EURopean TV

[e-dawg]

Before the Digital TV in Europe. Most Countries in Europe have 3-5 tv stations while the state broadcasters holds at least 2 channels. Why does Europe only have fewer tv station than the Western Hemisphere counter part.

I.E.

UK: BBC one, BBC two, ITV1, Channel 4, Five

Ireland: RTE 1, RTE 2, TV3, TG4

Netherlands: NED1, NED2, NED 3

France: TF1, France 2, France 3, Canal +, France 5/Arte, M6

Spain: TVE1, TVE2, Atenna 3, Cuarto, Telecinco, La Sexta

Italy: RAI 1, RAI 2, RAI 3, Rete 4, Canale 5, Italia 1, La 7, MTV Italia, All Music.

Austria: orf1, orf2, atv

Czech Republic: CT 1, CT2, Nova TV, Prima TV

Portugal: RTP1, RTP2, SIC, TVi

Belguim: RTBF1, RTBF2, VRT een, VRT ketnet/canvas

Norway: NRK1, NRK 2, NRK3, TV2, TV Norge,

Sweden: SVT1, SVT2, TV4,

Greece: ET1, NET2, ET3

Germany: ARD1, ZDF2, RBB/NDR/BR/WDR 3, RTL, RTL II, Pro Sieben.

 

[smorris]

Because they have 99.99% population coverage - the UK analogue TV broadcasters have literally dozens of relay transmitters for analogue TV within London alone. Even remote hamlets in the Scottish Highlands will get the four main channels. This is true across northern Europe. Also, many European countries have phased out VHF (Band I / Band III) TV, which gives them less bandwidth to play with than in the USA.

This doesn't apply in Italy where there are actually far, far more TV transmitters than are officially documented. Every major transmitter site has a signal on almost every single VHF and UHF channel. This obviously has major consequences for picture quality, even in places where you can only receive one transmitter site.

 

[e-dawg]

Someone told me that Rome can receive 12 terrestrial tv stations. Is that true?

 

[Chad-Stevens]

I've wondered where cable/sat penetration rates in Europe, compared to the USA (which is currently around 85-90%).

Also, does any sort of LOCAL television exist there: i.e. locally produced news, public affairs, or advertising.

 

[TVWorldwide]

I've wondered where cable/sat penetration rates in Europe, compared to the USA (which is currently around 85-90%).

This varies greatly from country to country. In some countries, cable penetration is near or even above 90%, while in a few, such as Italy, cable is rare. Also, there are countries, such as the UK, where DBS is more widespread than cable.

Also, does any sort of LOCAL television exist there: i.e. locally produced news, public affairs, or advertising.

Yes, many national networks in Europe have "opt-outs" -- limited windows for local or regional programming, usually news. Unlike the situation in the US, this is a "top-down" system in most cases and does not involve separate local licensees.

Most countries also have TV stations (public, private, or both) that broadcast only to specific regions. In Barcelona, to pick a random example, you would see regional news on some of the national networks, but you would also be able to watch separate stations that only serve Barcelona or the region of Catalonia.

 

[TVWorldwide]

Someone told me that Rome can receive 12 terrestrial tv stations. Is that true?

It's entirely possible. In most of Italy, you can receive seven national networks: Three public ones operated by RAI, three owned by Berlusconi, and La7, a latecomer to the national TV scene with somewhat more limited availability. In addition, you can receive several local UHF stations, some of them true independents, others combined into loose semi-networks. Some of these produce local news, but many are low-budget affairs dependent on lots of infomercials and ancient reruns.

 

[neo11]

Rome can receive many more than 12 terrestrial TV stations, as can be seen here: http://www.otgtv.it/lista.php?code=RM00&posto=Roma . And before DVB-T, those frequencies that are now digital were occupied by more analog stations.

Athens is another city with a very full VHF-UHF dial. There's three national publicly owned stations (ET1, NET, ET3), a national station similar to C-SPAN (Vouli TV), nine national private networks (Mega, ANT1, Alpha, Star, Alter, Macedonia, 902, Tileasty, Skai), two analog terrestrial pay stations (Nova Cinema, Nova Sports), one station in DVB-T (ERT Digital, featuring Cine+, Sport+ and Prisma+ plus Cyprus SAT), 15 local and regional private stations (Channel 9, Kanali 10, Extra, Blue Sky, High Channel, Mad TV, MTV Greece, Sport TV, Local TV, SBC, Shop TV, Tilefos, GTV, Athina TV, DTV), plus four free relays of satellite stations (Euronews, CNN Internatonal, TV5, Cyprus SAT). That's 34 terrestrial stations plus one digital frequency with three new stations. And many of these stations operate on 2-3 frequencies from different transmitter sites, due to the hilly terrain of Athens and the shadowing that comes as a result.

Any problems with picture quality come as a result of two stations interfering with each other on the same frequency (usually overcome by proper rooftop antenna installations, which are very common), or hilly terrain in specific areas blocking a clear signal from reaching the area. Under normal circumstances, stations operating on adjacent frequencies, with full power, from the same transmitter site, operate without any problems whatsoever and without interfering with each other. I never understood why this was such a difficult concept to understand here in the States, when it so clearly can work if done correctly.

In general, both the VHF/UHF and the FM bands in Southern Europe (Greece, Italy, Spain, Turkey, parts of France, etc.) are far, far more crowded than in the North, where government (public) broadcasters also have a more dominant position in the market. In the UK, there are only five analog terrestrial TV stations, two of which are public (BBC). In Ireland, it's 2 out of 4. Similar ratios exist in Scandinavia, Germany, etc. Likewise, with radio, major cities in Italy, Greece, etc. have upwards of 60-70 FM stations operating legally (or mostly legally) while the FM dials in many Northern European cities are quite sparse by comparison, even when comparing them to cities here in the US.

Cable penetration varies by country, and also seems to be higher in most Northern European states... satellite broadcasting is also very widespread throughout Europe, and Europeans seem to have more FTA (free-to-air) satellite TV choices to choose from, so there are many households who receive satellite TV, but without paying a subscription. There are also some countries were pay TV is broadcast over the air, even in an analog form (such as in Greece). Of course, satellite subscription packages also exist in almost every country throughout the continent, and most countries have cable systems as well, while in some others (like Greece) there is not much of a cable TV infrastructure, but IPTV has been growing rapidly in recent years.

 

[kc0ltv]

Before the Digital TV in Europe. Most Countries in Europe have 3-5 tv stations while the state broadcasters holds at least 2 channels. Why does Europe only have fewer tv station than the Western Hemisphere counter part.

In most European countries, TV began as a state monopoly. Many (or most?) countries did not even permit commercial broadcasting in the beginning. Not until the 1980's did non-public TV begin to really take off across Europe.

Don't know what the point of such a system was.

Cable and satellite networks took off in the 1990's (Europe was behind the U.S. in this respect), and today there are a multitude in every country. As for terrestrial TV, in some nations, e.g. Spain and Italy, the TV spectrum is far more "utilized" than the U.S, with dozens of TV stations in the same city, with no channel spacing (for example, you see stations on channels 23 - 24 - 25, etc. consecutively). The same holds true with radio. In others, the opposite is true: in the U.K. there are only five TV networks, as well as a local channel in some cities, so cities as large as London only have 5-6 channels. Scandinavia seems to be the same way.

I've wondered where cable/sat penetration rates in Europe, compared to the USA (which is currently around 85-90%).

Also, does any sort of LOCAL television exist there: i.e. locally produced news, public affairs, or advertising.

Cable and satellite penetration varies greatly across the continent. In some countries, both are quite low and most still watch off-the-air TV; Spain and Italy are good examples of this. In others, such as the Netherlands, cable penetration is nearly 100%. I'm guessing satellite penetration is quite high in Eastern Europe given the pictures I've seen from there of apartment blocks with essentially every balcony containing a satellite dish.

Local TV exists, but on a much more limited scale than in the U.S, at least in the North. In much of Europe, it seems that governments were more willing to grant licenses to large corporations to cover the entire country. In the U.S., TV and radio stations began more as largely independent, local entities, even if they were affiliated with a network.

 

[neo11]

Before the Digital TV in Europe. Most Countries in Europe have 3-5 tv stations while the state broadcasters holds at least 2 channels. Why does Europe only have fewer tv station than the Western Hemisphere counter part.

In most European countries, TV began as a state monopoly. Many (or most?) countries did not even permit commercial broadcasting in the beginning. Not until the 1980's did non-public TV begin to really take off across Europe.

Don't know what the point of such a system was.

Cable and satellite networks took off in the 1990's (Europe was behind the U.S. in this respect), and today there are a multitude in every country. As for terrestrial TV, in some nations, e.g. Spain and Italy, the TV spectrum is far more "utilized" than the U.S, with dozens of TV stations in the same city, with no channel spacing (for example, you see stations on channels 23 - 24 - 25, etc. consecutively). The same holds true with radio. In others, the opposite is true: in the U.K. there are only five TV networks, as well as a local channel in some cities, so cities as large as London only have 5-6 channels. Scandinavia seems to be the same way.

I actually don't think there are any local terrestrial stations in the UK. I'm pretty sure that some of the national networks have local studios where short local newscasts are produced and aired to a specific region, but otherwise, the national networks broadcast the same programming almost 24-7 throughout the country. I'm pretty sure there's "local" stations available through cable networks, however, though the UK has a lower cable/satellite connectivity rate than some other industrialized countries.

I've wondered where cable/sat penetration rates in Europe, compared to the USA (which is currently around 85-90%).

Also, does any sort of LOCAL television exist there: i.e. locally produced news, public affairs, or advertising.

Cable and satellite penetration varies greatly across the continent. In some countries, both are quite low and most still watch off-the-air TV; Spain and Italy are good examples of this. In others, such as the Netherlands, cable penetration is nearly 100%. I'm guessing satellite penetration is quite high in Eastern Europe given the pictures I've seen from there of apartment blocks with essentially every balcony containing a satellite dish.

Local TV exists, but on a much more limited scale than in the U.S, at least in the North. In much of Europe, it seems that governments were more willing to grant licenses to large corporations to cover the entire country. In the U.S., TV and radio stations began more as largely independent, local entities, even if they were affiliated with a network.
[/quote]

Local TV is far more common in the south (Italy, Spain, Greece, the Balkans) and almost non-existent in the north, at least terrestrially. You are correct in stating that when television broadcasting was privatized in the 80s-90s in Europe, most governments opted to issue licenses to large, national broadcasters who would cover the entire country with the same programming. Even in the south, where local and regional stations exist, they usually take a backseat in the ratings to large national private (and public) networks which also operate in those countries.

The "affiliate" system that exists here in the US is pretty much non-existent in Europe as well, as are call signs.

One other difference: a different DTV standard is in use throughout Europe, or rather, a couple of different standards. DVB-T in either mpeg2 or mpeg4 encoding, and in some countries, DVB-T2 is ready to be rolled out.

 

[TVWorldwide]

Before the Digital TV in Europe. Most Countries in Europe have 3-5 tv stations while the state broadcasters holds at least 2 channels. Why does Europe only have fewer tv station than the Western Hemisphere counter part.

In most European countries, TV began as a state monopoly. Many (or most?) countries did not even permit commercial broadcasting in the beginning. Not until the 1980's did non-public TV begin to really take off across Europe.

Don't know what the point of such a system was.

Cable and satellite networks took off in the 1990's (Europe was behind the U.S. in this respect), and today there are a multitude in every country. As for terrestrial TV, in some nations, e.g. Spain and Italy, the TV spectrum is far more "utilized" than the U.S, with dozens of TV stations in the same city, with no channel spacing (for example, you see stations on channels 23 - 24 - 25, etc. consecutively). The same holds true with radio. In others, the opposite is true: in the U.K. there are only five TV networks, as well as a local channel in some cities, so cities as large as London only have 5-6 channels. Scandinavia seems to be the same way.

I actually don't think there are any local terrestrial stations in the UK. I'm pretty sure that some of the national networks have local studios where short local newscasts are produced and aired to a specific region, but otherwise, the national networks broadcast the same programming almost 24-7 throughout the country. I'm pretty sure there's "local" stations available through cable networks, however, though the UK has a lower cable/satellite connectivity rate than some other industrialized countries.

The UK has a few local terrestrial stations operating under Ofcom's Restricted Service License. Manchester's Channel M (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channel_M) is the most well-known of these stations. However, with limited reach and financial resources, they are essentially bit players on the British television landscape.

By the way, ITV used to be considerably more decentralized than it is now. Each ITV station produced a variety of programming both for its own region and, in the case of larger ITV stations, for the network as a whole. That changed dramatically in the late '90s and early 2000s.

I should also add that digital TV has now become widespread in the UK, so the era of 5-6 channels is drawing to a close. British TV viewers can now pick up a free multi-channel digital platform called Freeview, which offers them a wide variety of channels -- many more than available in the U.S. via broadcast signals:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_channels_on_Freeview_(UK)

 

[neo11]

Thanks for bringing up Freeview...totally neglected to mention it in my post, as I was thinking of the five terrestrial channels purely in terms of analog television. Similar terrestrial digital TV platforms are launching in other European countries as well, offering quite a variety of different channels, similarly to free-to-air satellite platforms in Europe, which tend to have a better quality and amount of offerings than in North America.

 

[kc0ltv]

Thanks for bringing up Freeview...totally neglected to mention it in my post, as I was thinking of the five terrestrial channels purely in terms of analog television. Similar terrestrial digital TV platforms are launching in other European countries as well, offering quite a variety of different channels, similarly to free-to-air satellite platforms in Europe, which tend to have a better quality and amount of offerings than in North America.

Digital terrestrial TV is another interesting topic. In the U.S., each TV station gets a digital channel assigned to it, on which it must build its own digital transmitter; in Europe transmitters seem to be run on a national basis, perhaps by an outside company, and this is not an issue. (For example, say there are three TV stations in a certain U.S. market that have no high-definition aspirations at the moment nor do they wish to multicast and could easily fit on a single DTV channel; they would most likely have three separate transmitters on three separate channels here, while in Europe they might as well just be on one transmitter, along with other stuff, because there does not seem to be as much of a tie because stations' identity does not seem to be strongly tied with their transmitters). Also, in the U.S., terrestrial DTV has been strongly associated with HDTV from the start, so much so that many thought of "DTV" as "HDTV". All across Europe, HDTV has gotten a much later start than in the U.S, and is mostly distributed by satellite (and cable?). The only terrestrial HDTV I've heard of there is experimental, because stations prefer to use their bandwidth for additional SD channels. That's why Freeview or TDT (in Spain) have a lot of interesting additional programming, while in the U.S. subchannels often just consist of weather radars, news loops, and low-rent channels.

As for free-to-air satellite TV, it really depends on what country you're talking about. In Germany, where satellite TV has a very high penetration rate, most major cable networks (VIVA, CNN, N24, DSF, KI.KA, etc.) were traditionally free-to-air, and remain so even today; in fact, many of these channels are still analog. Germany is one of the few nations where analog satellite TV is still really utilized. However, there are numerous digitial networks on the Premier platform which are encrypted.

In Britain and Italy, there are hundreds of free-to-air satellite TV channels, but many of these are low-rent: shopping channels (the U.K. has a ton of them), regional networks (in Italy), etc. But there's much more of a high "viewer-interesting" native-language FTA selection than in the U.S. or Canada.

On the other hand, in countries like France and the Scandinavian countries, the FTA situation is basically like that of the U.S. Aside from a few odd channels and international networks (remember, satellites that cover Europe tend to cover almost the whole continent and much of the Middle East and North Africa, so from any given point thousands of FTA channels are visible), everything of interest to the average viewer is encrypted and must be subscribed to.


It should be noted that radio licenses in some countries seem to be issued the same way as TV licenses - primarily to big companies wanting to run national networks with the same programming.

 

[neo11]

You are correct in pointing out that TV stations in Europe really, for the most part, have never really used their frequency/channel number as part of their identity. In large part this is probably due to the existence of national networks broadcasting the same program on dozens, or even hundreds or thousands, of repeaters throughout the country, all on different frequencies and usually on the UHF band. And yes, most DTV there is in standard definition, with multiple stations being broadcast on one frequency, and DTV transmitter networks usually being licensed to outside companies, or to partnerships between several existing TV networks who then jointly run the transmission network.

One point I'd like to make about free-to-air satellite channels is that even if a station originates from, say, Italy or Germany, it will almost always have a pan-European footprint. The major satellites targeting Europe, such as the Hotbird satellites, have a continent-wide footprint, and thus the FTA stations available through them can be seen anywhere in Europe. A distinction should also be made between analog satellite TV, which as you pointed out is almost completely extinct, and digital satellite TV, which can still be FTA or which can be encoded. Most FTA satellite stations in Europe are broadcast digitally nowadays.

Most countries do indeed issue radio licenses on a national scale. In some countries (mostly in Northern Europe), these are the main commercial radio stations with only public radio and lower-powered community radio stations competing with them, while in other countries (particularly in Southern Europe, where the FM dial tends to be much more crowded), national networks often compete with dozens of local commercial stations, or many times are just broadcast through local commercial affiliates in each city/region.

 

[e-dawg]

Re: European TV

Speaking of Germany. Before the DTV, did Germany have 3 terrestrial public channels?
ARD 1, ZDF 2, and a regional channel 3 (RBB, MDR, )? Is this correct?

Also, do these channels existed in terrestrial analogue (non-cable) days?
RTL
RTL II
Pro 7
Kabel 1
3SAT
VOX
SAT 1