Brisbane and regional QLD are 7flix’s best markets too (according to OzTam and RegTam year-to-date shares).
There are probably other people like me who have deleted/hid the standard definition versions of the main channels and only watch them in high definition. Temporarily abandoning the full-time simulcast of Seven and 7HD would be confusing for some viewers. If Seven wanted to broadcast the AFL in high definition in Melbourne and Adelaide on the day before ANZAC Day and still show MKR, I think a better solution would have been to put the AFL on Seven and 7HD and MKR on 7Two or 7mate. If Seven are going to show their main channel in high definition it should be full-time without exception, I think.
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Especially when the AFL match got more viewers than MKR in Melbourne on April 24 last year!
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It isn’t the network’s concern if people make their own decision to delete some of their channels.
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Agreed. And what about all those AFL games they showed in SD on 7Mate and not in HD on the primary channel during the Commonwealth Games? Didn’t they matter as well?
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BTW, sorry that it’s off topic, but does anyone know what happened to the mooted extra horse racing channel for Seven?
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It appeared to be “fake news”. It was just Seven showing Sydney racing on one of their existing channels.
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Is this not the reason in not having a second HD channel as SBS has done!,yes I understand MPEG2 v MPEG4 situation viewers are in,but its about time networks think about the majority and not the minority put everything on MPEG4 and those .0009% will have to spend $40 for a stb?
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Not sure where you got that percentage from but when 7Flix went the other way (from MPEG4 to MPEG2) its ratings almost doubled suggesting a significant percentage of receivers and PVRs that can’t receive MPEG4.
Also bear in mind that SBS has one less multichannel than Seven and Nine
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It’s a complex question to answer, but all the networks simply have different configurations when it comes to getting channels from the playout centre to the transmitters and on our TVs at home. Just because one network has the capability to do something doesn’t necessarily mean they all do!
Although I’d probably agree that all channels should be in MPEG4 HD, the networks are not going to annoy the significant amount of people who don’t have access to those services. And they definitely won’t make their main channel MPEG4 HD-only until a vast majority of the population (case in point: analogue switchoff) can access the newer signal.
Seven basically admitted that a lot of people don’t have access to MPEG4 channels when they ran that “now available on more TVs” promotional campaign for 7Flix when the channel went to MPEG2 which probably only happened at all because of 4ME’s demise. Also since many viewers still watch the main channels in MPEG2 SD, the networks probably don’t want to turn down the bandwidth of those widely viewed services too low in fear of viewer complaints.
In fairness we have to account for the four radio services SBS has on DVB-T, but with the audio streams at 128kbps each (making for a combined total of 512mbps) they probably don’t use that much bandwidth in the grand scheme of things.
Seven and Nine need another HD Channel to their tally.
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That was almost two years ago. Wonder if the impact would be as bad now?
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Definitely less now. BUT:
What percentage drop in audience share would be acceptable to a network? Eg if 30% of the audience decides to not make any change so they can receive the MPEG4 channel/s this year and instead watch the competitors’ MPEG2 mutichannels is that an acceptable loss? It is not as if the multichannels are an essential service to many people - unless you are looking for some specific program or sport, it’s easy to get by with the remaining 16 or so channels. Even if it was 5% - would a network accept that - would they get any more viewers because that had HD multichannel?
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There’d probably be more households with MPEG4-capable equipment now compared to two years ago, but I think most wouldn’t upgrade their 2nd TVs or PVRs for as long as they can still see all the channels (most probably still watch SD broadcasts over the HD broadcasts) and the equipment still works.
While people like us might get new stuff on a more frequent basis, I’d imagine the majority of the population would only consider upgrading to a new TV once every decade or so.
One would imagine 0%, especially when multichannels can sometimes be the difference between finishing 1st and 2nd in network shares.
Exactly. The TV we’ve got in the bedroom is 6 years old and only MPEG2 compatible, and it’s still functionally and cosmetically perfect. There’s no reason to replace it, and to do so would feel like a waste.
I do have a set top box connected to it, but often I’m too lazy to move the stuff that’s in front of it and find the remote, so settle for the SD channels, which don’t look too different on the smaller screen.
(But I’ll always watch HD in the lounge)
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Fully agree. My parents have a 50-inch Plasma in their lounge room that they purchased in 2006.
It only has MPEG-2 and despite SD channels looking like absolute shit on the TV, they refuse to buy a new TV or even connect a set-top box, while they can still physically watch every channel they want to.
Knowing them, they’d never upgrade until they actually stared losing channels.
Of note, they also have an old LCD in one of the bedrooms as the secondary TV, and it also only has MPEG-2.
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I would like to see the networks to agree on a plan to change one channel a year to MPG4 only. If they chose the main channel first, with plenty of warning about the change it would hopefully get the public upgrading there TV’s or purchasing a new STB fairly quickly. buckleys chance I know, but we can only hope.
Then again, with the DVB-T2 trials happening in Sydney, maybe it’s better to wait and see what comes of that.
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If the DVB-T2 trials are successful, I would hope that the networks take a leaf out of the UK’s book and over time (2-3 years perhaps) move all HD channels over to the new platform, as well as launch any future channels exclusively on DVB-T2. People can still see all of the existing channels in SD MPEG-2, those that care about watching in HD would then be encouraged to upgrade. Some naysayers will always kick up a fuss, like when the HD channels were launched in MPEG-4 only.
Also, how many brands of current and recent (past 5 years?) TV sets in Australia would DVB-T2 compatible?
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I think the answer would be “not many”.
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