FTV going encrypted today

[kstuart]

According to an email exchange, FTV in North America will go encrypted On Thursday, February 22. Here are more details from their web site:

To receive Fashion TV in your North American, you will need the new FTV Smart Cards in future. This new card needs to be slided into your decoder and you will be able to see fashion TV.

Once your channel is set to the encrypted FTV, you will need a digital receiver MPEG2 DVB comply with conditional access module of 2.5 via access, once you have this decoder , and you receive our cards you will insert the card into the slot and you can start enjoying FTV.

For preordering the Fashion TV Smartcard for your decoder, pls fill out the fields below! Your card will be exclusivly reserved for you, dont miss a second of Fashion TV!

The form is at:

http://www.ftv.com/online/page.php?P=2291

but I think that they are overestimating the number of FTA receivers in North America that have that sort of smart card capability. My guess is that in Europe, most receivers have card slots, but that here few do.

 

[jayelem]

Well , I have one receiver that can handle a Smart Card , but you are right most FTA Receiver are Cardless.

FTV isn't goint to be free , I wonder how much the subscription package is, I saw the form you fill out , notice it says no charges will be incurred by filling form , they probably have no idea how many people in U.S. have smart card possiblilities on their FTA receivers.

If they want to give out free cards , I'll take one , but if I have to pay for it , NO THANKS , I can live without the channel , usually I forget it's even there.

 

[mastermesh]

You'll have to pay... I think their prices are on their website somewhere... and it's not cheap.

 

[yahmon]

Well, at least they waited till Carnival was over with. Guess I will have to add FTV also to what to give up for Lent. lol

 

[damaged]

'slided'?, nice.

 

[kstuart]

Naturally, it's still unencrypted.

Perhaps when the person said "tomorrow", it was already Thursday where they were (Europe), and maybe it is Friday when encryption starts.

 

[kstuart]

That must have been it - it has been encrypted every time I have checked over the past 16 hours.

Any bets about how long it will take them to realize that no one in North America will buy a separate smartcard receiver for one channel ? And go back to FTA with advertising revenue ?

 

[Anole]

not in 2007

Any bets about how long it will take them to realize that no one in North America will buy a separate smartcard receiver for one channel ?
And go back to FTA with advertising revenue ?

Once someone in charge makes that decision, it's hard to go back on.
Makes 'em look stooooopid.

Of course, if the idea is to get a one-time $5 for the card (just to cover costs), as a proof that there are actual customers, that's not too bad.
Just so long as they make it a nominal annual fee, it might fly.
But, since card readers are not common in NA, that'll skew and screw their statistics.

Last suggestion (if they want to get stats on users) is to encrypt for a few weeks/months to get cards out, then go FTE 90% of their day. :up

 

[kstuart]

Actually, in typical make-me-a-liar fashion , it is now unencrypted again.

 

[Sadoun]

They probably didn't get too many people to sign up so they kept it FTA for now. I remember in the past it was FTA then went scrambled then became FTA again.

 

[jh98]

It's scrambled now. They've been advertising a yearly subscription for $199. I think the only way they'll be successful in the US is to get it on cable.

Meanwhile, some FTV programming is carried on Dish Network. It's on the "Beauty and Fashion" channel, with a "Beauty & Fashion" logo over the "F" logo and lots of interruptions for ads. I think it's on there as fill when they don't have a half-hour infomercial to run.

 

[kstuart]

It was scrambled the whole weekend.
Now, it has been unscrambled the past two days.
PS Note that a package of a whole bunch of HBO channels (eight?) costs $165 a year - and that includes HBO's expenditure of hundreds of millions of dollars each year to produce original programming. FTV wants 20% more to air what is essentially commercials for clothing manufacturers.

 

[voomvoom]

PS Note that a package of a whole bunch of HBO channels (eight?) costs $165 a year - and that includes HBO's expenditure of hundreds of millions of dollars each year to produce original programming.

At 1st I didn't get this portion of your post. Then when I relooked at the post ahead of yours, and saw the Fashion tv subscription for $199. I now get it!

Al

 

[kstuart]

According to FTV (email):

The encryption tests are over and you probably able to see now our channel with out scrambling.

Keep enjoying viewing our channel.