Why has the UK version of BBC2HD been removed from the programmer?

[Annie+UK]

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@N1vek77 wrote:

Under Good Friday agreement it should be on our version of freeview just like RTE is on freeview in Northern Ireland. $ky pay BBC I gather for  carriage although we don't get red button services last number of years. No radio stations either

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Sky has nothing to do with Freeview so I don't get what your point is, Sky don't pay the BBC for anything

[nolte]

@N1vek77 wrote

• Under Good Friday agreement it should be on our version of freeview just like RTE is on freeview in Northern Ireland. $ky pay BBC I gather for  carriage although we don't get red button services last number of years. No radio stations either

Can you quote the specific part of the GFA that mean that people in ROI should get the english version of BBC TV and radio services?

Also if the 2014 article is anything to go by, the current amount sky pay BBC is 0 yo carry the bbc services

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/feb/28/bbc-bskyb-agree-retransmission-deal

[Anonymous]

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@N1vek77 wrote:

Under Good Friday agreement it should be on our version of freeview just like RTE is on freeview in Northern Ireland. $ky pay BBC I gather for  carriage although we don't get red button services last number of years. No radio stations either

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Good Friday Agreement:
The Good Friday Agreement has nothing to do with RTÉ nor the BBC. The only mention of anything to do with television in the Good Friday Agreement is:
"[...] seek more effective ways to encourage and provide financial support for
Irish language film and television production in Northern Ireland; and [...]"

"RTÉ" and "BBC" are not mentioned at all in the Good Friday Agreement. Saorview and Freeview are two completely separate things. 

"The Good Friday Agreement, which is also known as the Belfast Agreement, was signed on Good Friday, [tenth of April, 1998]. It consists of two closely related agreements, the British-Irish Agreement and the Multi-Party Agreement. It led to the establishment of a system of devolved government in Northern Ireland and the creation of many new institutions such as the Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive, the North South Ministerial Council and the British-Irish Council." - Citizens Information.

The following is speculation, but I would assume that BBC and RTÉ have an agreement to where RTÉ can be shown in Northern Ireland and BBC in (the Republic of) Ireland. Also, if one looks at the likes of "Mrs. Brown's Boys" and "EastEnders", both are shown on BBC One and RTÉ One. I'm sure there's shows on RTÉ that are 'given' to the BBC. 

Sky paying BBC:
According to this 2014 article from The Guardian, BBC do not pay Sky to add their channels. The BBC had threatened to start charging Sky if the annual fee wasn't dropped, but it was. 

Red Button:
Not having Red Button services on BBC channels (which is speculatively being phased out) is possibly due to ComReg (Irish version of Ofcom) not allowing it, or maybe it's down to the BBC just not wanting to offer Red Button services in Ireland. One would need to contact the BBC to get an answer.

Radio channels:
The majority of radio channels (and a few TV channels) were removed at the end of 2020 due to Brexit. The owners of these decided to opt for a UK only licence as their EU licence became invalid once Brexit started in January 2021. This is why the likes of some Channel 4 channels are registered in Luxembourg for their EU licence. 

Please get your facts right before commenting. 

[N1vek77]

It's great to have people on here who know everything. People normally just comment to try to help others. We in the Republic were always led to believe that RTE was going to be more widely available up North after the signing of the agreement and hence it has gone on freeview.

  I do know that Saorview is jn Republic & Freeview vice versa.

  BBC would not be free on a dish in Republic hence somebody has to be paid. 

  Red button removed just Olympics in '16 I think 

 I came on here just to give opinion Sir and not to be told to get my facts right etc etc

[Anonymous]

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@N1vek77 wrote:

It's great to have people on here who know everything. People normally just comment to try to help others. We in the Republic were always led to believe that RTE was going to be more widely available up North after the signing of the agreement and hence it has gone on freeview.

  I do know that Saorview is jn Republic & Freeview vice versa.

  BBC would not be free on a dish in Republic hence somebody has to be paid. 

  Red button removed just Olympics in '16 I think 

 I came on here just to give opinion Sir and not to be told to get my facts right etc etc

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"People normally just comment to try to help others."
I was just doing that. I was making sure your harmful and inaccurate comment was addressed and the facts corrected. 

"We in the Republic were always led to believe that RTE was going to be more widely available up North after the signing of the agreement and hence it has gone on freeview." 

I live in Ireland, and this is the first time I'm hearing of this. The Good Friday Agreement is a peace treaty after The Troubles.

It does say in the treaty that Irish-language production funding and encouragement is to to be made available in Northern Ireland, this is a possibility the cause of your confusion. I have noticed that in the past, BBC Two Northern Ireland have shown Irish-language programmes but I'm not sure if they do now.

Additionally, RTÉ One, RTÉ2 and TG4 are available on Freeview, Virgin Media, Sky, Saorsat, Saorview (overspill areas) as free-to-air channels in Northern Ireland (or with the basic TV package from the provider). This is because of a cross-border partnership between Ireland and Northern Ireland.

RTÉ News link from 2010 about the cross-border partnership: https://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0201/127070-communications/ 

As long as RTÉ and TG4 channels are available in Northern Ireland, BBC channels will be available in Ireland. However, this partnership has nothing to do with the Good Friday Agreement. But RTÉ and TG4 have been freely available in Northern Ireland since 2012.

So I don't understand your point saying RTÉ should be "more widely available up North". Because they are, with the only exception of Freesat. Their channels have been available for 11 years in Northern Ireland.

"BBC would not be free on a dish in Republic"

Again, BBC is free in Ireland due to the previous comment I made to you where I mentioned Sky and BBC had a disagreement in 2014 and also because of the cross-border partnership. As long as RTÉ One, RTÉ2 and TG4 remain free-to-air in Northern Ireland, BBC channels will be free-to-air in Ireland.

"Red button removed just Olympics in '16 I think"

Actually, I think the last time Ireland had BBC Red Button channels was during Wimbledon 2022. But the Olymics in 2020, Ireland did get BBC Red Button 1 - 6 and BBC Red Button HD. Not really sure.

But the BBC Red Button channels are interactive channels, not standard channels and BBC don't have to make them available in Ireland. It's entirely down to the BBC and possibly down to licensing rights on whether they are shown in Ireland (on the EPG)

[Kirsty+S27]

Hi all,

Please be aware of the Community Rules when posting.

I would suggest contacting the BBC to feedback your dissatisfaction with the channel change.

Thread now locked.