simpliTV

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

simpliTV is the brand name of the Austrian DVB-T2 platform, which was launched on April 15, 2013 and initially sees itself as a supplement and in the long term as a replacement for the previous DVB-T standard.

The provider is simpli services GmbH & Co KG, a subsidiary of ORS , 60 percent of which is owned by ORF and 40 percent by Medicur Sendeanlagen GmbH, part of the Raiffeisen Group. It is a comparable platform to Boxer in Sweden and Denmark and Digitenne in the Netherlands. Such platforms have been operating successfully in these countries for many years. In comparison, SimpliTV is based on the DVB-T successor standard DVB-T2. DVB-T2-compatible devices are required for reception, but a DVB-T2-compatible device with support for a common interface module is required for reception of the encrypted programs, but CI + for some HD programs.

It is Irdeto Cardless encryption , which means that decryption takes place without a smart card.

The ORS subsidiary intends to increase the market share of aerial television, which is already 50 percent in Europe, to over 10 percent in Austria. The technical range of the transmitter signals is 90 percent.

Market situation and business model

The ORS intends to increase the attractiveness of terrestrial television reception in the long term through the use of DVB-T2. Since the introduction of digital satellite television (especially the Austrian broadcasters around the year 2000), the market share of terrestrial television has fallen from 40 percent to only around 5 percent in 2010. In addition to the stagnating market shares of "primary TV", the main causes are limited number of programs, frequency shortage due to the digital dividend , cost pressure on the program organizers and the demand for basic encryption. With the conversion of Multiplex B, the market share throughout Austria was able to consolidate to 6 percent by 2012, while the ORS specifies 10 to 12 percent by around 2018.

The SimpliTV business model is based on broadcasting channels such as RTL Group , ProSiebenSat.1 Group and the like. a. to offer various options for broadcasting co-financed by the user, the costs of which are higher with terrestrial in relation to the viewers that can be reached than with other reception channels. The lack of this possibility has z. In Germany, for example, the RTL Group temporarily withdrew from this distribution channel. SimpliTV offers program organizers the option of a transport model, but as before also the option of a platform model. With the new standard, the ORS intends for the first time to enter terrestrial HDTV and a variety of programs with which it wants to offer cable TV customers an alternative means of distribution in addition to terrestrial users.

Program offer

Together with conventional DVB-T broadcasting (which, strictly speaking, has nothing to do with SimpliTV), 30 to 40 Austrian and international programs are available, depending on the region. The product started with only three UHF channels (Muxe D, E and F) in the DVB-T2 standard in April 2013.

In the converted regions, the “Mux B” multiplex was taken over by SimpliTV and converted to the DVB-T2 method. Up to 15 programs in HD quality are available in these areas (depending on the location). Almost as many programs were available in the regions not yet converted, but fewer high-resolution programs. Almost all DVB-T2 television programs (in standard and HD resolution) are encrypted, but the teletexts of all programs are uncoded. The previous DVB-T programs in standard definition (SD) and the only radio program (Mux F) can still be received unencrypted. “Mux A” will also be converted to DVB-T2 by SimpliTV in the future. The regionalized "Mux C" broadcasting chains will not be ready for new tenders at the beginning of 2015.

In addition, all sound tracks with the exception of the radio program are transmitted in Dolby Digital Plus . The HbbTV offers from Das Erste , ZDF , ProSieben , Sat.1 , arte and ORF (in all programs) are also available.

After a free registration or free activation with just a few personal data, the SimpliTV offer includes all important Austrian programs ( ORF eins , ORF 2 and ServusTV from the start and in HD and since the switch from Mux B also ORF III , ATV , 3sat and ORF Sport + (all in HD ) as well as Puls 4 and ATV2 ). This also enables other programs in the local multiplexes. Import devices can only decrypt the DVB-T2 programs if the associated module is supported, and otherwise only show ORF eins, ORF 2 and ATV as well as regional unencrypted channels such as Ländle TV in Vorarlberg. A paid subscription (monthly or annual payment) is required for the remaining foreign programs from simpliTV and Puls 4 in HD. Up to three devices can be operated per subscription.

Since autumn 2014, the areas served have been expanded and the range of programs expanded every six months by converting the Mux B from DVB-T to DVB-T2. Carinthia and East Tyrol started on October 21, 2014. The federal states of Vorarlberg and Tyrol were converted on May 5, 2015, Styria and southern Burgenland on October 20, 2015. On April 19, 2016, the regions of Upper Austria and Salzburg were also converted . Vienna, Lower Austria and Burgenland Nord followed on October 27, 2016. Regions that have been converted will also lose the private ATV station in the Mux A as DVB-T as long as the Mux A has not yet been converted to DVB-T2. This means that the unencrypted program offer is temporarily reduced to the programs ORF one and ORF 2 (and, if applicable, local stations or stations from abroad). In Carinthia and East Tyrol, however, the local window for Tyrol in HD and unencrypted was added to Mux A on May 5, 2015, but not the complete ORF 2 program. Similar in Styria and Southern Burgenland, where Mux A sometimes has ORF 2B HD. At the same time, Sat.1 Gold and Puls 4 in HD (in addition to SD) were added in the converted regions.

However, the HD programs from Puls 4 HD, RTL, VOX, ProSieben and Sat.1 broadcast with CI + restrictions (various restrictions depending on the hardware, cannot be used with CI receivers), all other programs are and are only decrypted with CI without any restrictions and can easily be reworked on the PC.

Head-end stations can decrypt the programs centrally with a SimpliTV Professional module and feed the Austrian programs (with the exception of Puls 4 HD) unencrypted either as DVB-T (using parameters that are not useful for terrestrial transmission) or DVB-C into the network. The corresponding end devices must, however, be capable of Dolby Digital Plus, as no changes are made to the data stream.

From 2016/17, viewers in regions close to the border in Germany (especially Bavaria, but also Baden-Württemberg), the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary or Switzerland can (as of October 2015) no longer be able to broadcast Austrian programs via terrestrial broadcasting, and sometimes also in some stages can no longer be seen via your cable network, as registration or activation is only possible at an Austrian address on SimpliTV. An exception is e.g. B. Ländle TV in Vorarlberg.

The unencrypted broadcast of ORF one and ORF 2 in low resolution (SD) in parallel to the encrypted broadcast via DVB-T2 is planned by 2019. The basic encryption should be checked every 2 years by the Austrian regulatory authority. In addition, SimpliTV must have at least 150,000 registered viewers by then so that the encryption can continue to be approved.

In South Tyrol and parts of the Trentino, the broadcasting company Südtirol broadcasts ORF one and ORF 2 still unencrypted in HD and SD, as well as ORF III in SD. However, DVB-T will be used there until 2020.

On July 23, 2019, as a late consequence of the Swiss DVB-T shutdown, the broadcasting of SRF programs via SimpliTV was stopped.

Channel list

The constantly updated, correct and complete list can be viewed at the links below.

  • Free of charge after registering a SimpliTV-certified DVB-T2 receiver or module in HD
    • ORF 1 HD (MUX D, in Vienna, Lower Austria and Northern Burgenland MUX A)
    • ORF 2 HD (MUX D, in Vienna, Lower Austria and Northern Burgenland MUX A) only in one state version, the second can only be seen via DVB-T, ORF 2B HD for Styria and Southern Burgenland and ORF 2T HD for East Tyrol is broadcast in Mux A . In Vienna, Lower Austria and Northern Burgenland, all three state versions are broadcast in HD on MUX A.
    • ServusTV Austria HD (MUX D, in Vienna, Lower Austria and Northern Burgenland MUX B)
    • ORF III HD (MUX B, in Vienna, Lower Austria and Northern Burgenland MUX A)
    • ORF SPORT + HD (MUX B, in Vienna, Lower Austria and Northern Burgenland MUX A)
    • ATV HD (MUX B)
    • 3sat HD (MUX B)
  • Free of charge after registering a SimpliTV-certified DVB-T2 receiver or module in SD
    • Pulse 4 (MUX B) in SD; HD on MUX F is chargeable
  • Free of charge with a regular DVB-T2 receiver in SD
  • Paid subscription
  • Radio programs unencrypted
  • Free of charge via DVB-T2 regional
    • The respective regional television programs on MUX C (note: only those are advertised on the dvb-t.at and ors.at websites where ORS is the broadcaster)
    • Local window ORF 2 Tirol in HD (Mux A in Carinthia and East Tyrol)
    • Local window ORF 2 Burgenland in HD (Mux A in Styria and Southern Burgenland)
    • DVB-T2 programs from abroad also close to the border

Future expansions of the product portfolio are the introduction of hybrid services ( Hbb-TV ), on-demand offers, greater consideration of mobile devices and a further program expansion through the changeover from Mux A.

Unlawful disclosure of customer data

In May 2018, simpliTV was convicted by the Vienna Higher Regional Court for forcing customers to accept terms and conditions that allowed simpliTV, ORF and GIS to pass on customer data for advertising purposes. The use of a particularly expensive 0810 number as a customer service hotline was also judged to be illegal.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The ORS Group ors.at, accessed on June 11, 2018
  2. ↑ simplitv.at: simpliTV receivers
  3. ↑ a b Wolfgang Schalko: simpliTV heralds a new era of (aerial) television. elektro.at, April 12, 2013
  4. ↑ Martin Loose: New antenna television: simpliTV starts competition for price-conscious consumers. ( Memento of the original from October 10, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. christtv.de, April 13, 2013 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.christtv.de
  5. ↑ ORF annual report 2014. ORF, April 30, 2015
  6. ↑ a b c DVB-T2: The antenna becomes sharp. (PDF) Digitale Plattform Austria, plenary meeting, March 13, 2013, p. 3 (market introduction), p. 13 (roadmap) , accessed on March 1, 2015 .
  7. ↑ ors.at: simpliTV starts competition for price-conscious consumers. (PDF; 104 kB)
  8. ↑ simplitv.at: Information on simpliTV - the new generation of digital aerial television
  9. ↑ rtr.at: Conversion of the digital aerial television in Carinthia is legally permissible
  10. ↑ kel.at: ORF's “TV15” roadshow comes to Vorarlberg and Tyrol
  11. ↑ http://www.badvigaun.at/Regionale_Umstellung_von_DVB-T_auf_simpliTV_DVB-T2_
  12. ↑ DVB-T - start page. In: DVB-T. Retrieved May 29, 2016 .
  13. ↑ SIMPLITV PRO CI MODULE for continuous use in head-end stations
  14. ↑ Publication of the RTR on December 22, 2015
  15. ↑ INFODIGITAL - SRF 1 HD and SRF 2 HD are leaving simpliTV
  16. ↑ a b Do I need a DVB-T2 compatible television to receive simpliTV? Retrieved April 24, 2020 .
  17. ↑ simpliTV: AGB and hotline according to the judgment illegally krone.at, accessed on June 4, 2018