How do I start my own TV channel on cable/sat/ Freeview?

ok, say i have a very good idea for a cable or sat, channel.
I want to start a tv station.
Maybe 4 Hours of broadcast per day.

How do I start/ what do i need?
do i just need to be able to create the programming?

Comments

  • orangeballoonorangeballoon Posts: 10,944
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    freeview will be difficult due to it being a "full" system until they can squeeze out more space for new channels.

    otherwise have a look at the astra sat web page.

    http://www.ses-global.com/


    you will need to know the broadcast laws, what you can and cant do etc, and be able to pay for the broadcasting plus any epg costs (note the recent bbc pull out from skys system, while itv dropped its multimillion pound lawsuit with sky as they were told they would likely lose for the importance of the epg)

    get hold of broadcastnow etc magazine


    we are not yet in the era of "max headroom" pirate tv. so even the smallest tv operation requires millions in investment, and thus is likely to be a company of people with prior knowledge in the industry brought in well before the first idea of a company logo is formed.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,705
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    baddreams wrote:
    How do I start/ what do i need?
    do i just need to be able to create the programming?
    You need to rent transponder space on one of the sky satalites, then get ntl broadcast (or whoever bought them out) to uplink it for you, then purchase a EPG number from sky.

    Or, if thats way to complicated for you, you can arrange for sky to manedge all the uplinking for you to the satalites and get you a place in the sky EPG, a totally manedged solution (almost)... but they charge a premium for this.

    This all generally costs alot, (Your first year could set you back £30grand uplinking before youve even started to think about achally starting broadcasting), generally, if you want to get into broadcasting you need to start off working for a broadcaster for a few years, just to see how "things are done", then maby run a web tv station, then get your first advertiser running 30second commericals between your programming, then you can start to consider going onto satalite, if your channel takes off, you can make arrangements with a cable provider for carriage (still easier said than done).

    However to get onto freeview you need millions (literally) because there is no space left and it is going to be the replacement for our current terrestrial system. Basically you would have to outbid one of the current broadcasters when they reach the end of there contract in something like 7years time (unless they launch more mulitplex's before then?).
    -Chris
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 275
    Forum Member
    thanks for the input.
    i know it was a far out question to ask.
    but your answers are encouraging.

    thanks
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 553
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    You'll also need to talk to Ofcom to arrange a suitable license.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 4
    Forum Member
    Following on from Baddreams, I have started a company called Island Choice Media Ltd, hoping to broadcast a range of programmes that would be of interest to viewers. I've been doing a lot of research in this area, but would still like to hear from others who are knowledgeable in this field and you guys seem very knowledgeable!

    Own Set-top-box
    I have agreement to acquire programme content from a provider which I hope to stream to viewers living in the UK via cable. My question is if I wanted to have my own set-top-box (as like Virgin or BT Vision box) with my own channels which also included the 'free-to-air' channels ie Freeview - how would I obtain the rights to have Freeview? How would I get the channels to stream directly into my set-top-box?

    Would I have to have my own platform in order to have my own set-top-box? - or would I still have to have my channel ‘hosted’ on either the Sky or Virgin platform, for example, and if so, could I still have my own set-top-box along with the EPG for my programmes?

    Streaming programmes outside of the UK to America
    If I wanted to have my own set-top-box (as like Virgin, BT Vision box for example) with my own channels but also want to stream my channels to America – what would the technical process look like?

    Thanking you in advance for your time.
  • PeterBPeterB Posts: 9,487
    Forum Member
    Following on from Baddreams, I have started a company called Island Choice Media Ltd, hoping to broadcast a range of programmes that would be of interest to viewers. I've been doing a lot of research in this area, but would still like to hear from others who are knowledgeable in this field and you guys seem very knowledgeable!

    Own Set-top-box
    I have agreement to acquire programme content from a provider which I hope to stream to viewers living in the UK via cable. My question is if I wanted to have my own set-top-box (as like Virgin or BT Vision box) with my own channels which also included the 'free-to-air' channels ie Freeview - how would I obtain the rights to have Freeview? How would I get the channels to stream directly into my set-top-box?

    Would I have to have my own platform in order to have my own set-top-box? - or would I still have to have my channel ‘hosted’ on either the Sky or Virgin platform, for example, and if so, could I still have my own set-top-box along with the EPG for my programmes?

    Streaming programmes outside of the UK to America
    If I wanted to have my own set-top-box (as like Virgin, BT Vision box for example) with my own channels but also want to stream my channels to America – what would the technical process look like?

    Thanking you in advance for your time.

    As in:

    http://wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk/0a7bd743dd8e6464fc4d6139db8a5f96/compdetails
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