Trouble in the barnyard
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The BBC and ITV are at loggerheads with Arqiva, the company which runs Britain’s terrestrial TV masts, over plans for an internet-connected television standard meant as the successor to Freeview.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/ne...
It is understood the broadcasters want the ‘Freeview Connect’ project to adopt technology developed by Freesat, the free satellite television service, rather than go back to the drawing board and risk losing audience share as viewers turn to on-demand services from pay-TV operators. Freeview Connect was announced this month by Digital UK, a consorium comprising the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Arqiva.
However, sources said Arqiva is resisting the plan because it is not a shareholder in Freesat and could lose influence over the future of broadcasting technology if it goes ahead.
The Digital UK board is due to decide on the issue within weeks.
Freeview Connect is seen as vital to future of free-to-air television because Freeview households watch the main terrestrial channels more than those with a BSkyB, Virgin Media, BT or TalkTalk subscription. In the past year BT and TalkTalk have added more than a million pay-TV households between them, the majority former Freeview households attracted by on-demand features.
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Freetime - Euro standard HbbTV - Smart TVs - YouView - The BBC - ITV - CH4 - and possibly Sky. You can fight a flood, but you cannot fight a tsunami.
Arqiva, on DVB-T2, backs the MHEG-IC standard, which is already a dead man walking imo. All the above back HTML5, which many (most) view as the future foothold of hybrid TV. And interoperability.