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Telly turn-off for villagers
9:12am Friday 5th October 2007
Comments (31)RESIDENTS of a North Yorkshire village have been told they will have to pay for a Sky satellite dish if they want to carry on watching television in the digital era.
Villagers in Thixendale, which nestles in a steep-sided valley in the Yorkshire Wolds, near Stamford Bridge, has relied for years for its TV reception on a special aerial on a hillside overlooking the village, put up by a group of residents.
The aerial gave a signal to homes which had previously been without one because of the hills, and villagers paid an annual fee towards its maintenance and other costs.
But now a letter has gone out to householders telling them that the service will be switched off on November 1.
The letter, headed Fuzzy Lines, says: "Normally, we would be warning you that we will be after your money again - the good news is that we're not, but the bad news is that the TV system will be switched off on the morning of November 1.
"So you have a month to sort out an alternative means of watching your particular televisual favourites."
The letter said residents had two options - either pay a monthly subscription fee to Sky or make a £150 one-off payment to Sky for a "Freesat" service.
It ended: "This is the last Fuzzy Lines - thank you to everybody for your help and support down the years."
Parish council clerk Lynne Boyes said that the aerial only delivered an analogue signal, and would be no use when a digital TV service was introduced in the area in the next few years.
She said the aerial could not be upgraded and it had been decided to switch it off this autumn.
She added that some villagers already had Sky, meaning that fewer people were willing to pay the annual fee, although some did not have Sky. "I don't think some are that happy but there's no other option," she said.
Back in the 1990s, Thixendale briefly hit national fame as "the village with no TV," after the national media picked up on the fact that many villagers could not get a signal prior to the erection of the hillside aerial.
Your Say YourYork Press
read-all-about-it, Haxby says...
9:29am Fri 5 Oct 07
So the essence of this story is - if you want a digital TV service you have to pay for it.
Simple.
root-two, York says...
9:34am Fri 5 Oct 07
The death knell for analogue TV was announced yonks ago.
Never mind 'analogue', the death knell was sounded for TV as a whole a long time ago.
The TV license is just another odious tax, Freeview is a waste of space (assuming you can actually get it) and it'll be a cold day in hell before I pass any money Murdoch's way.
Ditched my telly about 18 months ago, never replaced it and don't miss it one bit.
A user, Selby says...
9:52am Fri 5 Oct 07
Sponge, York says...
9:56am Fri 5 Oct 07
akuma, York says...
10:12am Fri 5 Oct 07
I'm a huge sci-fi geek!
Captain Jack Sparrow, Strensall says...
10:20am Fri 5 Oct 07
Sponge wrote:If BT hadn't been such muppets back in the 80's you wouldn't have to pay so much for your sky subscription. Sky is a broadcaster who rents expensive transponder space on sats to deliver their service.
I cancelled sky because the subscription was getting stupid but kept the box for the digital channels that are free (there is more than on freeview but you can't get the channel 4 ones) & I've now also got BT vision I get all the freeview channels and more even sport through my broadband line for no extra cost I don't miss sky one bit
BT has held communications back in this country for years. It needs splitting up for fairer competition although alot of the pussycat Ofcom bods are or were in the payroll of BT at one time hence the incredibly easy ride and high phone and broadband charges.
Monkey, Newcastle says...
10:32am Fri 5 Oct 07
Sponge wrote:(there is more than on freeview but you can't get the channel 4 ones)
So basically you get all the rubbish channels that no-one wants and none of the ones which might have something decent on?
I must admit that I'd toyed with the idea of going over to the dark side (something I've been dead set against since Murdoch mugged us for the football) but we only watch the channels from the Beeb and 4 anyway- so I had a lucky escape!
Captain Jack Sparrow, Strensall says...
10:34am Fri 5 Oct 07
Monkey wrote:You don't have to pay for the football channels. They're all streamed live from China and Korea on match days. You can watch all the premier games (inluding the Saturday 3pm kick offs) and top European and champions league as well. All you need is the right bit of software installed on your PC.
Sponge wrote:(there is more than on freeview but you can't get the channel 4 ones)So basically you get all the rubbish channels that no-one wants and none of the ones which might have something decent on? I must admit that I'd toyed with the idea of going over to the dark side (something I've been dead set against since Murdoch mugged us for the football) but we only watch the channels from the Beeb and 4 anyway- so I had a lucky escape!
Redundant Pronoun, Northwest of York says...
10:45am Fri 5 Oct 07
Sci-fi and cricket how geeky is that?
Hmmmm, well I'm not a man so am I still a geek?
Woman like cricket because it gives us a chance to watch men bending over, rubbing their bits and whacking cricket ball...oh er.
akuma, York says...
10:52am Fri 5 Oct 07
A user, Selby says...
11:43am Fri 5 Oct 07
Sponge, York says...
11:47am Fri 5 Oct 07
Monkey wrote:You've missed the point I only kept the sky box because it is already there & get the channel 4 stuff & more on the vision box yes we usually watch the bbc & channel 4 channels as well but now for example I can watch E4 in one room whilst the kids watch BBC 3 in another all for free & nothing to do with Murdoch plus we get the football after 10pm on a Saturday for a £1 a week
Sponge wrote:(there is more than on freeview but you can't get the channel 4 ones)So basically you get all the rubbish channels that no-one wants and none of the ones which might have something decent on? I must admit that I'd toyed with the idea of going over to the dark side (something I've been dead set against since Murdoch mugged us for the football) but we only watch the channels from the Beeb and 4 anyway- so I had a lucky escape!
root-two, York says...
11:59am Fri 5 Oct 07
Sci-fi and cricket how geeky is that?
Sounds perfectly reasonable to me. Last cricket I watched was the Ashes when I was visiting my parents. Way too many adverts - much prefer the radio coverage, even if it means having to listen to Sir Geoffrey.
Sci-fi? Well, yeah, I'm a sci-fi fan but again too many advert breaks. Anyhoo, if something's good enough I'll buy it on DVD ;-)
Hmmmm, well I'm not a man so am I still a geek?
Geekdom transcends boundaries such as gender :-)
root-two, York says...
11:59am Fri 5 Oct 07
Sci-fi and cricket how geeky is that?
Sounds perfectly reasonable to me. Last cricket I watched was the Ashes when I was visiting my parents. Way too many adverts - much prefer the radio coverage, even if it means having to listen to Sir Geoffrey.
Sci-fi? Well, yeah, I'm a sci-fi fan but again too many advert breaks. Anyhoo, if something's good enough I'll buy it on DVD ;-)
Hmmmm, well I'm not a man so am I still a geek?
Geekdom transcends boundaries such as gender :-)
root-two, York says...
11:59am Fri 5 Oct 07
Sci-fi and cricket how geeky is that?
Sounds perfectly reasonable to me. Last cricket I watched was the Ashes when I was visiting my parents. Way too many adverts - much prefer the radio coverage, even if it means having to listen to Sir Geoffrey.
Sci-fi? Well, yeah, I'm a sci-fi fan but again too many advert breaks. Anyhoo, if something's good enough I'll buy it on DVD ;-)
Hmmmm, well I'm not a man so am I still a geek?
Geekdom transcends boundaries such as gender :-)
Sponge, York says...
12:00pm Fri 5 Oct 07
Captain Jack Sparrow wrote:You tell that to my husband who after being an engineer for 20 years is facing redundancy because BT have there hands tied behind their back & have to farm work out to contracters whether they want to or not how exactly do you suggest they split it up? the engineering side has already split from BT to form a seperate company Openworld who have to put in a tender for jobs from BT but because of Ofcom have restrictions imposed upon them that private companys don't how is that fair? Private companies also don't have large staff expenses such as Staff pension or holiday and sick pay they only send staff on the minimum health and safety training required so all in all who wins you tell me?
Sponge wrote: I cancelled sky because the subscription was getting stupid but kept the box for the digital channels that are free (there is more than on freeview but you can't get the channel 4 ones) & I've now also got BT vision I get all the freeview channels and more even sport through my broadband line for no extra cost I don't miss sky one bitIf BT hadn't been such muppets back in the 80's you wouldn't have to pay so much for your sky subscription. Sky is a broadcaster who rents expensive transponder space on sats to deliver their service. BT has held communications back in this country for years. It needs splitting up for fairer competition although alot of the pussycat Ofcom bods are or were in the payroll of BT at one time hence the incredibly easy ride and high phone and broadband charges.
Monkey, Newcastle says...
12:00pm Fri 5 Oct 07
read-all-about-it wrote: So the essence of this story is - if you want a digital TV service you have to pay for it.
Do we not already pay for it r_a_a_i? It's called a TV License. You can bet that the people of this village will get constant reminders from the TV License people as well- we didn't have a TV for a while and were constantly threatened with this that and the other- no matter how many times we told them we were telly-less, the threats still kept coming. We gave in and got a telly in the end...
Sponge, York says...
12:09pm Fri 5 Oct 07
Sponge, York says...
12:12pm Fri 5 Oct 07
Captain Jack Sparrow wrote:Sorry didn't mean to quote all that I got what was supposed to be the software from ebay for a quid but it didn't work
Monkey wrote:You don't have to pay for the football channels. They're all streamed live from China and Korea on match days. You can watch all the premier games (inluding the Saturday 3pm kick offs) and top European and champions league as well. All you need is the right bit of software installed on your PC.Sponge wrote:(there is more than on freeview but you can't get the channel 4 ones)So basically you get all the rubbish channels that no-one wants and none of the ones which might have something decent on? I must admit that I'd toyed with the idea of going over to the dark side (something I've been dead set against since Murdoch mugged us for the football) but we only watch the channels from the Beeb and 4 anyway- so I had a lucky escape!
Stephen, York says...
1:27pm Fri 5 Oct 07
So whats wrong with line and sat sharing the One dish with loads of cable and boosters.
Imagine rows of terraced streets using one sat and cable between the houses.
Technology is out there to do it.
Sure would sting sly profits
SilverSurfer, Surfing says...
1:44pm Fri 5 Oct 07
I'm a huge sci-fi geek!6'1" and 17 stone??
opinionated, Haxby says...
3:30pm Fri 5 Oct 07
akuma, York says...
3:32pm Fri 5 Oct 07
SilverSurfer wrote:There is a new season of Road Wars started last Tuesday, sadly Boardman still narrates.
I'm a huge sci-fi geek!6'1" and 17 stone??
Yes indeed, through a fluke of DNA and genes, I seem to have acquired a reasonable amount of intelligence and a large body frame.
I also weight train at the gym 5 days a week for the last 5 years.
root-two, York says...
7:35pm Fri 5 Oct 07
For the people complaining about poor Freeview reception, I understand that the signals will become stronger once the analogue signals are turned off. The digital signal is currently running at about 50% of maximum strength.
It doesn't help that York seems to sit in an overlap area covered by both Bilsdale and Emley Moor transmitters. The upshot of this is that terrestrial reception quality in some parts is atrocious even with a decent aerial and all bets are off for Freeview reception.
The solution I hit upon at the time cost me about 20 quid - an aerial amplifier from Tescos. Plug it in between the aerial and the set top box, turn up the gain and the job's a good 'un, even with a gash old aerial like the one on my current abode.
Don't think it'd work for the good folk of Thixendale though - they even have to pipe the sunlight in there during the winter :-)
root-two, York says...
7:35pm Fri 5 Oct 07
For the people complaining about poor Freeview reception, I understand that the signals will become stronger once the analogue signals are turned off. The digital signal is currently running at about 50% of maximum strength.
It doesn't help that York seems to sit in an overlap area covered by both Bilsdale and Emley Moor transmitters. The upshot of this is that terrestrial reception quality in some parts is atrocious even with a decent aerial and all bets are off for Freeview reception.
The solution I hit upon at the time cost me about 20 quid - an aerial amplifier from Tescos. Plug it in between the aerial and the set top box, turn up the gain and the job's a good 'un, even with a gash old aerial like the one on my current abode.
Don't think it'd work for the good folk of Thixendale though - they even have to pipe the sunlight in there during the winter :-)
root-two, York says...
7:36pm Fri 5 Oct 07
For the people complaining about poor Freeview reception, I understand that the signals will become stronger once the analogue signals are turned off. The digital signal is currently running at about 50% of maximum strength.
It doesn't help that York seems to sit in an overlap area covered by both Bilsdale and Emley Moor transmitters. The upshot of this is that terrestrial reception quality in some parts is atrocious even with a decent aerial and all bets are off for Freeview reception.
The solution I hit upon at the time cost me about 20 quid - an aerial amplifier from Tescos. Plug it in between the aerial and the set top box, turn up the gain and the job's a good 'un, even with a gash old aerial like the one on my current abode.
Don't think it'd work for the good folk of Thixendale though - they even have to pipe the sunlight in there during the winter :-)
Geoff, says...
12:13am Sat 6 Oct 07
The solution I hit upon at the time cost me about 20 quid - an aerial amplifier from Tescos. Plug it in between the aerial and the set top box, turn up the gain and the job's a good 'un, even with a gash old aerial like the one on my current abode.
Hadn't you even considered that that might have already been tried d1ckhead?
root-two, York says...
11:10am Sat 6 Oct 07
Hadn't you even considered that that might have already been tried d1ckhead?
Let me guess - you fit television aerials for a living and are somewhat miffed that the above little snipped might have done you out of some business. Do I win a prize?
Alternatively, have you thought of an alternative career as a union negotiator for the CWU? Sure they could use a man of your eloquence.
root-two, York says...
11:10am Sat 6 Oct 07
Hadn't you even considered that that might have already been tried d1ckhead?
Let me guess - you fit television aerials for a living and are somewhat miffed that the above little snipped might have done you out of some business. Do I win a prize?
Alternatively, have you thought of an alternative career as a union negotiator for the CWU? Sure they could use a man of your eloquence.
JD, Thixendale says...
11:23pm Thu 11 Oct 07
Its great out here - no chavs etc - so we have to pay for TV - we've got used to it.. This Fuzzy lines letter is about 6 months old...
the worst thing is - no DAB signal - so we are stuck with hissy old FM.. i do hope they increase the power to this too once analogue has died...
Residents in Thixendale have been told they will have to invest in a satellite dish to if they want to watch digital television
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Monkey, Newcastle says...
9:23am Fri 5 Oct 07
Those areas which currently get a weak digital reception won't see any improvement, as I'm pretty sure there are no plans for additional antennae. So the only alternative is to get one of those Godawful council estate dishes.
Murdoch must be rubbing his hands with glee- is this the pay off for The Sun's support of New Labour in 1997 by any chance?