New FTA service with 20 english channels

[Bill_KY]

I will bet CASH MONEY that this thing never happens. Never sees the light of day.

I think it (freedbs.org) will happen, I doubt the major networks will be a part of it. (I saw how Disney is playing hardball with Cablevision and thus keeping 'the most watched TV station in the U.S.' WABC -7 in NYC off of Cablevision because of Disney's demand for price increases) Saying that, I can't see how freedbs.org will be able to carry all the networks without 'issues'.

Again I say, I think freedbs will launch and succeed. Why would they go through all this trouble to propose something, sign contracts and its a no go. There is a untapped market for FTA in the United States, and especially in this economy...it might be the best time to launch.

I do have concerns however....And that is.... what would stop some company later on from buying them out and shutting them down to keep from competing with the pizza dish companies? That is my concern.

 

[Dee_Ann]

I think it (freedbs.org) will happen, I doubt the major networks will be a part of it. (I saw how Disney is playing hardball with Cablevision and thus keeping 'the most watched TV station in the U.S.' WABC -7 in NYC off of Cablevision because of Disney's demand for price increases) Saying that, I can't see how freedbs.org will be able to carry all the networks without 'issues'.

Again I say, I think freedbs will launch and succeed. Why would they go through all this trouble to propose something, sign contracts and its a no go. There is a untapped market for FTA in the United States, and especially in this economy...it might be the best time to launch.

I do have concerns however....And that is.... what would stop some company later on from buying them out and shutting them down to keep from competing with the pizza dish companies? That is my concern.

Profit play. Designed to fail with profit as the winning move.

 

[Stargazer]

They might not see it as a great enough threat to try to buy them out. Perhaps, over time, they may try to do something similar themselves on their own satellites or cable systems or offer more stations OTA with channels like these.

 

[Mikhel]

Profit play. Designed to fail with profit as the winning move.

Yup, exactly my point of view!! since i read it is gonna be a 'non-profit' it surely sounded kind of fishy to me.

Of course there's a lot of religious channels and enterprises that qualify as non-profit with HUGE profit margins that later they canalize to.. to.. i don't know (see Gene Scott).

I surely want this new 'service' to be succesful (my dad just bought a new 1.2 offset ku, so he could point it to get "Free DBS"), but i am not really sure since the initial inversion is going to be really big since he has to pay:

One month per transponder;
Dishes and everything needed to uplinking the signals (he needs a backup in case something happens);
PCs+signal multiplexers+...a lot

And that's not counting all the movies and shows needed to survive a month without repeating over and over and over again the same shows and movies in every channel (considering they use only non copyrighted media).

Cheers

M.

 

[Dee_Ann]

Yup, exactly my point of view!! since i read it is gonna be a 'non-profit' it surely sounded kind of fishy to me.

Of course there's a lot of religious channels and enterprises that qualify as non-profit with HUGE profit margins that later they canalize to.. to.. i don't know (see Gene Scott).

I surely want this new 'service' to be succesful (my dad just bought a new 1.2 offset ku, so he could point it to get "Free DBS"), but i am not really sure since the initial inversion is going to be really big since he has to pay:

One month per transponder;
Dishes and everything needed to uplinking the signals (he needs a backup in case something happens);
PCs+signal multiplexers+...a lot

And that's not counting all the movies and shows needed to survive a month without repeating over and over and over again the same shows and movies in every channel (considering they use only non copyrighted media).

Cheers

M.

Seriously though, I WISH and HOPE that this thing really does come to be. I would be thrilled. I'm just deeply, deeply skeptical.

 

[Mikhel]

Seriously though, I WISH and HOPE that this thing really does come to be. I would be thrilled. I'm just deeply, deeply skeptical.

Last night i was discussing it with my dad and he raised the same questions you have, as we witnessed the demise of Equity, but we didn't gave it too much of attention until we saw that Ku is really again loosing ground, while C is gaining a lot, good for us since we have both combined 3 prime focus and 6 offset dishes (and one more prime focus i'll install at his home once the rain season ends).

In the end, i hope they are succesful, and for the time being, thank them once they are in the air, for all the memories i'm sure they'll bring back (i was reading AC's thread about memories from years past brought by a show from PBS).

Cheers

Mike

 

[Stargazer]

I would think that Ku would be more attractive since it would be easier and cheaper to install and people would prefer a smaller dish.

 

[Mikhel]

I would think that Ku would be more attractive since it would be easier and cheaper to install and people would prefer a smaller dish.

One of the few downsides for Ku i could think is that with a hard wind, dense clouds and pouring rain, Ku looses signal more than C, but it should be more attractive because of what you said but... i don't know, seriously LOL.

Mike

 

[toucan-man]

They might not see it as a great enough threat to try to buy them out. Perhaps, over time, they may try to do something similar themselves on their own satellites or cable systems or offer more stations OTA with channels like these.

I've seen much cable and satellite of late at other people's houses. Gosh, picture quality sure isn't much to brag about no matter who the vendor. If anyone tries to do something similar to this FTA idea, I'd bet a barf bag the picture quality is going to stink. In terms of picture quality, this new FTA venture should rub it in and put to shame it's pay competitors.

Shouldn't there be something called broadcast standards in this digital age?

 

[TMair]

Look at all the Dish, and Directv dishes that are out there, now how unatractive could Ku be.

I think about the big three networks, ABC, CBS, NBC, they are FTA in most every market, always have been and they seam to do just fine, along with the smaller ones that are up there now too, if these guys can get it off the ground, and get people to get the equipment it could go well, they could make plenty of money from advertizing, but they need to be able to show the numbers to get that to happen.
Terry

 

[Dee_Ann]

Wait a minute.

Is it my imagination or did I not read that the person behind this Free DBS thing is a former satellite hacker pirate?

Um, credibility: 0.0

 

[crackt]

Wait a minute.

Is it my imagination or did I not read that the person behind this Free DBS thing is a former satellite hacker pirate?

Um, credibility: 0.0

where did you read this ? the founder of this venture as far as ive read is a long term satellite veteran who was involved with the equity mux on 123w. or maybe that was my imagination. im sure i watched a video on it somewhere.

crackt out,.

 

[guapoharry]

Yeah, what are you talking about?

Even to ask such a question requires care to be sure what you are saying... Why don't you post what you read?

Profit play. Designed to fail with profit as the winning move.

Seriously though, I WISH and HOPE that this thing really does come to be. I would be thrilled. I'm just deeply, deeply skeptical.

I have wondered about such things, but have chosen to keep my mouth shut.

IMO, there's no benefit in such speculation if I am hopeful for the idea to take off...

 

[Dee_Ann]

Um, could this be it??

http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-air-fta-discussion/199393-new-fta-service-20-english-channels-11.html#post2105831

and here

http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-ai...ervice-20-english-channels-7.html#post2087705

 

[guapoharry]

OK.

If what I read there is correct, what would the problem be?

 

[Dee_Ann]

I guess I'm not getting it. It looks like someone was involved in something, well, never mind... I'll just go away now..

 

[crackt]

I guess I'm not getting it. It looks like someone was involved in something, well, never mind... I'll just go away now..

no you read right. and it came from the horses mouth. i think the key words were "used to pirate". i think most people who have been in the sat game for a long time have something in their past that may be questionable. people do change. if it wasnt for the eyepatch crew my eyes would never have been opened to true fta and the amazing hobby it is.

as for the "for profit" comment. im sure every one wants to make a dollar. he did not mention the source of the profit. but im assuming it is advertisement dollars and ppv fees. there is a large group of people who will never pay for tv and are lost to advertisers. with an estimated 20 million fta recievers in north america a service such as freedbs is a smart business model. reach the unreachables so to speak.

i dont think anyone wanted to make you go away. its just best to post the source. im bad for that as well.

crack out,.

 

[TMair]

The way I have it figured is, if this takes off then we have a great service for us to watch FREE, if it doesn't work...well I already own my DVB box, and dishes so I am out NOTHING, personilly I hope it goes big time!!!
Terry

 

[Mikhel]

I guess I'm not getting it. It looks like someone was involved in something, well, never mind... I'll just go away now..

Oooh i think i get it Dee, maybe he has changed and it's a pirate-no-more, since dish/directv closed the door on the pirates a lot have converted to FTA, altough there still are those that will steal signals when they have a chance because it's not as they aren't pirates anymore, it just that there's nothing else they can steal for now... BUT as people have said it before, the benefit of the doubt above anything else goes for Wayne-o.

There's no need for you to go away, discerning and having opposite points of view, diverging mentalities, is what makes a discussion forum flourish, and gives others another viewpoint they maybe didn't consider before .

Cheers Dee Ann.

Mike

 

[stone1150]

I just re read what he said. He said that he was a pirate but got out of it when the laws changed. Well if he was in it before the laws changed, how was he a pirate? Back when the FCC said the airwaves are owned by the people, there was no such thing as piracy. There was no law defining a pirate. Now once things started getting scrambled, there was a game. Remember captian kaos and HBO? That guy over rode the signal with his own message. Transmission was a problem but reception was not at that time. Anyway if anyone was watching signals, scrambled or not, they were not breaking any law. Once the law changed, then there were piracy issues. According to Wayne-o, he got out of it when the law changed. So in my book, he is not a pirate per say. He was just an individual that used a loophole in the law to watch tv. That's the way I see it. Kinda like speeding. Is one really speeding at 100 mph if there is no speed set by law? You can say that one speeds, but it's not breaking the law since there is no law to break. Even Charlie Ergan from Dish net has said he used to "pirate" signals in his day. Look where Charlie is today. Have a great day!