with less features... for example when are are used to hard drive recorders and digital tv, lets release hdtv with absolutely recording facilities, and then wonder why not many people take it up. maybe we need to dust off our VCR ́s again?

net result, close two probably very expensive channels after about 1 year.

now, if they offered hdtv marginally more expensive, with proper content, and recording or extra facilities, im sure cablecom and other operators would be making headway.

34
That's the conclusion I came to several years ago with my satellite dish. All it brought me for free above Cablecom was the Beeb radio, and once I found that accessible over the internet the dish became redundant.

35
Except they block the football and other sporting events over the internet streams so a dish is still the best way to get the bbc radio stations

36
That's a very valid point. The satellite version of BBC World Service was also subtly different from the one that came over cable (and better in my opinion).

37
I want to bump this because I want to know if anyone actually has this??

Cablecom have reduced the price for 6 months to 7,50 for the HD receiver, but still only advertise the 3 channels. On the TV guide they list 4 channels (National Geographic HD being the 4th).

Can anyone confirm what they get? If no-one has it I'll probably just give them a call in the afternoon, but wouldn't mind getting a first-hand opinion first.

Cheers.

38
I got it. National Geographic starts beginning of May, the rest of the programming is pretty limited. BBC HD has a promo that runs and some programs inbetween. Anixe runs mostly reruns of old sitcoms and the ocassional film. HD Suisse runs the helicopter roamings around Switzerland between doc, films and stuff, some stuff is repeated. It's fun to have HD, but get a BluRay and buy DVDs if you want more.

39

Thanks for that. HD is at its best for sport and nature programs. Think I'll wait another month and get it in time for Euro 2008 and the Olympics. Blu-Ray will have to drop big time in price (the movies) before I consider that. I have a decent upscaling DVD player and heimkino system that I certainly can live with for the time being.

40
im still waiting for the recorder that they said would be coming, for hdtv.