Re: digital TV

[Paul Boakes <paul.boakes@xxxxxxx>]

> From: Scott Crowther <scrowther@xxxxxxx>
> Sent: Fri 18/01/02 09:04
> To: "'ukha_d@xxxxxxx'" <ukha_d@xxxxxxx>
> Subject: [ukha_d] digital TV
>
> Radio 1 had a news piece this morning about a 'digital TV receiver'
box
> that
>
> was now available to allow you to view the 'free to air' channels for
> under
> £100.
>
> Typically they didn't mention the name of it, and there's nothing on
their
> website.
>
> Anyone any ideas?

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/020117/80/cpojs.html

BBC plans digital box alliance-sources
By Jean Yoon

LONDON (Reuters) - Europe's biggest set-top box-maker, Pace Micro, says it
will team up with the BBC and ITV to launch by April a new box they hope
will make Britain the first fully digital TV nation.

Pace said the new box, to be sold at retail outlets for 100 pounds each,
would allow TV viewers to watch free-to-air digital channels on their
existing analogue sets.  "Today's announcement brings us one step
closer to
the goal of affordable digital TV for all," Pace Micro Chief Executive
Malcolm Miller said in a statement.

Industry sources told Reuters earlier that a box giving access to 15
free-to-air digital channels would be rolled out by a consortium including
the BBC, commercial network ITV, Channel Four and Channel Five and set-top
box makers.
A formal agreement is due to be signed in four to six weeks.

Digital TV is currently available only to owners of new, digitally enabled
televisions and subscribers to satellite, cable and terrestrial pay TV
services charging a monthly fee.

The new box, taking its signals from the antenna, will be sold at retailers
and require no subscription payments.

It will help Britain towards its goal of being fully digital by 2010, and
may help ease the burden of Granada and Carlton, ITV's majority
stakeholders
who also own loss-heavy, cash-light digital TV service ITV Digital.

The BBC, ITV and others involved declined to comment.

UK WORLD LEADER

Britain is already the world leader in digital TV uptake, with almost 40
percent of its households converted to digital compared with a European
average of 16.3 percent, according to research house Strategy Analytics.

Digital TV offers a wider choice of channels and interactive features, such
as the ability to play "Who wants to be a Millionaire" while
watching it.

With digital TV enthusiasts already converted, the new cut-price set-top
box
is aimed at the more sceptical remainder of the population who have yet to
get it.

The new box would allow the BBC, which is funded by a TV licence fee on
households, to justify spending licence payers' money on its new digital
channels. The BBC would not relish the demise of ITV Digital, as it would
mean a bigger reliance for digital distribution on the UK pay TV market
leader, Rupert Murdoch's satellite group BSkyB.

The coalition is working to make the box more attractive by offering a
package of digital TV, telephone and broadband Internet services. It is in
talks with phone company BT Group about a marketing alliance to counter
rival "triple play" offers from cable operators NTL and Telewest.

Amid speculation about how the low price would be achieved, sources said
ITV
was examining ways to fund the box with the so-called "digital
dividend".
For every viewer watching ITV on digital TV, Granada and Carlton enjoy a
reduction in fees paid to government for the right to broadcast on analogue
frequencies.

Granada and Carlton are deep in the red as a result of heavy digital
spending and a steep drop in advertising money. Their share prices have
been
going downhill since late 2000. Granada closed 4.6 percent lower at 129
pence on Thursday and Carlton fell 8.5 percent to 224-3/4p.

Analysts said a new box would be positive for the two companies because it
would help cut ITV Digital's customer acquisition costs and possibly bring
forward ITV Digital's break-even point from 2003/04.

ITV Digital gets its set-top boxes from Pace, Nokia and Philips. Pace
shares
closed 3.5 percent higher at 357 pence on Thursday.




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