Do you think Seven would ever consider purchasing 7 Central? I’d think that, despite the costs of running it, being on a last resort service like VAST would be attractive to a metro broadcaster. They’re about to buy the GWN licence. I’d be interested to see what they plan to do and how they’re going to utilise the platform going forward. I can’t imagine Seven keeping the status quo of an inferior channel lineup. They’ll be inheriting a flawed satellite-to-terrestrial system that was outdated the day it was commissioned. They could very well opt for an alternate next generation satellite delivery like ABC, SBS and Nine have with their DVB-S2X systems.
I don’t think they will. Revenue in that sub market would surely be low. If Imparja can’t make a profit out of it (after all their years of broadcasting) then the possibility that Seven might could be fanciful.
It depends on how well it is run, Seven can probably generate some economies of scale to reduce costs compared to what Imparja can do as being a smaller operation.
Well possibly. It’s true that Imparja has positions that 7Central don’t have like CEO, Program Manager etc. and are also paying an Affiliation fee to Nine (although presumedly not at the same rate WIN is paying).
I’ve seen the advertising rate cards for Imparja, 7Central and CDT and it’s pretty reflective of the small and remote audience they serve.
I wouldn’t have thought so. There are GWN have 67 transmission sites (or at least have licences for that many), 18 of which are self help sites. Many of these have been setup from Government funding, so it would be quite an expense to replace the satellite receivers at each site.
It may be possible that the main transmitters for the major towns get upgraded to carry more channels (for example Bunbury and Geraldton would cover the majority of the population) but it would still be quite some expense just for the sake of multi-channels which wouldn’t make them much money. We know from history with 7Queensland that Seven don’t give their region areas the same priority as metro for multi-channels.
I just got vast to change my state to wa, I found gwn7 and 9hd and 10hd, but can’t seem to find win, or is win 10hd but do they use win on air graphics or 10 branding graphics on air ?
I wish vast had each States actual feeds available rather then just split into vast North, sound , central. Would be better to have each states feeds available for example if u choose Adelaide you get all the Adelaide channels rather then the ones available on vast south
There is no “Central” split, just North (QLD and NT on QLD time with Brisbane news) and South (NSW/VIC/SA and TAS) on AEDST with a mix of Sydney and Melbourne news bulletins.
It would be nice, however, VAST isn’t a platform designed to give everyone their local channels. It’s part of the Remote Central & Eastern license area, which is 7 Central, Imparja, etc.
If you really want channels from all states, I highly recommend you research and get access to streaming services. Every 7, 9, and 10 channel is available for every state, mostly in better quality than normal TV or VAST. Satellite is expensive and not designed to give you every channel under the sun any more. Those days are long gone.
Now that internet technology is getting better for those who rely on satellite connections where internet was virtually unusable for so many with latency and congestion, the streaming will be a much better option in terms of choice and quality.
Will be interesting to see what happens in terms of the satellites over the next couple of decades.
Possibly getting a tad off topic, but I would expect that with Starlink and possibly other LEO networks providing near metro-grade coverage to remote areas, and as such levelling the playing field with everyone able to access high speed, uncapped internet wherever they are, we will see:
-NBN satellite will probably slowly decline in popularity, and become a ‘service of last resort’. I would doubt that there will be a second generation of Sky Muster satellites launched to replace the current ones when they reach end of life.
-Foxtel will switch more and more to IP delivery only (with cable being switched off soon as well), and at the end of the lifespan of the current satellite fleet they will not be replaced and all users switched over to IP delivery (assuming Foxtel as a business model even survives to this point).
-As far as VAST is concerned, I can see it being wound down at some point between 2025-30 depending on government funding and profitability. Certainly I can’t see it continuing beyond the end of life point of the current satellite.
I have found found a way to get proper feeds from each state , you tell foxtel you are moving home and to change the service address to a fake one in a different state to yours, and it actually works. That’s another way. Also I notice all the regional bulletins aren’t live on the regional vast news channels they are 1 hour after the original broadcast.
Edit: I had a whole rant here about this Foxtel method, but I’m not convinced you know enough about it or have even done it despite your post implying you have. So I’ll leave it there.
They generally air half an hour after the bulletin finishes broadcasting in it’s original timeslot.