irish terrestrial tv on sky

[joebloggseire]

If I remove my Sky card from its box in the Republic of Ireland and then go to watch rte 1 on the Skybox why do I get a message telling me to contact the sky subscriptions department? If I do the same in the UK I can watch all UK FTA channels no problem.

[GD1]

@joebloggseire  Simply put all the Irish Channels such as RTE, TG4 etc are encrypted on Sky as they presumably only have the rights for Ireland and not the whole of the UK.

[joebloggseire]

wrong answer my friend.

The answer is that Sky TV since 2004 has been ripping Irish customers off by charging for  Irish National tv channels which is against Irish Law, and is written in the Irish Broadcasting Act. All Irish channels should be available FTA, the same thing as happened years back when OFCOM in the UK instructed the broadcasters including Sky to put the Uk channels as FTA.

But that's why the Irish Republic is in my opinion a banana republic when it comes to issues such as this and I am from there.

[Mark39]

Why raise the question if you knew the answer? What have Sky said about it?

[joebloggseire]

I raised the question in anticipation of a possible reply from SKY TV themselves, but that's like hoping that Wrexham will win the Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup and Champions League in the same season, in my lifetime..  Dream on......................................

[MarkGoldsmith]

This is a community forum of other Sky customers so you won't get a response from Sky.

[Mark39]

We're a customer Community, so, no, it's unlikely Sky will reply here. You could raise a complaint with them.

[TimmyBGood]

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@joebloggseire wrote:

The answer is that Sky TV since 2004 has been ripping Irish customers off by charging for  Irish National tv channels which is against Irish Law, and is written in the Irish Broadcasting Act. All Irish channels should be available FTA, the same thing as happened years back when OFCOM in the UK instructed the broadcasters including Sky to put the Uk channels as FTA.

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Broadcasting the channels unencrypted from the Astra 2  satellites at 28° East was not considered an option due to its large footprint covering the UK, France and many other countries. Irish broadcasters acquire rights on the basis that programming is broadcast to Irish audiences (i.e. some 4.5 million people) and not to approx 100 million people within the Astra footprint. The Board of RTÉ  approved the Saorsat approach developed by RTÉNL from early 2010 to enable the 1-2% of Irish households not covered by Saorview to access free-to-air digital television services.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saorsat 

[joebloggseire]

That reply is in no way a reflection of my question???  Saorsat is a contradiction in terms of Rte and the Irish Government as people still pay sky for irish free-to-air channels in their packages. As Sky is not here to reply it's time to go thanks anyway

[TimmyBGood]

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@joebloggseire wrote:

people still pay sky for irish free-to-air channels in their packages.

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Channels being carried in encrypted format on Sky is not the same thing as a Sky subscription paying for them.

[nolte]

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@joebloggseire wrote:

wrong answer my friend.

The answer is that Sky TV since 2004 has been ripping Irish customers off by charging for  Irish National tv channels which is against Irish Law, and is written in the Irish Broadcasting Act. All Irish channels should be available FTA, the same thing as happened years back when OFCOM in the UK instructed the broadcasters including Sky to put the Uk channels as FTA.

But that's why the Irish Republic is in my opinion a banana republic when it comes to issues such as this and I am from there.

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What has COMREG said when you contacted them on this?

As per Rte article from 2011

• No Irish channels are available on satellite free of charge so if you opt for free satellite TV you will still need your aerial to pick up RTÉ, TV3 and TG4

[ZyloKai]

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@joebloggseire wrote:

If I remove my Sky card from its box in the Republic of Ireland and then go to watch rte 1 on the Skybox why do I get a message telling me to contact the sky subscriptions department? If I do the same in the UK I can watch all UK FTA channels no problem.

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The following channels are free-to-view in Ireland:

• RTÉ One SD/HD 
• RTÉ2 SD/HD 
• RTÉ2 +1 
• Virgin Media One HD 
• TG4 HD
• Virgin Media Two HD
• Virgin Media Three
• Virgin Media Four HD
• RTÉ One +1
• RTÉ2 +1
• Virgin Media One +1 
• Oireachtas TV
• RTÉ News
• RTÉjr 
• Cúla4 HD

This means an active Sky viewing card with either the Sky Q Lite subscription pack or the basic pack (Sky Signature on Sky Q and Sky Ultimate TV on Sky Glass) are required to view these. This is because the providers didn't want their channels broadcasting in GB/UK. 

In Northern Ireland, the following are part of the respective pack: 

• Sky Signature/Ultimate TV or Sky Q Lite:
  • RTÉ One SD/HD 
  • RTÉ2 SD/HD
  • TG4 HD
• Sky Kids or Sky Q Lite:
  • RTÉjr
  • Cúla4 HD

[Paul+Boland]

Republic of Ireland

Irish Broadcasting Act 

Free to air transmission of irish terrestrial TV channels only applies when using a TV aerial (Saorview) https://saorview.ie/en/ or in regards to satellite service when using Saorsat https://saorsat.ie/

Saorsat uses a different satellite to astra and reception of saorsat is restricted to homes in Ireland.

A few years ago if you had a subscription with  Eir Sport when using a Sky Card in a Sky Box you got access to the Irish terrestrial Channels for free but eir sport ceased operations in 2021.

Irish TV Channels that's broadcast on the astra satellites are encrypted and you need an active subscription with Sky if using a Sky Box. 

The same applies if using Sky Glass or Sky Stream you need an active sky subscription

Satellite Free To Air of Irish terrestrial TV channels

A TV you will need to use Saorsat Set Top Box to get irish terrestrial TV channels free to air and satellite dish that's pointed at Saorsat.

Internet

You can access irish terrestrial TV channels for free on the Internet it's restricted to IP address in Ireland

RTE Player

Virgin Media Player

TG4 Player

[ZyloKai]

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@Paul+Boland wrote:

Republic of Ireland

Irish Broadcasting Act 

Free to air transmission of irish terrestrial TV channels only applies when using a TV aerial (Saorview) https://saorview.ie/en/ or in regards to satellite service when using Saorsat https://saorsat.ie/

Saorsat uses a different satellite to astra and reception of saorsat is restricted to homes in Ireland.

A few years ago if you had a subscription with  Eir Sport when using a Sky Card in a Sky Box you got access to the Irish terrestrial Channels for free but eir sport ceased operations in 2021.

Irish TV Channels that's broadcast on the astra satellites are encrypted and you need an active subscription with Sky if using a Sky Box. 

The same applies if using Sky Glass or Sky Stream you need an active sky subscription

Satellite Free To Air of Irish terrestrial TV channels

A TV you will need to use Saorsat Set Top Box to get irish terrestrial TV channels free to air and satellite dish that's pointed at Saorsat.

Internet

You can access irish terrestrial TV channels for free on the Internet it's restricted to IP address in Ireland

RTE Player

Virgin Media Player,

TG4 Player

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Yes, and for Sky to get around this, RTÉ, Virgin Media Television and TG4 channels are free-to-view and region locked to Ireland or Ireland and Northern Ireland respectively*. A basic pack (i.e. Sky Q Lite & Sky Signature subscriptions on Sky Q, or Sky Ultimate TV subscription on Sky Glass/Stream) is required. There is no fees interchanged between RTÉ, TG4 and Sky because it's the same for BBC channels. [Source from 2017]

In regard to the eir channels and getting the Irish channels: This likely was a deal done with eir and Sky. 

Side notes: 

• Some older Sky publications define RTÉ, Virgin Media Television, TG4, Channel 4 and BBC channels) as "Bonus channels". 
• As long as BBC One and BBC Two are available in Ireland, RTÉ One and RTÉ2 will be available in Northern Ireland.  That's the agreement between RTÉ and the BBC.

* Similar to how all STV HD regions (except Cental West) are free-to-view and region locked to the UK.