Why Does London Have Only Five TV Channels?

[dhett]

I think the closest thing you have is the idea of TV subchannels. The only difference is with a mux no one channel is the primary one- all channels are equal. It is the EPG that decides what order the channels appear on you TV

Digital "subchannels" in the U.S. are also equal. ("subchannel" is a poor choice of words, but nothing has really come along to take its place)

I think it's more a misuse of the word "subchannel" in this forum. Many people seem to believe that ".1" is the primary channel while ".2, .3, etc." are subchannels. All are subchannels. The only advantage that a .1 subchannel would have is that if you tune your television to a channel number, say channel 8, you would get channel 8.1 by default. It's also common practice to place the best programming stream on .1, but it's not universal practice. For example, if a station broadcasts a HD feed and two SD feeds, the HD feed usually goes on .1, and if a station has a major network (ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, PBS), that usually goes on .1, while minor networks (MyNetworkTV, The CW, ThisTV, RTV, etc.) generally go on .2, .3, etc.

The FCC refers to major channel numbers ( 8 ) and minor channel numbers (1, 2, 3, etc.), giving you 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, etc.

 

[bpatrick]

Although sometimes a major network will end up on .2 or .3
because there's nowhere else for it to go. Two cases in point:
KBMT Beaumont, TX, airs ABC on 12.1 and NBC on 12.2 (after
KBTV/4 switched from NBC to Fox and NBC couldn't get the
displaced Fox affiliate to take the Peacock Network); and
WNKY Bowling Green, KY, has NBC on 40.1, CBS on 40.2, eliminating
the need for CBS to be brought in on cable from Nashville or
Louisville.

 

[mjlarochelle]

With regards to CBC/SRC, they had a much lighter commercial load at one time, especially where news and current affairs were concerned. Sunday Report, as of 1985, aired commercial-free and totaled 25 minutes. Venture that followed had breaks but they had only one sponsor: CP Rail.

 

[compubit]

Having visited Germany and London recently, the advent of digital broadcast has expanded what's available over the air - not including direct broadcast satellite free-to-air...

I know that in Germany, you have 2 primary networks (ARD - das Erste - the first & ZDF - 2nd German TV) - and the regional 3rd channels provide programming for ARD - plus several other channels on the digital multiplexes in major cities, not as many in rural areas (but FTA sat is cheap) - ironically 3Sat (Satellite channel 3) and Kabel.eins (cable 1) are available over the air to most of Germany, as well as your 3rd station and up to 8 other regional stations (depending on the market). On FTA satellite, all regional channels are available - but some "subchannels" only air local programming (i.e. local news and commercial blocks) - such as WDR with it's 9 separate feeds. There's a plethora of "free" TV in Germany.

Likewise in the UK - Freeview offers quite a few channels - obviously groups are related (Time-shifted channels, the 2nd/3rd/4th channels of the main 5 channels, etc.), plus there are some subscription channels OTA - SkyNews was in the clear, but SkySports was encrypted.

As for "local-ness" of the channels - Germany's 3rd channels are all programmed separately; a few of the larger cities have a 4th local station (Berlin and Munich for sure) - but the focus there is "hyper-local" as the the 3rd channels are state-wide or cover multiple states. The 4th channels news is the closest the Germans get to the local newscasts in the USA - ARD and ZDF are nation-wide and the 3rd channel's newscasts are more of a news/soft-news program (IMHO).

Not much "local" in the UK - there have been some attempts at truly local stations, but not much success - BBC1 and ITV1 each have regional newscasts (30 minutes at suppertime and shorter other times during the day) - but again, these are regional, and the remaining news is national in coverage.

All of this is a far cry from the days of 1, 2 or 3 channels in total across the country.

Just my €0.02

 

[azumanga]

With regards to CBC/SRC, they had a much lighter commercial load at one time, especially where news and current affairs were concerned. Sunday Report, as of 1985, aired commercial-free and totaled 25 minutes. Venture that followed had breaks but they had only one sponsor: CP Rail.

CBC Television also has a few shows that are completely commercial-free, such as its children's programming, as well as Marketplace, CBC's consumer news magazine. Up until a few years back, CBC also carried "Street Cents", a consumer magazine program for teens that also had no breaks during the program, but unlike Marketplace, it usually had a large commercial break between Street Cents and the next program.

 

[BMR]

Not much "local" in the UK - there have been some attempts at truly local stations, but not much success - BBC1 and ITV1 each have regional newscasts (30 minutes at suppertime and shorter other times during the day) - but again, these are regional, and the remaining news is national in coverage.

Yes. However the government is making another attempt at changing this though-with a new 'channel 6' that will mix local and national programming in a network and affiliate type way. We'll see what happens this time.

All of this is a far cry from the days of 1, 2 or 3 channels in total across the country.

Absolutely!! It's been a real revolution. The next big thing will (might) be YouView that integrates over the air with web TV and pretty much gives you any programme at any time on a regular TV. However the launch of it keeps getting put back.

There is also the issue of how popular 3D will be, which I guess is an international thing

 

[compubit]

AFAIK, "Five" is a commercial channel equivalent to our 4 networks.

"Five" is now back to 5...

J