HDTV Terrestrial Digital - Official launch was 14 April 08

NZ’s HDTV High Definition Terrestrial Digital Television - Freeview HD.  As the Analog TV will be shut off about 2012, the digital HD service will replace it to 75% of all homes with the Satellite Freeview supplimenting the rest of the population.

There is now more than one HD receiver on the market. Zinwell and DSE rebranded units have had it to them to themselves in the early stages. However with the release of the eXtra Terrestrial HD receiver from us all that has changed.  We have provided a top line receiver which operates faster, has more outputs, higher quality outputs, lower power consumption and has a front window display on the receiver. Our receiver has MHEG5 plus a user frienld EPG. The remote is very reponsive compared with other HD Terrestrial receivers.

The eXtra Terrestrial HD Terrestrial receiver $100 cheaper than the Zinwell ZMT-620HD Freeview Terrestrial receiver ($395). The consumer will not pay

The Dick Smith Electronics DSE 620HD (Zinwell clone) started off at $599 is now being advertised at $399! While Freeview HD has been broadcasting since the end of 2007 and the service started on the 2nd April with the launch on the 14 April.

Not everyone is going to get the Freeview HD service. The broadcast area covers 75% of the population from launch day including Auck, Hamilton, Tauranga, Palmerston Nth, Napier, Hastings, Wgtn, Christchurch and Dunedin. Even then in these places, if you dont receive analog signals of Prime or Maori TV, you will be committed to the SD (Standard definition 576 pixels) satellite receiver system.  If you get a snowy picture you will find our receiver will probably work because of our super sensitive tuner.

TVNZ 7 started 30 March 2008 

Wow I’m impressed. New young faces appearing on the TV and professional to boot. Loved the 10min news readers, loved the debate and the 7pm docos.  Also impressed at the rolling news computer generated throught the night. Slightly modelled on the BBC re countdowns to the hour but the 1st impressions great. Copy the broadcast schedule and tune in when you fancy. http://images.tvnz.co.nz/tvnz_images/tvnz7/tvnz7_schedule.pdf

If TVNZ 7 is too successful, its likely to affect the advertising revenue on TV1 and TV2.  Sky is looking at this channel very closely and is balancing up its options on when to put PRIME on the Freeview HD Terrestrial service.  They have plenty of time to make a decision.  They have played their cards perfectly up till now. It will be interesting if TVNZ doesn’t weaken and never puts TVNZ 6 & 7 on the SKY platform. The final slit will be if it removes its TV1 and TV2 from the SKY platform when its contract with SKY runs out. I expect there to be side deals with the Prime channels movement to Freeview HD to influence things.

### Very interesting ###

More and more leisure time is being spent on the internet. It is now 50 / 50 between internet and TV. With the internet figures growing, how viable will the TV business be in the future. While TV adverts are on what does one do? “Lets have a cuppa” . . . “I’ll just go and check my emails”! Advertisers are not going to take this audience loss and pay the same advertising costs!  .

How will TV companies retain viability?  Freeview thinks that by eliminating the EPG stream on the Freeview HD service and enforcing the MHEG5 standard to get this information to the viewer, it will have the delivery system to make more advertiser money.   To the public it will be able to intrusively annoy and make us pay through MHEG5 delivery.  Experience in England is that the public wont have a bar of it via the dreaded red button.  Comparing the remote response time of a Freeview compliant MHEG5 receiver and a non MHEG5 receiver proves that MHEG5 slows receiver down by 2secs.  YUK

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