Related Articles
You know how rubbish TV can be, right? If you think you can do better, now’s your chance — Ofcom has announced that it’s finally putting the analogue TV spectrum up for sale. We’ve known about this for some time now, but we’re only now learning about dates and how much is available.
There’s 128MHz on offer, and each individual bidder can purchase up to 50MHz. This new availability is mostly made up — 112MHz of it — from analogue switch-off. There’s an additional 8MHz freed from removing aeronautical radar from channel 39, as well as another 8MHz from moving UK radio astronomy from channel 38. There’s a further 16MHz saved on channels 61 and 62 via some technical jiggery-pokery.
Ofcom has rather ‘generously’ suggested it won’t interfere in who buys the spectrum, which is really just an easy way for it to reap the maximum profit, because mandating use for only TV would severely restrict the amount of money it could make for our lovely government.
What that probably means is that TV companies won’t bid and the whole lot will end up being used by mobile phone companies to push TV to phones or other wireless services that no one asked for. Which is a great shame really, because HD is gradually becoming relevant to a significant number of people, who are going to wonder why they have to plonk a dish on their roof to watch stuff that isn’t compressed to hell.
Bidding will commence in summer 2009, but you won’t be able to use your newly purchased space until the Olympic games have finished in 2012, because it’s anticipated the broadcasters will need to use it for special products.
So why don’t we get together and buy some space and we can launch a channel with shows such as The Side-Boob Hour and Ian Morris Explains Why He’s Right About Everything? Oh, and Battlestar Galactica, we should air that too. Who’s in? –Ian Morris
