manxmedia Posted July 12, 2005 Share Posted July 12, 2005 In just two years time your TV might not work! Why? Because the UK Government has selected the Isle of Man and the Borders to be the first area to switch over to digital only transmissions. By now you would think the Manx Communications Commission would be raising public awareness. Making plans to help people understand what is about to happen and also helping out the older and poorer households with discounted decoders. Maybe spending some money in the press and radio explaining what is about to happen. TV’s being sold locally should now be labelled clearly that they are either “Digitally ready”, or not. Currently the Isle of Man does not have any digital TV transmitters. The Freeview boxes being sold in Index etc will only work in the West and North of the Island where TV can be picked up from UK transmitters. For an Island that markets itself as an “e” Island this is simply not good enough. What pressure is being put on the broadcasters to get Freeview here sooner rather than later? If the Island comes one of the first places to switch over to digital it makes sense that the two transmissions, analogue and digital should now be running in tandem. Not everyone will want to pay for Sky. Shouldn’t the Comms Commission be looking at reserving space on “Manx” Freeview for some sort of local television service? This could be a test bed for future local TV growth in the UK. Just think Manx Radio with pictures! Remember don’t buy a new TV without a digital decoder built in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon Posted July 12, 2005 Share Posted July 12, 2005 Remember don’t buy a new TV without a digital decoder built in. Although you could just plug a cheap set top box into your not digital tv. When the signal comes to your area. Because the UK Government has selected the Isle of Man and the Borders to be the first area to switch over to digital only transmissions. Some experimental village in Wales already went completely digital. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the-rhymes Posted July 12, 2005 Share Posted July 12, 2005 When we go digital I will finally feel like I'm getting a fair deal from my TV Licence fee. The analogue reception I have now is rubbish. And you get a better selection of channels than you do if you stop paying for Sky and just get their basic offer. You can pick up a Freeview box for £30 and I'm sure some enterprising individual will be willing to set them up for those that can't. I do feel sorry for older people who may panic about this but I have to say that my technophobe Dad is using Freeview without any problems. I'm unsure as to the merits of a local television station. Perhaps we should be producing more content rather than a full on channel right away. Edited spelling cause I'm silly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDave Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 I'm sure some enterprising individual will be willing to set them up for those that can't. I know of one guy who has left a local TV aerial and Sky installation company to set up on his own, because in a couple of years time aerial upgrades and freeview installations are going to be big money. I can already get Freeview, as can most of the coastal areas around the north east of the Island. (Although the signal sometimes breaks up depending on the weather). When the Borders region goes digital only and the analogue signal is switched off I believe the intention is to up the power on the digital transmitters, so even if the local transmitters don't go digital, those who already get their TV from UK based transmitters should benefit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loaf Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 TV hasn't worked for me for a long, long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarahc Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 Does this mean we finally get digital radio? Oh I really hope so. Sick to death of crappy Radio 5 reception. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beckett Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 It's just such a stupid idea, even if 100% of the population went Digital, it's still measured on 1 box per house. What's the average number of TVs per household these days? We have 3, and only 1 would be Digital ready! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amadeus Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 Although I'm living very close to the transmitter in Douglas, I can't get any reception here at the moment - the mast is on the hill, I'm right below it, so zero reception it is.. hence me not bothered with telly at all, and it's quite surprising how well you can live without watching telly at home - all the time you have to do more usefull things than playing couch potatoe... -snip- Just think Manx Radio with pictures!-snip- <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Are you arguing for or against digital TV with that statement? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Old Git Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 Why? Because the UK Government has selected the Isle of Man and the Borders to be the first area to switch over to digital only transmissions. Surely they'll have to actually supply the IOM with a digital signal in the first place? I see it as good news, I'll be able to get digital radio at last Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sam_iom Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 Been to the Freeview Website. After putting in my "IM" postcaode I got the following message: Sorry - we can’t seem to recognise this postcode. Please note FREEVIEW does not cover the Channel Islands or Isle of Man Some local newhounds needs to ask some questions as to what's going on. Are we never going to get the alternative to Sky? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDave Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 Why not write to them yourself? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matty Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 I do thinks it's ridiculous that we're being "pushed" towards digital only reception - totally absurd considering the majority of the Island can't even pick up a digital transmission! We're paying our license fees like the rest of the UK, yet we're getting a totally inferior service - when is this going to change???? If we could all presently get digital reception, then I wouldn't see the coming change-over a major problem, would be quite easy to phase in the set-top boxes and "Digital Ready" TV's For houses with more than 1 tv, it would be possible to use a number of "freeview" boxes, or alternatively you could feed a number of TV's from the one "freeview" box, but all TV's would have to watch the selected set top box channel. For the posts here complaining about digital radio, - if you have a Sky box, then you can use this to give you your radio feed. In fact the free to air (FTA) programmes on Sky are very similiar to the available programmes on the "freeview" boxes, the only major difference between the two is the transport mechanism of the signals - Sky comes via satellite, freeview is terrestrial like your standard analogue TV transmissions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 Some local newhounds needs to ask some questions as to what's going on. Are we never going to get the alternative to Sky? Uh? To be fair on them (the local news dogs) - they already vaguely did. Though some of the issues seemed to confuse them slightly. And the government took it up - and yes, the answer came back that the majority of the IOM will be able to get the alternative to Sky in a very few years. Um - hence this thread really if you think about it Converting the island isn't a simple business. [Old Git - the radio (ie DAB) is a quite different matter. I take it that you didn't manage to get a signal where you are. Confused by the fact that the digital radio stations are also on Freeview and satellite.] In fact the free to air (FTA) programmes on Sky are very similiar to the available programmes on the "freeview" boxes, the only major difference between the two is the transport mechanism of the signals - Sky comes via satellite, freeview is terrestrial like your standard analogue TV transmissions. And the fact that some of the most popular Freeview channels (E4 and UK TV History being the obvious examples) aren't FTA on satellite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slim Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 For the posts here complaining about digital radio, - if you have a Sky box, then you can use this to give you your radio feed. Attach a sky dish to your car? I'd like to see that. Sky's pants for radio, you want a reciever in the kitchen and stuff, not tied to your telly so nobody can change the channel while your listening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Old Git Posted July 13, 2005 Share Posted July 13, 2005 [Old Git - the radio (ie DAB) is a quite different matter. I take it that you didn't manage to get a signal where you are. Confused by the fact that the digital radio stations are also on Freeview and satellite.] No, couldn't get DAB at all in Onchan (home) or Douglas (work). I was more interested in DAB through a small portable receiver rather than digital off Sky PS Wish you'd stop changing your avatar, I tend to recognise the poster by the avatar rather than than the name Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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