I’m not big on talking about TV, mainly because most of the complaints that come across our desks are people whingeing about adverts on free television causing programs to run overtime. Shock horror, adverts on television, what were they thinking.
I believe too many people live back in the glory days of the box when adverts were secondary, but the fact is in 2013 adverts pay for the programs we get to watch for free.
But something that has popped up a number of times, Foxtel not broadcasting some free-to-air channels through their subscription service.
Foxtel does not broadcast a number of HD channels..
- 7Mate
- GEM
As the excellent TV Tonight says: They will be available only to cable viewers who already had 7HD and 9HD as part of their HD subscription.
A spokesperson told TV Tonight, “Foxtel is retransmitting both 7mate (channel 207) and GEM (channel 209) using the existing HD channel agreements with 7 and 9. This means only cable Foxtel iQ2 set-top-unit subscribers will be able to view the retransmitted channels 7mate and GEM.
“Retransmission is a complimentary service provided to Foxtel subscribers for subscriber convenience.
The Foxtel service does not guarantee subscribers access to all of the commercial free to air channels via retransmission.”
So, as reader Chris King says when writing to Channel 7,
Why did u bother to buy the rights to the rugby league World Cup as you are treating it like a joke. If you were serious about it you would have it on 7 not 7mate so foxtel users and workers could record it. Now I have to miss every game as I work. How come you are only replaying Australia games I had planned to watch every game until I found out channel 7 had it. Stick to the v8s as no one cares about them
So, is this a Channel 7 issue or a Foxtel issue?
FIX?
Foxtel + Foxtel APP
Now I hope Foxtel does not block my fix comment but, I found a way around it. It might be because we have two subscriptions in the same Melbourne household, HD upstairs and non-HD downstairs where I cannot normally see the two channels because of the above.
I have the Foxtel APP which means I can login on my iPad and schedule recordings. I select a program like the Rugby League World Cup game against England, and when it asks which box (Upstairs or Downstairs) I select downstairs (even though its not HD), and then 3 minutes after it has started I go to my Foxtel recordings on the downstairs tv and there is the game recording. I can start watching then, or anytime later.