The other things that make no sense, why the crappy quality, mepeg1/2 really.... didn't that die out with the dinosaurs. Why not, 4 or even higher, high def. being compressed should take even less bandwidth (not sure you need to go that far)
G19 is the success story of North American direct to home distribution. Realize that most channels on G19 are narrow-casting and not broadcasting. Encryption does not fit their distribution model. They have niche demographics that they serve and not driven by the typical measurements of success. There are an estimated 5 - 7 million viewers of G19. The majority of these viewers are minority groups that are under-served by local media delivery methods and they traditionally have used the services as their primary delivery of entertainment and news.
Broadcasters are drawn to this satellite because of the large installed base. Instead of trying to sell dedicated equipment, distribute equipment, facilitate installs and provide technical support, they simply need to start broadcasting and get the word out that they are available. For most, even doing PR and channel awareness is a challenge! They seem to suffer from the "Field of Dreams" mentality of " Build it and they will come". When viewership doesn't automatically happen most channels fail within the first year.
State run channels are financed by governments to either keep their expats in touch or to distribute their dialog. Commercial stations often include commercials for businesses that cater to the demographic and these channels are often used to distribute the channel to regional cable companies or LPTV sites. Religious channels use the satellite to spread their message to convert and also preach to the choir, but especially provide their programming for free for DTH and cable companies, IPTV, etc. Donations are much better when the programming is free to their donors as the perception is that the viewer is already supporting the ministry when they pay their satellite or cable bill.... NOT!
Most of these broadcasters want as many folks as possible to watch their programming, so they go with the common denominator and legacy equipment, MPEG2. No G19 broadcaster uses MPEG1 for video (and not aware of any MPEG1 on any bird). Broadcasting in MPEG4, H.264, etc. would mean that a very large portion of the G19 viewers would not be able to view with their legacy MPEG2 receivers.
New broadcasters who have a new market demographic and do not care about reaching legacy viewers would benefit from either the bandwidth savings or the increased picture quality, but the majority of G-19 broadcasters just want as many eyes at as low of cost as possible. Broadcasters not wishing to reach legacy viewers would also likely select a different satellite, as the less desirable real estate would cost much less.
Hope this lends some insight into the typical G19 broadcasters.....
:wacko: 
