RTL to potentially cease Digital Terrestrial Broadcasts in Germany

[rolfw]

An interesting bit of news on the RTL Group site, whilst Terrestrial broadcasting over air has not got the historic base that it has in much of the rest of europe, it is nonetheless interesting to see how little importance RTL are placing on it.

DVB-T programme distribution expires at the end of 2014
Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland currently sees no economically reasonable option for continuing digital terrestrial television based on DVB-T, the digital terrestrial television offered in Germany.


Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland’s current agreements to disseminate its RTL Television, Vox, Super RTL and RTL II programmes, as well as N-TV in Berlin, will thus expire on 31 December 2014. In the Greater Munich Area, the agreement expires on 31 May 2013. Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland gives three reasons for its decision:

In contrast to digital cable, IPTV and satellite, DVB-T offers significantly lower bandwidth for programme transmission. For instance, DVB-T users currently receive an average of 30 programmes, while viewers can receive an average of 93 programmes via digital cable and an average of 117 via digital satellite. This limited bandwidth also means that it isn’t possible to broadcast programmes in stunning HD quality on DVB-T while keeping the number of channels constant. Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland therefore believes that DVB-T is not a future-proof method of transmission compared to the existing ones.

Although terrestrial transmission began over ten years ago, the average total market share contribution of DVB-T to Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland’s channels in 2012 was just 4.2 per cent. Apart from the lack of development prospects, DVB-T is by far the most expensive and therefore most uneconomical of all methods of transmission. The cost per household reached by DVB-T is many times higher than that of cable or satellite – while simultaneously offering a much smaller range of channels.

Besides the aforementioned strategic and economic reasons, experts have also repeatedly pointed out that the maintenance of this method of transmission also requires political planning security beyond 2020. But even this basic requirement has not yet been met. As early as 2010, with the ‘Digital Dividend 1’ the company already realised that there would be no assistance forthcoming from federal or state governments for maintaining the frequencies, nor would there be compensation for the frequency spectrum that was taken away from broadcasting.

In general, Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland believes that will continue to make sense for broadcasting as well as for mobile use.

http://www.rtlgroup.com/www/htm/home_news.aspx?ID=5485A79C32094859A57C4F82273883C5

 

[Lazarus]

Most interesting, Rolf.

I suppose, by extension, at least some of those arguments can be held to apply in respect of other Countries too.

 

[rolfw]

Yes that's right, Analogue and subsequently digital terrestrial broadcasts have been the TV for the masses in the UK, with Satellite and Cable services taking a rear seat, yet not necessarily the case all over Europe.

 

[C0re]

Cable services had historically been TV for the masses in the Benelux countries. Terrestrial has never been of real importance here (the only exception being radio transmission). In the analogue period only the public television channels were available and now the DVB-T operator is the same as the main IPTV operator. KPN is trying to move its DVB-T customers to its IPTV services.

 

[timo_w2s]

Yes, I think the Netherlands is pretty heavily cabled but I suspect their DVB-T network is quite a bit cheaper to run being a pretty flat and small country.

In Finland the majority of built up areas have cable, with most apartment blocks being cabled as standard but there are also a lot of rural houses that rely on DVB-T.

Unlike the UK most people on the continent just plug their TV into the cable output and get the basic FTA channels at minimum cost and pay for extra channels via a CAM or box if they want more.

Edit: COre beat me to it!

 

[fergyc]

I'm sure I read somewhere that the German analogue satellite system meant most people in Germany rarely used terrestrial

 

[Channel Hopper]

The size of the country, the geography and population distribution, and the competing technologies would all play a part in the decision to keep, or drop a service.

Germany is a prime example of why satellite dth services work (and thankfully the rest of Europe got to see their programming in the 90's) .

www.clipfish.de/video/1964719/rtl-tutti-frutti/

 

[daro2096]

Ha, ha, ha I remember the soft pornagraphic programmes on RTL and Pro7 and Vox back in the days of 19.2 east analogue. There was a chat show presented by a cross dresser who looked like a woman. Least I think it was a man in drag, either that or she was an ugly looking woman and she smoked on set if my memory isn't playing tricks on me. I don't speak any German. It is just what I would see whilst channel hopping, honest.

 

[Analoguesat]

Ha, ha, ha I remember the soft pornagraphic programmes on RTL and Pro7 and Vox back in the days of 19.2 east analogue. There was a chat show presented by a cross dresser who looked like a woman. Least I think it was a man in drag, either that or she was an ugly looking woman and she smoked on set if my memory isn't playing tricks on me. I don't speak any German. It is just what I would see whilst channel hopping, honest.

And I bet you never accidently channel hopped onto Tutti Frutti either ;)

 

[daro2096]

I don't remember Analoguesat, honest.