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This is not feasible. In the UK we have Freeview [1], a free-to-access television platform which manages ~all terrestrial output. The BBC administrates this sy

This is not feasible. In the UK we have Freeview [1], a free-to-access television platform which manages ~all terrestrial output. The BBC administrates this system along with the other major broadcasters (ITV, C4, ...). If the BBC did not put out its own output under Freeview, not only would Freeview collapse but the BBC would effectively be wiped off the face of British television. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeview_(UK) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeview_(UK)

Nextgrid 5y ago
Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't Freeview just a marketing name for DVB-T (or T2 nowadays), which supported encrypted content since its inception and can mix encrypted & non-encrypted channels in the same multiplex?
- lozenge 5y ago
  This is correct but not every TV will have the slot for a decryption card. The UK has good broadband but far from the level of a universal public service. (That would be communism apparently)
  - Nextgrid 5y ago
    That's a chicken & egg problem though. In fact CI slots used to be more popular but declined as the system was pretty much never used (pay-TV is typically only used for high-end services which then provided their own set-top-box offering extra features such as recording or catch-up TV services over the internet). The problem can also be trivially solved by cheap set-top-boxes (during the migration to digital TV, DVB-T tuner set-top-boxes were already inexpensive and technology has advanced even more since then) for the immediate future to avoid forcing people to upgrade their entire TV sets. Key distribution is already a solved problem as well, the UK has a large userbase of smartcard-based prepayment systems such as for electric/gas meters or transport cards (Oyster card) and every tobacco/liquor store has a terminal that can sell or reload these cards. Expanding this system to reload TV cards is just a software update.
  - jen20 5y ago
    > The UK has good broadband London has good broadband in parts. In the central postcode of a major city in 2019, I could only get 40Mbit broadband, pathetically low compared to the multiple 1-2Gbit options I have in the US for the same price or lower.
- makomk 5y ago
  Yes, and in fact Freeview started off as a primarily encrypted commercial service called ONdigital which was taken over by the BBC and turned into Freeview when it failed commercially.
youngtaff 5y ago
The BBC should have chosen the encrypted FreeView route when digital first came in so they could switch to subscription Their focus on the easy money of a license fee, along with lines of “everyone loves to pay it” was going to land them in trouble sooner or later If they'd have go subscription then, they could have chosen their own destiny

Nextgrid 5y ago

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't Freeview just a marketing name for DVB-T (or T2 nowadays), which supported encrypted content since its inception and can mix encrypted & non-encrypted channels in the same multiplex?

lozenge 5y ago
This is correct but not every TV will have the slot for a decryption card. The UK has good broadband but far from the level of a universal public service. (That would be communism apparently)
- Nextgrid 5y ago
  That's a chicken & egg problem though. In fact CI slots used to be more popular but declined as the system was pretty much never used (pay-TV is typically only used for high-end services which then provided their own set-top-box offering extra features such as recording or catch-up TV services over the internet). The problem can also be trivially solved by cheap set-top-boxes (during the migration to digital TV, DVB-T tuner set-top-boxes were already inexpensive and technology has advanced even more since then) for the immediate future to avoid forcing people to upgrade their entire TV sets. Key distribution is already a solved problem as well, the UK has a large userbase of smartcard-based prepayment systems such as for electric/gas meters or transport cards (Oyster card) and every tobacco/liquor store has a terminal that can sell or reload these cards. Expanding this system to reload TV cards is just a software update.
- jen20 5y ago
  > The UK has good broadband London has good broadband in parts. In the central postcode of a major city in 2019, I could only get 40Mbit broadband, pathetically low compared to the multiple 1-2Gbit options I have in the US for the same price or lower.
makomk 5y ago
Yes, and in fact Freeview started off as a primarily encrypted commercial service called ONdigital which was taken over by the BBC and turned into Freeview when it failed commercially.

youngtaff 5y ago

The BBC should have chosen the encrypted FreeView route when digital first came in so they could switch to subscription Their focus on the easy money of a license fee, along with lines of “everyone loves to pay it” was going to land them in trouble sooner or later If they'd have go subscription then, they could have chosen their own destiny