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Official announcement – Arts Council England (ACE) and Freesat are proud to announce that new digital arts service The Space is now available on Freesat Channel 908.
The on demand service, developed by ACE in partnership with the BBC, is a fantastic way for audiences to experience the arts, music and film during an extraordinary summer of culture in the UK.
Highlights available now include early films by Ridley Scott and Ken Russell from the BFI archive; the sold out performance of The Trojans from London’s Royal Opera House, an exclusive interview between Stephen Fry and Tracey Emin live from the Turner Contemporary and live full-length Shakespeare from The Globe Theatre’s incredible Globe to Globe series including a hip hop interpretation of Othello. The Space is not currently available to all Freesat homes in the UK but the aim is to reach all homes over time
From next Monday viewers will also be able to enjoy highlights from the London 2012 BT River of Music concerts featuring The Scissor Sisters, the Noisettes and a host of musicians from around the world performing on 6 international stages along the River Thames.
Fresh content is added to The Space every week.
Emma Scott, Managing Director of Freesat said:
While the nation’s eyes will be focused on the summer of sport in the UK, there is also an amazing summer of culture, with World class arts, culture and film on show across the country. I am delighted that Freesat is able to take part by hosting the BBC and Arts Council’s new digital arts service, The Space. This exciting venture will make some of the most innovative, creative and contemporary visual arts available for viewers everywhere.
About The Space
The Space is a new on-demand digital arts service available free of charge via the internet, smartphones, tablets and connected TV, on Freesat, and has been developed by the Arts Council in partnership with the BBC.
The Space is helping transform the way people connect with and experience the arts, music and film and is helping artists to innovate and experiment digitally.
It launched on 1 May for a trial period running until the end of October, coinciding with and complementing the wealth of arts activity in 2012, including the London 2012 Festival and wider Cultural Olympiad.
July 20th, 2012 at 5:43 pm
“The Space is not currently available to all Freesat homes in the UK…”
So what’s the cut-off? Regional, hardware or something else?
SparkeyQuote
July 20th, 2012 at 5:48 pm
Hardware I believe.
adminQuote
July 20th, 2012 at 6:13 pm
Works with the deleted Technisat HD-FS but not with the Manhattan Plaza HD-S. Assume it works with the Humax but can’t confirm and someone with a Panasonic Freesat tv said it was working on that.
Richard CrichtonQuote
July 20th, 2012 at 6:17 pm
Not currently working with the Echostar HDS-600RS.
Wolfie BQuote
July 20th, 2012 at 6:54 pm
Works with the Humax pvr
WayneQuote
July 20th, 2012 at 7:53 pm
Glad I bought a Humax
Keith GQuote
July 20th, 2012 at 8:01 pm
It works great on my Humax Foxsat HD in East anglia, I watched a short film on Gilding.
ChrislayerukQuote
July 20th, 2012 at 9:35 pm
I have a Panasonic, don’t work on mine either.
shallotmanQuote
July 20th, 2012 at 10:24 pm
can i get in Ireland
robert o mahonyQuote
July 20th, 2012 at 11:13 pm
Not working on my Panasonic BluRay recorder.
Not working on my Brother’s Slingbox
Two Pen’orthQuote
July 21st, 2012 at 1:58 am
“someone” here!
The trial worked well on my Panasonic TV. (Apart from the overly large DOG!)
Unfortunatley, now that the “official” service has started, a message now appears saying that it’s “not supported on this device”.
How annoying is that?
Brian DamageQuote
July 21st, 2012 at 8:48 am
My Panasonic G20 is not supported.
As this is supposed to be supported by the BBC why is it not available via the iPlayer?
Will this eventually be available to all Freesat receivers or ‘all homes over time’ by another method..
What we really want are all BBC (and Channel 4) programming broadcast in HD as these are mainly paid for by the licence fee or tax-payer.
Keith CobbyQuote
July 21st, 2012 at 9:58 am
oh deep joy – another on demand service not available to we panny users.
Al CatrazQuote
July 21st, 2012 at 10:56 am
Maybe Freesat could sort this problem out.
shallotmanQuote
July 21st, 2012 at 11:14 am
Not likely. It’s left to the box manufacturers to update their firmwares.
Richard CrichtonQuote
July 21st, 2012 at 1:03 pm
Works fine on humax pvr but how do you get subtitles? Using subtitle button doesn’t work. Strangely quality is good whereas Iplayer has become unusable despite having speed increase to 1.8 from 1.4mb. Iplayer used to be perfect at 1.4 download speed.
mike smallmanQuote
July 21st, 2012 at 1:10 pm
As I have mentioned before looking at buying a Manhattan HDS on the Tesco deal for another room but would be interested to know what the likelihood is of support for The Space going forward, perhaps Alex could comment, but also worry about is this going to be the same with anything else that comes out internet based in the future, i.e. won’t be able to get???
Mark WhiteQuote
July 21st, 2012 at 1:52 pm
Personally I think Freesat G2 products will be he way forward ( at a price) if you want connected services like The Space. The Manhattan Plaza gives you BBC iPlayer and ITV player (soon) so the Tesco deal is still a great deal if you need a dish installed. If not consider the Humax box at around £99 which works with The Space but hasn’t the customer friendly non Freesat mode of the Manhattan.
Richard CrichtonQuote
July 21st, 2012 at 2:41 pm
I suspect not, actually Richard.
Just in case I wasn’t clear before: THIS WAS WORKING DURING THE TRIAL PERIOD, BUT NOW IT ISN’T. (same firmware)
I think this must be more like the situation with ITVPlayer, which also worked during their trial, but stopped working on Panasonic TV’s when it became “official”.
ITVPlayer started working again sometime later WITHOUT a firmware update.
(It’s still isn’t listed on the EPG, however)
I don’t really know how these things work, but I imagine that there’s some kind of device id check being performed in software when selecting the channel. They obviously didn’t have this in place during the trial, but now they do.
I suspect what actually needs to happen is Space need to add the Panasonic id’s to their list of working devices, and we’ll be back in business again.
(And hopefully by then they will have done something about the ridiculously oversized DOG!)
Brian DamageQuote
July 21st, 2012 at 5:27 pm
Apparently (according to a post on a516′s blog), The Space were asked by Panny not to add the G20 to the blacklist. Mysterious…
MuzerQuote
July 21st, 2012 at 5:27 pm
Er, not to add it to the whitelist…
MuzerQuote
July 21st, 2012 at 6:05 pm
Available in Preston Lancs. althought I was a bit disappointed ‘cos I thought Chrislayeruk said he watched a film on GLIDING.
Not really into gold leaf
RocketmandlgcQuote
July 22nd, 2012 at 1:51 am
Umm, interesting. I played with it during the trial period and it worked well however now just get the placeholder. I wonder if there’s some conspiracy going on by Panny to prevent new features on older sets, all in the name of selling more TV’s?? It’s an interesting thought if what you say is true, also raises interesting questions of whether manufacturers should be blocking services by providers on equipment they no longer manufacture just in the name, presumably, of selling you a new product! Wouldn’t there by some sort of EU ruling on this if indeed it was true and they’d need to prove why it can’t work? I was always told ITV Player wasn’t coming to Panny products due to firmware issues and happy if that is the case, however if it’s all a deliberate block by Panny then that’s just not right.
NeilQuote
July 22nd, 2012 at 2:56 am
Why doesn’t “the space” channel just broadcast like other channels instead of being internet based availability? Its not doing itself justice as obviously some freesat boxes aint compatible.They are surely paying the same fee to be on the freesat epg so why not just broadcast their content on a “loop” like some tv channels do anyway. Personally i’ll watch bbc4 for “the arts” or the review show/culture show on bbc2/bbcHD. Rant over!
roger mellieQuote
July 22nd, 2012 at 7:11 am
The cost would quadruple and it just wouldn’t be feasible, internet delivery is much cheaper and the way things will be going in this respect. I believe EPG inclusion costs for an ‘On Demand’ based channel are much cheaper than standard linear one.
NeilQuote
July 22nd, 2012 at 9:01 am
Works great on my Humax (London) I like this channel already.
CliveQuote
July 22nd, 2012 at 2:55 pm
Fair point Neil.
roger mellieQuote
July 22nd, 2012 at 4:18 pm
Rubbish on my Humax HD Box, picture streaming judders and the sound breaks up when playing, yet the bbc iplayer is fine, even on high quality. my internet speed is up to 24 mbps of this I receive up to 16 mpbs, this should be fast enougth surely.
monkeymaniacQuote
July 22nd, 2012 at 4:49 pm
ITV Player works (still!) on my 2011 model Panasonic TV and has done for a while now. This has also been confirmed by owners of other 2011 Panasonic TVs. However. Freesat don’t list channel 903 in the EPG for some reason.
I’m really disappointed by The Space – or rather having this service blocked by the broadcaster and/or Panasonic. There’s really no justification for that at all, and it won’t do the channels viewing figures any good either.
Brian DamageQuote
July 22nd, 2012 at 6:27 pm
Works great with my Samsung SMT-S7800. Its fast, easy to access and has good usability.
Lee SQuote
July 22nd, 2012 at 6:38 pm
(Sorry for the off topic)
I know that i said your banning was stupid, but..
Ive just been banned for saying this:
‘Any chance of actually spelling the words and not just a long list of abbreviated text speak?’
I have a life ban now because thats being rude they reckon?!
ianQuote
July 22nd, 2012 at 7:18 pm
haha, it would be best everyone steers clear of DS and use alternatives; they don’t deserve visitors/contributors.
adminQuote
July 22nd, 2012 at 7:28 pm
It really does amaze me how they moderate that site and still have members! Let alone advertisers…
ianQuote
July 23rd, 2012 at 9:28 am
Whoever’s ‘fault’ it is, its a pretty poor show when you can’t simply buy a freesat box/tv and be confident that you can use all current freesat services.
As a consumer I don’t give a t*ss about the technology and the obstacles to making it all work. I just want it to work.
I have an IT development background so I understand the importance of compatabilty and testing.
Any other stance from the manufacturers (or freesat for that matter) is just ignorant or arrogant.
Freesat should set out its standards and oblige manufactures to follow them to stay on board.
cotswoldredQuote
July 23rd, 2012 at 10:58 am
I agree. That’s why G2 is so important to Freesat. The origional Freesat spec wasn’t defined well enough imho.
Most of the boxes that don’t work with certain streaming services were designed long before the streaming services were thought off so how can the manufacturers be blamed for that?
Richard CrichtonQuote
July 23rd, 2012 at 11:00 am
Agree with that.
Bleep DS try avforums instead.
Richard CrichtonQuote
July 23rd, 2012 at 11:41 am
Probably Geo-locked to your IP Address, but would be worth hearing from someone who had tried it..
BobQuote
July 23rd, 2012 at 2:56 pm
The 24 Olympic channels are now on the Freesat EPG.
Richard CrichtonQuote
July 23rd, 2012 at 5:15 pm
Just checked before I spotted your post and indeed they are.
NeilQuote
July 23rd, 2012 at 5:21 pm
OMG!!! So they are! Can’t wait for the Olympics to start now!!!
Gordon S ValentineQuote
July 24th, 2012 at 12:19 am
Working in Ireland on my Humax, though with some audio breakup, that is not apparent when I switch to the ITV Player.
AaronQuote
July 24th, 2012 at 9:52 am
That’s a fair explanation. However, it doesn’t change the fact that the average user’s experience is one of compatability issues and poor communication on what should work, might work or will ever work.
Manufacturers products won’t indicate clearly on the box, for example, that ITV Player isn’t available with said product.
cotswoldredQuote
July 24th, 2012 at 10:40 pm
And also doesn’t explain the frankly bizarre situation with Panasonic: who are a premium priced brand, and who also have provided hardware in the past which supports both The Space and ITV Player (and by support I mean works fawlessly) and yet refuses to acknowledge this or allow their customers to make good use of these services. ITV Player does still not appear on the Freesat EPG for Panasonic devices, and The Space worked flawlessly during their trial but has sinice (allegedly) been blocked by Panasonic as a result of their of internal testing.
Frankly, I consider this to be outrageous behaviour.
Even if Panasonic were a minor player, this would be hard to justify, but for a seller of premium priced product this is unacceptable. Why can’t they see how badly they are shooting themselves in the foot over their support for streaming channels? These aren’t anything new guys… Nothing to do with G2. Who would buy a Panasonic TV based on their track record?
Brian DamageQuote
July 25th, 2012 at 2:22 pm
Hi All,
It will work on the HD-S with the imminent update.
It will also work on the HDR-S.
Thanks,
Alex
AlexQuote
July 25th, 2012 at 4:14 pm
Thanks Alex.
I can confirm ‘The Space’ is now working with the 1.44 firmware on my Manhattan HD-S
Richard CrichtonQuote
July 25th, 2012 at 10:46 pm
Doesn’t work with my Technisat HD-FS
SimonQuote
July 26th, 2012 at 2:36 am
I have a Panasonic TX-L32V10B and The Space frontpage is there but on pressing RED it fails to connect producing a connection error.
I have also just witnessed a message on a TX-L32G10B with The Space channel just informing of it’s non-compatableness/non-support with the device.
Of course ITV Player does not work on it and I don’t expect it ever will because as a 3yr. old TV it is treated as old by Panasonic who will not provide firnware updates anymore having got their money from me, around £900 ! so why should they bother; also ITV told me it is unlikely theirs will work on it as “their ITV Player is a newer technology than BBC iPlayer.
For a TV where you can’t alter the Aspect Ratio, to have a correct picture shape, in You Tube mode or when watching 4:3 with subtitles, appauling sound and a manufacturer that treats new interactive channels as an irrelevance to anything over a year or so old I am disgusted. Unless they do somethng impressive to suggest they care about their recent customers it will sadly be the last Panasonic product I will have brought.
FraserQuote
July 26th, 2012 at 10:24 am
What is actually happening? Is it trying to connect?
Do you have the updated firmware installed that fixed the EPG loading problem and the radio list problem?
I have the 1.44 firmware installed on my Manhattan that is supposed to work with The Space and I was getting connection error ,try again later messages last night so there may be a problem with their stream.
Richard CrichtonQuote
July 26th, 2012 at 10:53 am
Simon last time I had the Technisat in use it connected to The Space menu page now I get the “Your Freesat Device currently does not work with this service” message.
Still getting the “Please wait while we try to connect you” “Sorry, there is a problem with the service. Please try again in a few minutes” messages with my Manhattan.
Richard CrichtonQuote
July 26th, 2012 at 6:17 pm
No change of firmware, but The Space is once again accessible (and watchable) on a 2011 Panasonic TV!
I guess they must have decided to add it to the whitelist, following all the complaints. (Anyone else actually complain to The Space, or just me?)
Of course, they’ve still got the overly large DOG – but I guess I can live with that.
Brian DamageQuote
July 26th, 2012 at 6:37 pm
Manhattan have today made available a 1.45 firmware which they say fixes all the issues. If you can’t wait for the OAD see the Manhattan owners thread on avforums if you want to upgrade via usb.
So far so good, connects to The Space and plays programme no problem.
Richard CrichtonQuote
July 26th, 2012 at 11:45 pm
Surprising that the Manhattan needed the firmware updates, when Panasonic devices worked all along without an update (apart from the period when they were removed from the whitelist)
Brian DamageQuote
July 27th, 2012 at 7:55 am
ITV player and The Space are now working and they didn’t before that’s all I know
. Interesting that the i plate works when playing The Space unlike BBC/ITV players.
Richard CrichtonQuote
July 27th, 2012 at 2:02 pm
What’s the i plate?
Brian DamageQuote
July 27th, 2012 at 2:37 pm
The info panel/browser bar that comes up at the bottom of the screen that allows you to see whats on the other channels (now and next) when you press the i button.
Richard CrichtonQuote
July 27th, 2012 at 10:16 pm
Ohh… can’t say I’ve tried that on The Space.
(Not sure how that works with an on demand service anyway – how does it know what you’re going to watch next?)
Brian DamageQuote
July 28th, 2012 at 1:08 am
Now and next for the broadcast channels only.
Richard CrichtonQuote
July 30th, 2012 at 8:47 am
I have returned from holiday to find The Space is now working on my Panasonic G20.
Keith CobbyQuote
August 3rd, 2012 at 10:39 am
Fresh content is added every week. It’s not just a summer of sports it’s also a summer of art.
http://www.freesat.co.uk/files/4413/4331/6188/190712_the_space.pdf
Richard CrichtonQuote
August 3rd, 2012 at 10:43 am
The Space is only on until the end of October, it’s only a trial, unless there is good demand. Then who knows? Use it or loose it?
Richard CrichtonQuote
August 3rd, 2012 at 3:55 pm
The Scissor Sisters gig live at The Tower of London is pretty good imho.
Richard CrichtonQuote
August 9th, 2012 at 11:56 am
I take it all back – this now works on my panny TXL37G10.
Al CatrazQuote