piranha Posted January 17, 2010 Posted January 17, 2010 (edited) Looks like we may be getting a news channel on the ABC http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opini...o-1225820145075 I'm all for it but what about the picture quility for ABC after it's launch. What channel would it use? maybe ch20 (HD) Edited January 17, 2010 by piranha
Digicruiser Posted January 17, 2010 Posted January 17, 2010 Looks like we may be getting a news channel on the ABC http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opini...o-1225820145075 I'm all for it but what about the picture quility for ABC after it's launch. What channel would it use? maybe ch20 (HD) ABC4 24 hour news as another part of the ABC Digital stream would be a killer for any reasonable bandwidth used on the current ABC channels. ABC HD being 720p helps a bit but they have to find extra bandwidth from somewhere if they are at their limit now. 24 hours News channel, even though it may be in competition with Foxtel's news channel would be welcome by many. CNN, BBC News world etc has been great especially if there is a big event happening in the world, new wars and other disasters. Obviously stuff like content on ABC "News Radio" will be repeated and updated over and over during the day. It is about time we had such a service outside Pay TV...
dwu Posted January 17, 2010 Posted January 17, 2010 ABC4 24 hour news as another part of the ABC Digital stream would be a killer for any reasonable bandwidth used on the current ABC channels. ABC HD being 720p helps a bit but they have to find extra bandwidth from somewhere if they are at their limit now. 24 hours News channel, even though it may be in competition with Foxtel's news channel would be welcome by many. CNN, BBC News world etc has been great especially if there is a big event happening in the world, new wars and other disasters. Obviously stuff like content on ABC "News Radio" will be repeated and updated over and over during the day. It is about time we had such a service outside Pay TV... I think it would be difficult to keep viewers interested when there is so much news already. But I'm in favour of it since I like the ABC news and current affairs.
Digicruiser Posted January 17, 2010 Posted January 17, 2010 I think it would be difficult to keep viewers interested when there is so much news already. But I'm in favour of it since I like the ABC news and current affairs. SBS news for most Aussies would be a waste of time but great for others who want to keep updated on what is happening in their own country. SBS could easily get English spoken versions as I don't think they are restricted anymore in doing them. With SBS, I reckon we can ignore them at this time. The way I guess they will do it, will involve many interviews as well to help cover the stories they are presenting. News Radio on AM radio don't have to do that, as they link to overseas services anyway during the night and some day times. Be interesting how similar the format will be to BBC news service etc.
michael 07 Posted January 17, 2010 Posted January 17, 2010 Simply get rid of the hd channel then 4 sd channels should fit nicely, im sure the government would allow aunty to do that.
Digicruiser Posted January 17, 2010 Posted January 17, 2010 Simply get rid of the hd channel then 4 sd channels should fit nicely, im sure the government would allow aunty to do that. Even though I prefer HD quality stuff, I do agree that the ABC doesn't really need it. Apart from a few doco's, what else does the ABC HD channel make it worthwhile to watch? The people with really big TVs will suffer though if they watch ABC HD, but they will suffer anyway as you know there are many SD channels that are not repeated on HD - obviously. If they can up-convert locally on their TVs / STBs then it's better than nothing. Apart from some sports stuff, does anyone know how much native HD material ABC and SBS actually do each month?
darthfyer Posted January 17, 2010 Posted January 17, 2010 Surely the HD channel will make way. If they don't, then ABC2, ABC3 and ABC4 will be an even worse macro block mess than ABC2 is currently. The ABC will surely be able to sweet talk the Government into exempting the HD channel 'rule' for the ABC. After all, they already did so to get ABC2 and ABC3 up and running.
IgglePiggle Posted January 17, 2010 Posted January 17, 2010 (edited) Its about time Oz had a 24/7 news.......and at least it would be done without all the commercial hoo ha........like crossing to that dikweed in the chopper giving traffic reports And its not as if u would sit there watching it for hours...but it would be nice to check in at any time to see who has blown up who in the last hour ,etc And can someone tell me wat the use of traffic jam, etc reports are when you're already home anyway watching the news?..........how many people have tvs in their cars or on the desk at work?? Edited January 17, 2010 by Baboy
sdixon Posted January 17, 2010 Posted January 17, 2010 Nup! ABC has nothing I want to watch with the current setup (pq) and adding a 24/7 News channel will not entice me to change my mind. A News Channel? Not interested.
fredofrog Posted January 17, 2010 Posted January 17, 2010 I think it's a good addition since news in Australia has been dumbed down for years and the ABC seems to be the only network willing to send peopel to where things are happening rather than rely on US/UK sourced material. It also makes a case for those thinking about watching SKy News on Foxtel to hold off. You can see Foxtel adding another discount promo soon as the remaining 40% on analogue decide which way to go - Freeview or paytv
Basil1503559642 Posted January 17, 2010 Posted January 17, 2010 What happened to the News on ABC3?,i read last Year where it would be Kids from 6am to 8.00pm and then News from 8.00pm until 6.
ozbrit Posted January 17, 2010 Posted January 17, 2010 (edited) What happened to the News on ABC3?,i read last Year where it would be Kids from 6am to 8.00pm and then News from 8.00pm until 6. And a fat lot of good that'd be, 8pm - 6am isn't that when most people are in bed? Though 6pm to 10am would be better. My preference would be for a dedicated news channel 24/7, Unlike the Skynews channel, which only actually broadcasts Australian generated news for half the time. Whats the point of ABC HD? There's hardly anything worth watching in HD there. What happened to dolby 5.1? I've read how the ABC were the first to do this on Aussie some years ago, I personally haven't heard any, is there any? I agree with the earlier poster who wonders what it is, this thing with ABC digital and the obsession with kids programming? Edited January 17, 2010 by ozbrit
Basil1503559642 Posted January 17, 2010 Posted January 17, 2010 I agree with the earlier poster who wonders what it is, this thing with ABC digital and the obsession with kids programming? Its the Zeeebra thing.
GoForMoe Posted January 18, 2010 Posted January 18, 2010 What happened to the News on ABC3? There's a ten minute 'Lets talk down to children about news' program at 7pm on ABC3, that's what all the references would have been to. I think ABC will just have a go at 4 SD + HD. Once ABC1 is part of the stat mux group, I'd do something like this: Channel - Lowest Bitrate - Aim Bitrate - Audio - Resolution ABC1 - 3.5Mbps - 5Mbps - 344kbps - 720x576i ABC2 - 2.5Mbps - 4Mbps - 344kbps - 720x576i ABC3 - 2Mbps - 3Mbps - 224kbps - 544x576i ABC4 - 1Mbps - 2Mbps - 112kbps joint - 480x576i ABCHD - 7Mbps - 8Mbps - 448kbps AC3 - 1280x720p Total - 16Mbps - 22Mbps - 1.43Mbps This would mean all stations couldn't max out at once, but in most cases would be able to get close. Bits would be taken off ABC4 first, then HD then 3. Lower horizontal resolutions to try and minimise bandwidth cost for the lower bitrate channels. When 3 is off air: ABC1 - 3.5Mbps - 5Mbps - 344kbps - 720x576i ABC2 - 2.5Mbps - 4.5Mbps - 344kbps - 720x576i ABC4 - 1.5Mbps - 2Mbps - 112kbps joint - 480x576i ABCHD - 8Mbps - 10Mbps - 448kbps AC3 - 1280x720p ABC3 Static Slide - 0.5Mbps - 0.5Mbps - 224kbps - 544x576i For a practical example of the rates, using what is on air currently as I post this, ABC1 is showing a slow moving SD show with lots of detail, ABC2 is showing low movement cartoons and ABC3 is showing relatively fast moving live action programs. ABC4 for the sake of the argument is showing a midday news bulletin. ABC1 - 5Mbps ABC2 - 3Mbps ABC3 - 3.5Mbps ABC4 - 1.25Mbps ABCHD - 7.65Mbps Overheads - 1.2Mbps worth of Null packets, EIT, Subtitles, etc. based on current usage (with additions for the needs of ABC4). Here, ABC1 has met its default, ABC3 has gone over to cope with the high movement, then as it was not a HD native show, ABC2 got an increase of half its ideal and slight increases to HD and 4. Second example, at 7:15pm on current programming, ABC1 is showing the News, ABC2 is showing Scrapheap Challenge, ABC3 is showing Escape from Scorpion Island and ABC4 is showing a Business News show. News is not in HD. ABC1 - 3.5Mbps ABC2 - 5Mbps ABC3 - 3.5Mbps ABC4 - 1.4Mbps ABCHD - 7Mbps Overheads - 1.2Mbps ABC2 has gone very high to cope with the fast movement, with 3 going close. 1 and 4 kept low, as the news doesn't need as much detail and no need for HD increases. And for a final example, it is 10pm, ABC1 is showing a HD documentary, ABC2 is showing Doctor Who and ABC4 is showing a news special from the US ABC1 - 3.5Mbps ABC2 - 4.4Mbps ABC4 - 1.5Mbps ABCHD - 10.5Mbps ABC3 Static Slide - 0.5Mbps ABC1 is kept low because of the availability in HD, this allows ABC2 to have a decent bitrate. And there you have it, four SD channels, with decent priorities (just don't schedule a HD program when ABC3 is on air!).
Timmy Downawell Posted January 18, 2010 Posted January 18, 2010 Looks like we may be getting a news channel on the ABC http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opini...o-1225820145075 Hmm... a lot of ABC bashing in that article, but it is from The Australian, after all. Would hardly expect a Murdoch rag to support a taxpayer funded channel competing against their empire. But a 24 hour news channel without a commercial bias* is exactly what we need. *I am sure some will complain the ABC has a bias all of its own, however.
ckent Posted January 18, 2010 Posted January 18, 2010 (edited) ABC4 should be seriously considered to run as "NewsRadio with pictures" from 6am-9am, maybe more, so think of it as Newsradio's rolling features with DAB+/DMB style graphics changing, showing photos related to what's actually on-air, and a few headlines and tickers etc. What's especially intriguing about this is that ABC NewsRadio gets a lot of its audio from TV sources anyway. Granted, some of that is CNN, and they'd have to pay for a special licence to do slices of "narrowcasting" like that, in a quarter-screen. But I can see how the existing radio playout system can be augmented so that when you press a button to "send audio" out to the radio tx, then it also does a "send video" to a different output and off to the ABC4 feed. In fact the bigger issue might actually be getting the ABC civil war between Radio and TV to settle down to get something like this off the ground. If it helps the office politics, maybe ABC Radio can launch the service as a web stream first :-P then it seems like an "innovation" and they can feel clever for a few minutes while we plug in the cable that runs to the DTV mux. CK. Edited January 18, 2010 by ckent
g12345567 Posted January 18, 2010 Posted January 18, 2010 (edited) What about dropping ABC DIG & DIG Jazz? I'm sure they don't take up much bitrate at all but they can help all the other channels if they ever decide to add another tv channel. Also I hope this doesn't end up like ABC news radio. Sure news radio is good for people on the run who only have a short period of time to catch the news. Other than that when they do have there rolling news reports. it gets very repetative listening to the same stories over and over if you listen for too long. Although News Radio relies on BBC too much to fill in time when not broadcasting locally. At other times they could fill the space with doccos and other longer news reports. Like other 24/7 news stations such as BBC world news, Aljazerra English and Russia Today do. OR will this end up like the "Australian Public Affairs chennel" which was launched a back on the 20th January 2008 on pay tv and was supposedly said to also be broadcast on FTA digital tv as well, some time in the future. But hasn't yet. Maybe when the government digital 44 goes national. Currently under trial in Sydney only. Unless ABC news which already broadcasts headlines on Digital 44 will be replaced by a 24/new channel run by ABC TV. Edited January 18, 2010 by g12345567
Soap Posted January 21, 2010 Posted January 21, 2010 It's official: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/01/21/2797640.htm It's this comment that's confusing: "The news channel will be launched on the ABC's HD channel, and forms the latest arm in the ABC's widening TV presence, alongside the recently launched ABC 3." So will it be an SD channel taking over ABC HD (20) or a HD channel taking over ABC HD (20)???? OR maybe they are calling ABC's digital TV multiplex their "HD channel". Hoping it's SD because I can't bear the thought of ditching my 4 year old Topfield....
BribieG Posted January 21, 2010 Posted January 21, 2010 How much bandwidth does Dig and jazz take up? However I wonder how many people listen to it, I used to have it on my list but wiped it, the jazz channel always sounded exactly like the soundtrack to the old Sim City game According to the Courier Mail the news channel will be on the current HD service. Does that mean they'll drop it to SD, then?
g12345567 Posted January 21, 2010 Posted January 21, 2010 (edited) How much bandwidth does Dig and jazz take up? However I wonder how many people listen to it, I used to have it on my list but wiped it, the jazz channel always sounded exactly like the soundtrack to the old Sim City game According to the Courier Mail the news channel will be on the current HD service. Does that mean they'll drop it to SD, then? Its been confirmed. I just heard it on my local ABC radio news bulletin. They also mention that the service will be high quality. So I am assuming as BridieG has reported it will most likely replace the HD channel. If this is the case, no more HD programming like all the excellent BBC, documentaries and drama they have in HD. Edited January 21, 2010 by g12345567
sdixon Posted January 21, 2010 Posted January 21, 2010 Its been confirmed. I just heard it on my local ABC radio news bulletin. They also mention that the service will be high quality. So I am assuming as BridieG has reported it will most likely replace the HD channel. If this is the case, no more HD programming like all the excellent BBC, documentaries and drama they have in HD. Aaaaaaargh! What the hell is happening to free to air?!?!?! I was discussing the new ABC4 with the guys at work and they all agree that a 24/7 channel would be soooo boring. Big events eg (911, Iraq war) are broadcast by most of the channels around the clock when they happen. What ARE they going to show? To put it on the HD channel and do away with normal HD programming defies belief! ...again....Not Happy Jan!
Soap Posted January 21, 2010 Posted January 21, 2010 Removing the 8 MBit/s HD service and having 4 SD channels at 5-6 MBit/s each is something I might be able to tolerate. Having ABC4 at 2 MBit/s is not.
Captain Cupcake Posted January 21, 2010 Posted January 21, 2010 Aaaaaaargh! What the hell is happening to free to air?!?!?! Inefficient HD TV has been replaced with extra channels, which have helped significantly with digital TV takeup. I was discussing the new ABC4 with the guys at work and they all agree that a 24/7 channel would be soooo boring. Big events eg (911, Iraq war) are broadcast by most of the channels around the clock when they happen. You'd be surprised at how popular a 24/7 news channel would be, particularly amongst older people and pensioners. What ARE they going to show? News Headlines, as well as in-depth stories, presumably. To put it on the HD channel and do away with normal HD programming defies belief! Not really, ABC HD didn't have much native HD as it was. Personally I'm quite happy with this new channel, as I'd watch a 24-hour news service occasionally (mind you, the fact that Albury doesn't have NewsRadio ( )is a factor).
tribal-warrior Posted January 21, 2010 Posted January 21, 2010 Will be very handy checking news updates any time of the day instead of waiting for the 6.00pm News etc. I guess this is the main point of having a 24 hr news channel. On the other hand, ABCHD did have some break away programming from ABC1 on weekends (though I got to see hardly any of that.) That is unfortunately something that will be no more.
sdixon Posted January 21, 2010 Posted January 21, 2010 Looks like ABC remains deleted off my TV then.
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