Well if you are a Sky subcriber then I am not surprised you are not tempted to go for FS. Everything that is availible on FS is availible on Sky plus more, and probably always will be. I guess the only thing that may change your mind at some point is if some channels go to FS and stay in the subscribers package on Sky as what happened with some channels that went to FV.

I got FV when it first came out back in 2002 but have just gone to FS because I have got so fed up with the limitations on FV which forces some channels onto the time share system. Plus in attempting to get more content on there they keep compressing the signal more leading to blocky pictures.

FS has the abilty to grow faster and offer more content then FV, and in a year of FS, it has more channels then FV have managed in 6 years. As the BBC are part owners of both FV and FS and FS being the more versitile platform, then no doubt the BBC will ensure more time and money is spent on inproving FS. I am just waiting for the odd channel on FV that is not yet on FS to come over so I can get rid of my FV PVR.

On top of that as I said in another post. There will come a time when you will go out and buy a new tv and get FS as part of it. Panasonic already make tv's with FS tuners inbuilt, LG have said their next models will have FS built in and other manufacturers will do the same, that is what happened with FV, but never happened with Sky. With 99% of households being in a FS coverage area that is bound to have an affect on the growth of FS as a platform. With that in mind I would not be surprised if at some point in the future ( a few years from now) that Sky will have no option but to sell an official CI-Module for Sky cards and offer a service on FS similar to TopUp on FV.

It never happened with Sky because Sky wouldn't (and still don't) allow it. Two manufacturers did make IDTV's, LG and Panasonic - as far as I know, without permission, and both were ordered to stop production, but were allowed to sell existing stock.

I can recall the LG and, AFAIK, this was made in cooperation with Sky.

I can also clearly recall the EU ruling that it broke the rules that all IDTVs (over a certain size) had to have (and be able to use!) a CAM slot in addition to any built-in decryption.

No, as far as I know it was made without permission from Sky, LG never even had a Sky licence. As soon as Sky heard about it they forced them to stop production, although they did allow them to sell the existing stocks.

Panasonic is less clear, they did have a Sky licence, and it's been suggested it may have been planned with Sky - but it disappeared without trace, and Panasonic ceased to be a Sky licenced manufacturer around the same time.


Didn't that ruling not appear until long after the sets had been discontinued?.

No! LG were, I am pretty sure, told that they could sell off stocks of this one TV (as an exception) - but that any future ones would need to support the CAM directive.

We will have to disagree about Sky's involvement with the LG IDTV - unless anything definitive can be located on the Web!

Did the later Panasonic one have a CAM slot?, I wouldn't have thought so?.


It's exceedingly rare to find definitive information about private commercial procedings.

I must be honest and say I din't know that. Never the les Panasonic must be making their FS TV's under license because their TV's are listed on the FS website. LG have announced their next models will have FS tuners in so I would assume they have aquired a license. If Philips, Samsung, Sony etc all do the same, this will incidently force FS tuners in to peoples homes which can only be a good thing for the FS platform, not only on a finacial front from selling the licenses. Maybe Sky will eventually regret not allowing Panasonic and LG to start a trend of Sky equiped TV's.

Yes, of course Panasonic have a licence, they were the ONLY manufacturer licenced to make an IDTV, and had exclusive rights for six months (just as Humax have six months exclusive PVR rights).

This is how it should be, they took the risks, let them make the initial large profits.

As you also mentioned, LG have signed up to start making Freesat DTV's as well - the more the merrier

I cannot even recall that one! I can only recall the LG IDTV - for which all the newsgroup discussions at the time revolved firmly around the EU.

Freesat won't make any profit from the licence, it is more likely they will barely cover costs of administering the process. I don't believe that Humax or any other manufacturer have exclusivity any longer on any products because the original timescales have now passed (it wasn't exclusive after first product, it was exclusivity from a date). The purpose of the licence is just to ensure the product meets the specifications set out, much the same as companies must have a licence for Freeview+.

The biggest barrier for entry for a company into this market is the software development resource as well as the price of building a potentially different chassis for the UK (very few markets need hybrid DVB-T and HD enabled DVB-S).

A ten pounds per month Sky tax to use the recording function of the Sky+/Sky HD digibox that you own gets right up the nose of many people. The features of the Humax PVR are far better than any of the Sky PVRs e.g. modern user interface, easily archive SD recordings, access external media etc