Sweden’s terrestrial TV turns into a basic core service, while France’s free-to-air TV services faces big changes. Meanwhile more broadcasters have dropped standard definition channels.
- A round up of TV reception news from across the continent.
Sweden’s Boxer digital terrestrial television (DTT) pay TV network closed down at the beginning of the year, reducing the DTT platform to a basic core service consisting of public broadcaster SVT and commercial channel TV4.
Boxer, part of Tele2, a major ISP in Sweden, continues as an streaming service. Customers were encouraged to switch to fixed or mobile broadband services to keep watching. In addition to its bundle of pay channels, BBC News was broadcast free-to-air.
Teracom, operator of Sweden’s DTT network, stated on its website: “The free terrestrial network means that the population of Sweden should always be able, regardless of stressful situations such as crisis and war, to take part in important social information and objective news.” It added: “Keeping a television receiver that works even without access to the internet is also an effective way to increase your resilience. Via the free channels in the terrestrial network, you can then take advantage of important social information even if you do not have a connection.”
Sweden and neighbouring countries bordering the Baltic Sea have been keenly following developments in nearby Russia. Russia has been accused of multiple acts of sabotage to undersea internet cables in the area.
French DTT shakeup
France meanwhile is facing a shakeup on its digital terrestrial television service. Regulator Arcom last year determined which terrestrial channels would be allowed to continue broadcasting over the airwaves until 2035, leaving C8 and NRJ12 without a licence from the end of February. REELS TV and OF TV will join the platform, but won’t automatically inherit their predecessor’s channel numbers.
Reports in local media suggest there will be a shakeup in the channel list, with news channels grouped together for the first time.
Ireland prepares for the future
The Republic of Ireland looks set to join European countries including Italy and Germany in developing a DVB-I solution as part of a future transition from regular broadcast to streaming TV. You can read more about plans for free-to-air platform Saorview on the EBU website. UK broadcasters have opted to go a different way with the HbbTV OpApp Freely.
ARD and ORF end SD satellite broadcasts
In Austria, public broadcaster ORF is closing its SD channels via satellite and going HD-only. Its TV channels are encrypted via Astra 19.2°E. Free-to-air ORF 2 E is however now available in HD for the first time.
In neighbouring Germany, public broadcaster ARD has now ended SD satellite broadcasts via Astra 19.2°E. It’s been broadcasting the full set of regional HD channels on satellite for some time now. Fellow public broadcaster ZDF will continue SD simulcasts until November.
Teletext rollback
Staying in Germany and Austria, commercial broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1, which operates a number of channels in both countries has cut back its classic teletext service, removing all content, except programme information. The medium has until recently remained very popular with viewers. Various broadcasters have started to look at cutting the service as the technology ages. They want to concentrate investment on streaming apps and websites. Bavaria’s BR recently outlined plans to close its teletext service in favour of simulcasting ARD-text on its channel.
By: Marc Thornham