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Front-Possibility316 on
I think there being some remaining broadcast services is vitally important for redundancy and resilience in emergency situations. Internet based platforms require bidirectional communication, lots of bandwidth etc, and it’s a lot of eggs in one (particularly fragile) basket. Broadcast like radio and traditional TV requires vastly less complex infrastructure to manage.
We still weren’t able to successfully blast out the emergency alert via mobiles last time it was tested. If a major incident (think 9/11 or similar) happened today, people would still tune to BBC news to learn more and await instructions. We need to ensure that as a society we don’t switch off important things because they’re a bit of a hassle or expensive when you don’t currently need them.
LoudAd5346 on
Save you a click
“A full shift away from terrestrial television is pencilled in for 2034 under current legislation.”
Brilliant_Bowler_994 on
Ive been gone a while. I see it at my friend’s house and I literally cant believe people watch such absolute rubbish and quite frankly at times, filth. Good riddance.
saxsan4 on
So if the internet is down we can’t watch tv. Ridiculous . This must be fought
mattymattymatty96 on
Amazing! Can finally stop those pointless threat-o-grams through my door every few months.
richard-hill71 on
If there was only one or two streaming channels, not a problem. But there are too many to subscribe to. As a scifi fan theres very little streamed on any channel. I’m not paying for them all. Time to learn how to pirate. Or have the ability to just pay for what you watch.
MortimerMan2 on
Ripped out the coax that was wired into every room during a recent refurb. Don’t miss it.
Johnnyfootwrinkle on
once everything is over the internet it. the TV license will evolve into the internet license. if you don’t pay your ISP will be asked to switch your service off.
loosebolts on
It would be nice for this new Freely service to work on more devices. Why it’s not compatible with 2024 Fire TV’s, Apple TV’s etc I have no idea.
Want to turn off terrestrial? Make the alternatives more easily accessible.
bantamw on
Bearing in mind the Astra satellites are End of Life and most broadcaster’s contracts are until 2029, it would make sense that Freesat & Sky’s satellite service (legacy HD which still has customers, Q etc) will get killed around then.
That would leave Freeview which is scheduled for 2034 but again if they want to bring it forward it may well be closer to 2030.
Agreed – this is going to isolate many elderly people who only have Freeview (or places like Northern Scotland – Isle of Skye for example where they only have Freesat and Freeview is terrible) and don’t have an internet connection. I do wonder if there may have to be some initiative to get reduced price or subsidised internet into elderly people’s homes and a Freely box to enable them to watch TV.
I cancelled my Sky Q this year after 27 years of Sky as I don’t watch enough of their content (not a sports fan) to warrant the extortionate cost.
Thankfully I have a 1Tb synchronous fibre connection to my house, so I have 3 boxes;
– A 2Tb Freesat 4K box – a pretty much direct replacement for the Sky Q with the same functionality pretty much.
– A Manhattan Freely box – teeny tiny Freely box which I actually use more than the Freesat box as it’s actually excellent and works well for broadcast TV and streaming. I figured this will be my main broadcast TV box when the Freesat service is canned in a couple of years.
– An Apple TV 4K – been an Apple TV user for many years, and for streaming this is my dominant box.
Although with Freely – I still have no idea why they don’t have an app on something like Apple TV? It doesn’t need specific hardware…
TheWorldIsGoingMad on
My wife and I watch Freeview digital TV, mainly on a PVR s because it’s more convenient. It’s also free, it’s simple, it’s not dependent on the internet connection (more reliable…) and we can fast forward through the adverts…..
We will be pissed off when they turn off the signal, and even more so if the TV licence is still going then…..
matts142 on
Did they not do this 12 years ago or something where everything moved to digital etc
No_Reference3588 on
Can’t wait for daily tech support phone calls from older family members who cannot understand how any of the many different streaming apps work.
paper_zoe on
what is the benefit of getting rid of terrestrial TV? I much prefer to watch over my TV antenna than watch live on Iplayer or ITVX or whatever. Especially for live sports, as there’s always a delay with internet streaming.
saiyaniam on
There is something about watching your fave shows on live tv that the internet and on demand cant replace.
I dont want it to go.
babagroovy on
Relying on internet is crazy for those who don’t have access to it or what happens when the internet goes down?
17 Comments
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I think there being some remaining broadcast services is vitally important for redundancy and resilience in emergency situations. Internet based platforms require bidirectional communication, lots of bandwidth etc, and it’s a lot of eggs in one (particularly fragile) basket. Broadcast like radio and traditional TV requires vastly less complex infrastructure to manage.
We still weren’t able to successfully blast out the emergency alert via mobiles last time it was tested. If a major incident (think 9/11 or similar) happened today, people would still tune to BBC news to learn more and await instructions. We need to ensure that as a society we don’t switch off important things because they’re a bit of a hassle or expensive when you don’t currently need them.
Save you a click
“A full shift away from terrestrial television is pencilled in for 2034 under current legislation.”
Ive been gone a while. I see it at my friend’s house and I literally cant believe people watch such absolute rubbish and quite frankly at times, filth. Good riddance.
So if the internet is down we can’t watch tv. Ridiculous . This must be fought
Amazing! Can finally stop those pointless threat-o-grams through my door every few months.
If there was only one or two streaming channels, not a problem. But there are too many to subscribe to. As a scifi fan theres very little streamed on any channel. I’m not paying for them all. Time to learn how to pirate. Or have the ability to just pay for what you watch.
Ripped out the coax that was wired into every room during a recent refurb. Don’t miss it.
once everything is over the internet it. the TV license will evolve into the internet license. if you don’t pay your ISP will be asked to switch your service off.
It would be nice for this new Freely service to work on more devices. Why it’s not compatible with 2024 Fire TV’s, Apple TV’s etc I have no idea.
Want to turn off terrestrial? Make the alternatives more easily accessible.
Bearing in mind the Astra satellites are End of Life and most broadcaster’s contracts are until 2029, it would make sense that Freesat & Sky’s satellite service (legacy HD which still has customers, Q etc) will get killed around then.
That would leave Freeview which is scheduled for 2034 but again if they want to bring it forward it may well be closer to 2030.
Agreed – this is going to isolate many elderly people who only have Freeview (or places like Northern Scotland – Isle of Skye for example where they only have Freesat and Freeview is terrible) and don’t have an internet connection. I do wonder if there may have to be some initiative to get reduced price or subsidised internet into elderly people’s homes and a Freely box to enable them to watch TV.
I cancelled my Sky Q this year after 27 years of Sky as I don’t watch enough of their content (not a sports fan) to warrant the extortionate cost.
Thankfully I have a 1Tb synchronous fibre connection to my house, so I have 3 boxes;
– A 2Tb Freesat 4K box – a pretty much direct replacement for the Sky Q with the same functionality pretty much.
– A Manhattan Freely box – teeny tiny Freely box which I actually use more than the Freesat box as it’s actually excellent and works well for broadcast TV and streaming. I figured this will be my main broadcast TV box when the Freesat service is canned in a couple of years.
– An Apple TV 4K – been an Apple TV user for many years, and for streaming this is my dominant box.
Although with Freely – I still have no idea why they don’t have an app on something like Apple TV? It doesn’t need specific hardware…
My wife and I watch Freeview digital TV, mainly on a PVR s because it’s more convenient. It’s also free, it’s simple, it’s not dependent on the internet connection (more reliable…) and we can fast forward through the adverts…..
We will be pissed off when they turn off the signal, and even more so if the TV licence is still going then…..
Did they not do this 12 years ago or something where everything moved to digital etc
Can’t wait for daily tech support phone calls from older family members who cannot understand how any of the many different streaming apps work.
what is the benefit of getting rid of terrestrial TV? I much prefer to watch over my TV antenna than watch live on Iplayer or ITVX or whatever. Especially for live sports, as there’s always a delay with internet streaming.
There is something about watching your fave shows on live tv that the internet and on demand cant replace.
I dont want it to go.
Relying on internet is crazy for those who don’t have access to it or what happens when the internet goes down?