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ONE HD: SC10 & Foxtel ‘fess up

Updated: So will regional and Foxtel viewers be getting ONE next week? TV Tonight puts the hard questions to Southern Cross and Foxtel.

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onehdidUPDATED: ONE may be launching next week to city viewers but regional television viewers will be waiting until mid year to see the new 24hr sports channel on Southern Cross Television.

Greg Dodgson, Chief Operating Officer for Macquarie Southern Cross Media, told TV Tonight the delay was caused by extensive changes to upgrade its facilities to 23 markets.

“We still haven’t built our infrastructure and we’re still testing to be able to carry it across all the sub-markets and towns in our broadcast footprint,” he said.

“We’re committed to carrying ONE but we’re still in a testing phase. And we’re still building to be able to put it across the 23 markets that we’re going to carry it in.

“It’s likely to be the middle of the year, which is not far away.”

So far some Southern Cross viewers are seeing high definition testing pictures.

“What you’re getting on the HD service is pretty pictures from around the country. It’s what we call a loop tape. That’s our programming that we’re putting out the moment because we’re building the infrastructure and testing to carry ONE.”

But not all regional viewers (ie. Central Australia) will wind up getting ONE because government regulation only requires the  HD signal in specific markets.

“There’s not a requirement to broadcast in HD in those areas and you can appreciate the cost involved in broadcasting. We’re not going to put it any further afield then we’ve got to,” he conceded.

TV Tonight has made available maps of four key regional markets: in Queensland(Aggregate market A), Northern NSW (Aggregate market B), Southern NSW (Aggregate market C) and Victoria (Aggregate market D). Tasmania and Darwin maps were not supplied.

In tight economic times Dodgson concedes the arrival of ONE is a taxing challenge.

“The metros (TEN) have only got to put out in 5 markets. This takes my Playout Centre that I look after from 35 to 63 Channels. There’s nothing like it in the rest of Australia. It’s just substantial.”

SC 10 says when the time comes it will be promoting the start date on-air and in its regular program guides.

Meanwhile Foxtel, which no doubt views a 24 hour sports channel as direct competition, says the onus on adding extra channels is dependent on channels covering the costs of adding to satellite capacity. Each network has separate retransmission deals.

Foxtel cable viewers who have the IQ2 and currently receive TEN HD will be able to access ONE HD.

Until an extra satellite is launched later this year, satellite viewers in other cities will be kept waiting.

“Currently Foxtel cable subscribers have access to all FTA standard definition and FTA HD channels via Foxtel, including TEN SD and TEN HD,” said a Foxtel spokesperson. “Any additional channels launched by the FTA channels will be available to cable customers subject to each channel’s retransmission agreement.”

Until an agreement is reached over costs, the standard digital version of ONE will not be available to Foxtel viewers either.

“In relation to satellite Foxtel customers, Optus will be launching a new satellite later this year – providing additional capacity – and we may retransmit the additional Channel TEN channels subject to Channel TEN agreeing to cover the cost of obtaining the satellite capacity to retransmit its new channels.”

UPDATED 16 March: Greg Dodgson has qualified statements made in relation to SC10 owned markets (Aggregate Markets A, B, C, D) over markets that are shared with other companies (including Tasmania and Darwin). Contrary to earlier information there is a requirement to broadcast HD into Tasmania and Darwin, however they are not fully owned SC10 stations. This means Tasmanian and Darwin viewers WILL get ONE in HD on SC10 at the same time as other markets.

“I’m confident they’ll get them in the middle of the year like other viewers but we don’t fully own that signal,” said Dodgson.

SC10 also has no plans for its secondary digital channel.

“When we broadcast ONE HD in the middle of the year it will come out as HD. But we don’t have any plans yet with our SD2 channel.”

TV Tonight apologises for any confusion (particularly for Tassie & Darwin viewers!) in the ever-changing landscape that is digital television! Please note in order to avoid further confusion, previous comments relating to these markets will be deleted.

104 Responses

  2. Thanks a lot for the article David. It surely clears things up about SC10 and ONE HD. As a Canberran, I think this is an absolute discrase for Australia, how Channel 10 have considered Canberra, the capital of Australia as a regional area and not began its broadcast for ONE HD here from Thursday 26th March. This is a discrae to all Australians, as for their own profits and wateva, they have left out the majoirty of australia by broadcasting the channel in only the Capital cities (Where they seem to have forgotten about Darwin, Canberra and Hobart). So anyways, whats ur validity of the information that the broadcast in Canberra and other such regional areas will definately begin in mid of this year. Whats the bet just like b4, they are gonna forget about us like with 10HD which began in 07 in Sydney and they said they would put it only in Canberra (Southern Corss) by April 08 but we never seemed to have got it before it was replaaced by ONE HD. Let’s hope they don’t do this again.

  4. last night sc10 showed a ad saying ONEHD was coming soon. That is a start, but i hope coming soon does not mean 6 months later, At least somethings happening.

  5. Will you guys be showing the 2009 NBA playoffs on One HD?
    Please do Show the whole thing at a time that people such as highschoolers can watch it!!

    Please.

  6. I think it is a disgrace that yet again Regional Victoria misses out. People living in Metropolitan areas have the choice/opportunity to go and see a lot of the sport live unlike regional people. I am a huge netball fan and will miss the entire season. I see that they have scheduled one game on normal channel ten. Can you please schedule more? I don’t care what time as I can record it. Or can you please add it to the Austar package.

    I used to watch netball on ABC and they moved it to ABC2 so I had to purchase a digital set top box. They then moved it to Fox Sports so I purchased pay Austar. Now it is being moved to One HD and we are unable to get it. Why give this network broadcasting rights to a sport that you are trying to build up and get support before the infrastructure is in place to deliver it?

    All the work that netball has been doing to move the game forward has quickly been undone!!!

  7. David would you expect one sd to be on foxtel digital cable at some stage in april or may? What is your best guess as to when this will happen from the info you have? Many foxtel subscribers who don’t have the hd box are waiting. Do you know anything about ONE’s NBA playoff coverage like how many games they will be broadcasting, obviously ESPN and ONE will share the NBA playoff coverage similar to the regular season. I look forward to hearing from you.

    1. This isn’t set in stone but ONE SD looks like being added to Foxtel cable viewers by mid year. Not satellite.

      Sorry I don’t know about specific sports. It’s all very new right now. Don’t forget you can check what’s coming via the Advance Guides.

  8. “SC10 said it would air in Tassie at the same time as other SC10 affiliates ie. “mid year.” However an article on the weekend said TDT was still in negotiations.”

    SC in Tas is not SC10. If SC10, rather than TDT said it its meaningless.
    I would expect TDT to only show it if forced through legislation. DDT in Darwin is probably similar.
    SC10 would need to make the feed available, as SC Tas is programmed through Canberra (by SC10) the same as SC10 on the rest of the east coast. So, Tas viewers need to wait on both SC10 (who themselves are unlikely to do anythign this side of 2011) and TDT – who will wait longer than that.

    Still, there was only one commercial station in Tas (well, one north, one south) until the 90s, so things have improved.

  9. Its an interesting situation in Canberra…

    We are a city, so we have Foxtel
    Yet we are regional so we don’t get ONE

    How can this one be explained?

    @ David Thanks for a great website, any idea when they are actually going to start broadcasting ONE in Canberra, the place where there is a larger income per capita than the rest of the country, and more HDTV’s per capita than the other cities?

    Looks like SCTen needs a lot of work

  10. This is f*****g bull**it!! I like many other regional victorians, have been counting down the days til ONE HD started. But when I realised on the day it was realeased that it wont be out for another couple of months i was pi**ed off. Why is it that we always get left out. I for one think it’s a disgrace that we have to wait longer than metro areas to recieve the channel. I was really looking forward to watching the NBA but by the time we recieve ONE the basketball season will be over. and then i’ll have to wait for another few months before i”l be able to watch it!

  11. I like most regional australians am very dissapointed with SC10. With all the advertising they have been doing about oneHD in shepparton victoria they have forgot to tell the public that they have no intention of started a 24 hr sports channel in Shepparton any time soon. Many of my customers and other shepparton people are bying High Definition TV just for this channel. They are sitting at home waiting for it to start and they have no idea that it will not start. this is terrible. Channel SC ten should be advertising in every add break today saying oneHD is not here yet.

    My phone is ringing off the hook now with people wanting hd equipment set up for tonight. Next week my phone will be ringing off the hook with people saying i cant get oneHD why. the answer will be ring SC 10 and complain to the for false advertising.

    maybe one day country people will be shown some respect and told what is going on. People would have cared if they were told oneHD is a few months away, but they were not told this all the adds said it was here today. After speaking with SC ten i have been told oneHD is still months away and the addvertising is national not local.. This is weak.

  12. I am most dissapointed with SC10 in delaying the start one HD they think that we are stuipid and do not relise that they are broadcasting the one start up date but are to frightend to admit to the public that we will not get this channel for a long time.

    The goverment sould take there licence off them as we were told to support HD TV by buying HD tv’s but there is nothing to watch on the channels a total wast of money to up date as we will never see HD tv in Wollongond

  13. Lets be honest Sc will not be up and running until the end of September, so we in the Regional areas will have missed out on the entire football season. its complete crap. We are and will always be treated as second rate people (and I live in the Capital). Capital have had plenty of time to get this all working, but they will not roll out individual areas, no it has to be all at the same time. that’s why it will take longer.
    SC have been and will always be a rubbish platform, there license should be revoked and TEN should be made to treat all areas the same as the Metro’s

  14. help

    It is Wed night 25th March 8.30pm – and can’t find TDT-SD – channel 10
    – to watch “House” – a crisis!
    My screen says: no signal
    What is happening ?
    Is anyone out there with same problem?
    Do I try to return off digital or what?
    Emergency!

  15. I have spoken with Ten Sport Management in Sydney, as well as someone from One HD department last week, and Foxtel programming department and Foxtel tech department…One SD will be on Foxtel Digital at some stage…obviously not for the Thursday March 26 launch, when Foxtel HD viewers will already be able to see One HD carry on via channel 210…Ten Sport management said with negotiations still ongoing it will likely be between a few weeks to a few months for this to happen, so Foxtel Digital viewers like myself who don’t have an HD box or a seperate set top box should be able to watch One SD via standard Foxtel Digital cable probably in April or May…definately by June at the very latest when all the other freeview channels should be launched as well…looking forward to it…alot more NBA games which will be good to see as well as live F1 qualifying and races among many other great sports…I would think One SD would be given a 500 series channel number maybe 510 so its grouped with the other sports channels…then Ten SD would be 110, One HD would be 210 and One SD would be 510…it makes sense.

    Lets hope those negotiations get sorted out ASAP.

  16. Does anyone know what the hell is going on? I refer to Greg Dodgson comments (updated March 16) in the article above. He says that Tassie viewers will be getting ONE HD on the SC10 channel. Greg, can you please give us a yes or no answer. Is this correct? If so, when will we see it?
    First you say yes to Tassie and Darwin and now all we are hearing in the media is that the channel isnt coming at all. Judging by your job title, if there is anyone that can give the public the correct answer it would be you. Please level with us.

  17. I’m still non-the-wiser after that updated quote – it says Hobart will get it at the same time as others (one would assume that is Thurs 26th March) however they then go on and say the “middle of the year”? Is this just typical political speak or what? Are Tasmanian viewers going to get One on SC10 this week or not?

  19. I live in gippsland victoria… will it work for me?? cause im sick of looking at the bottom of the tv guide and then trying it and it never works!

  20. This is complete bull**it. I refuse to believe that a network that’s capable of broadcasting a shithouse demo loop 24/7 is not capable of changing the channel and broadcasting something that might make them some…Money!

    It’s not that hard. I will not be waiting for them to pull their finger out and decide when they want to roll this out to regional Australia. I will not be watching OneHD (or SD) when it finally comes to Newcastle. They had their chance, they’ve had more than enough time.

    If you want to f*** over your audience, than your audience is going to f*** over you. You think it’s bad now. It’s only going to get worse. Between Foxtel and Channel BT, I have no need for One. I would have liked to support a FTA network that delievered me live sport (F1, MotoGP mainly). But if they’re not interesting in making sure I’m going to watch it, then I’m not going to support them with my viewing hours.

    They had their chance, they blew it. I will not be watching OneHD when it finally launches. I’d advice everyone to do them same. Not watching it is really the only way to send a message that we’re not happy.

  21. The sooner commercial stations collapse the better, they are pathetic. In Newcastle they have been broadcasting the classic HD “test images for ages”, infrastructure is already there, they just refuse to use it.

    Luckily for F1 fans at least, there are alternative ways of viewing via broadband……….or in the case of Melbourne I’m going to the race instead of watching it on tv full of bloody ads at the most inappropriate times.

  23. What a crock! Why hasn’t the infrastructure building and testing already been carried out? This whole time SC10 viewers have been left in the dark and we get an update a bit over a week before ONE is set to launch. It is pathetic. It’s too bad that Southern Cross has no competition carrying ONE transmission. I don’t understand how infrastructure and testing can be used as an excuse. A couple of months ago SC10HD were running certain shows in HD – law and order and Rove to name a couple. I saw them on my telly so I guess the infrastructure works ok. But as has been discussed on ch.10 forums it is probably more to do with not being able to insert location specific advertising. This is where their infrastructure is lacking. Either way what can we do? Guess we’ll just wait until mid-year…. Grrr

  24. Another point is why didthe government decide to permit extra HD programming instead of extra SD programming. The government seems to be obsessed on HD TV. They should of made extra SD channels a priority instead of HD. From what I understand it is a lot easier to broadcast a secondary SD channel. Once the channel can prove than can handle a second SD channel, then allow them to create HD programming. BBC3 and BBC4 came before BBCHD. The whole notion of digital tv in Australia is screwed up. We would probably not be having this conversation if the government had regulated digital tv like the rest of the world, and made the sure it SDmultichannelling than HD multichannelling

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