Film, Media & TV0 min ago
Channel 5 in Ireland
5 Answers
Why do C5 go to such lengths not to be shown in the Irish Republic? With an Irish card in my Sky box I can't get C5 when I try to manually tune it but I have heard that I can if I take my card out first I could get it if I really wanted to.
Why does C5 not like being viewed in Ireland when BBC, ITV and C4 don't mind?
Why does C5 not like being viewed in Ireland when BBC, ITV and C4 don't mind?
Answers
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ITV and C4 have commercial arrangements whereby they're paid by Irish cable operators who wish to include those stations in their line-up. However that means that, when purchasing programmes from production companies, they have to pay for the Irish broadcasting rights, as well as the UK ones.
Channel 5 doesn't have such a commercial arrangement, so it doesn't purchase the Irish broadcasting rights from production companies.
Further, there are probably historic reasons why a Sky box might have problems with receiving Channel 5. Prior to 5th November 2008 the station was unusual in that it was 'free to view', rather than 'free to air'. While 'free to air' channels can be received through any suitable satellite box (because they're unencrypted), 'free to view' channels require a box with a valid card inserted (to decode the encrypted signals). So the way that a Sky box handled Channel 5 signals was always different to the way in which it handled most other channels. (I suspect that the reason why the signals were originally encrypted was precisely to ensure that only UK Sky cards would work, rather than Irish ones, because of the broadcasting rights issue I've referred to earlier).
Now that Channel 5 is 'free to air', it should (despite the issues over broadcasting rights) be available anywhere within the footprint of the Astra 2D satellite by using a 'basic' digi-box (which is possibly why you've been advised to take the card out, as its presence might result in the box blocking a channel which used to be encrypted). The information you require for manual tuning is in the right-hand column here:
http://en.wikipedia.o...channels_at_28%C2%B0E
Chris
Channel 5 doesn't have such a commercial arrangement, so it doesn't purchase the Irish broadcasting rights from production companies.
Further, there are probably historic reasons why a Sky box might have problems with receiving Channel 5. Prior to 5th November 2008 the station was unusual in that it was 'free to view', rather than 'free to air'. While 'free to air' channels can be received through any suitable satellite box (because they're unencrypted), 'free to view' channels require a box with a valid card inserted (to decode the encrypted signals). So the way that a Sky box handled Channel 5 signals was always different to the way in which it handled most other channels. (I suspect that the reason why the signals were originally encrypted was precisely to ensure that only UK Sky cards would work, rather than Irish ones, because of the broadcasting rights issue I've referred to earlier).
Now that Channel 5 is 'free to air', it should (despite the issues over broadcasting rights) be available anywhere within the footprint of the Astra 2D satellite by using a 'basic' digi-box (which is possibly why you've been advised to take the card out, as its presence might result in the box blocking a channel which used to be encrypted). The information you require for manual tuning is in the right-hand column here:
http://en.wikipedia.o...channels_at_28%C2%B0E
Chris
Mike:
The frequency allocations for TV broadcasts were originally allocated under a plan which only allowed for four channels. That plan couldn't be easily altered as to do so would mean that other users of the radio spectrum (e.g. the emergency services, taxi companies, utility companies, amateur radio enthusiasts, coastguards, etc) would have to give up some of their frequencies. Further, because signals from transmitters in the south-east of England carry across the channel, agreement would have to have been obtained from the French, Belgian and Dutch governments to change their frequencies as well (Which, in turn would have meant that the other countries on their borders would also have to change, and so on).
So Channel 5 was 'squeezed in' (but only in certain parts of the country) by using low-powered transmitters and reallocating the frequency used by video recorders to send a signal to the aerial socket of a TV. But it was never going to be anything other than a 'make do' solution until satellite TV and digital terrestrial TV arrived.
Chris
The frequency allocations for TV broadcasts were originally allocated under a plan which only allowed for four channels. That plan couldn't be easily altered as to do so would mean that other users of the radio spectrum (e.g. the emergency services, taxi companies, utility companies, amateur radio enthusiasts, coastguards, etc) would have to give up some of their frequencies. Further, because signals from transmitters in the south-east of England carry across the channel, agreement would have to have been obtained from the French, Belgian and Dutch governments to change their frequencies as well (Which, in turn would have meant that the other countries on their borders would also have to change, and so on).
So Channel 5 was 'squeezed in' (but only in certain parts of the country) by using low-powered transmitters and reallocating the frequency used by video recorders to send a signal to the aerial socket of a TV. But it was never going to be anything other than a 'make do' solution until satellite TV and digital terrestrial TV arrived.
Chris
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