HellasHab

OSFP 18,We have been asking for this info for a while now and nothing has been posted, which further adds to the speculation about whether this service is legit?! I would like to see an official channel list as well- why do you refuse to post this information Ttentelh?! Instead of spamming the boards with useless plugs for this service why not post actual information about it like a channel lineup!? Also, I still do not understand why you offer channels direct from Greece as these are totally useless for us here in North America?! There is a 7hr time difference which makes it difficult to watch anything so what is the point of offering these channels?! If your service offers the international services then that gives us access to pretty much most of the shows that air on the Greek networks AND these channels are all structured according to our local time zone (usually EST).

It appears he just outed himself as being part of Ellas TV (employee?, owner?), whereas before he was supposedly posting as a 'new subscriber' of the service?! :rolleyes: I thought the channels he listed were already available to subscribers?! This service is appearing more and more shady as time goes on. ;)

ttentelh, No disrespect but people should not have to contact you to find out about this service, the owners of the service should be the ones answering questions NOT a customer. The reason everyone is riled up is because this person comes on here trying to peddle their wares and has thus far refused to answer our questions truthfully AND on top of that has insulted a member. If they want to promote their product that is fine but they are going about it all the wrong way- not much professionalism at Ellas TV from the looks of it. This person is behaving the way someone who has something to hide would behave- avoiding certain questions, not answering truthfully and exhibiting very hostile behavior for no reason- no one provoked him/her or insulted them, they just asked some questions. Bottom line, Ellas TV came to us here, we did not go to them so they should respect the board and its members. In life, people treat you the way you treat them- show respect and you will receive respect in return.

Your joking right?! They don't even offer customers the option of renting a receiver, you think they are going to give them away for free?! At least with the rental, they are still collecting a monthly fee, what do they gain by giving them away?!

Well put Grk101. First, a reminder that Personal attacks are NOT allowed on this forum- Ellastv I suggest you read through the rules before posting anything further: http://clubs.phantis.com/sports/index.php?act=SR&f=5 Second, your hostility is not helping your position, it just makes things worse for you and your company. We have a right to be skeptical and a right to ask legitimate questions (which is what they are), if you don't like it then you are in the wrong business my friend. If people are going to fork over all this money to sign up for your service they have a right to know what exactly they are getting into and what you offer. I highly doubt that you have secured an agreement with Nova Sports, History Chanel, Cartoon Network & Disney XD. Perhaps a phone call to these broadcasters is in order to verify that they have actually signed an agreement with your company?! More than likely I don't think they will even know what Ellas TV is!? If you have the rights to broadcast these channels then why are they not listed on your website?? You have yet to post a list of the channels that your service offers, that in and of itself makes people skeptical. The list posted by ttentelh differs from the channels depicted on your site- what are the correct channels?!

They are a legit company but their customer service leaves something to be desired. NEXTV is owned by Ethnic Channels Group, an ethnic broadcaster here in Canada. They currently operate over 10 Canadian ethnic services, which are available via cable and satellite. When I had NEXTV I signed up for the service at their offices in Toronto and picked up the receiver as well. That was my first thought when I read the channels list. This looks like Nova TV North America not Ellas TV?! :huh: There is no way they would be allowed to air History Channel, Cartoon Network or Disney XD (to name a few) here in North America, especially since some of those channels like Disney XD are localized for the Greek market. Also, I see none of these channels listed on the website, only the international channels are listed?! So they are advertising channels that are not currently available and not advertising the channels that are currently being received by customers?! Its working fine for me as are the others except for ellastv.com. Interesting, ellastv.us is not the same as the others, it seems to be some sort of login portal?!

NEXTV here in Canada (which I know for a fact is a legitimate company) offers customers the option of renting a receiver or purchasing it. These guys do not offer that option which makes me question the legitimacy of this whole operation. Cable and Telco providers (not sure about satellite) also offer a rental option to their customers. That is correct, I am talking about bandwidth on my end. As an example, the package I currently subscribe to has a bandwidth cap of 200Gb/month. Having been a subscriber to an IPTV service in the past, I can say with certainty that these services use up a lot of juice. My monthly usage when I had IPTV was around 100Gb and that was with me clamping down on viewing, meaning the box was not on continuously nor was I watching the channels continuously. If you were to watch for many hours each day (which is the case with the older generation who are home all day), you would endure an untold expense coming from penalties for exceeding your usage limit. IPTV is not feasible IMO unless you are on an unlimited plan or you are wealthy and can afford the high cost.

Thanks for the info, however I see you avoided answering my question about exactly what channels you offer?! True, but IPTV IS affected by bandwidth caps that are being implemented left and right by ISP's in Canada and the US- how do you propose to deal with that?! If you watch these channels for many hours each day, every day then you will end up using a lot of bandwidth and exceeding the stupid cap that the ISP's are putting on each package they offer- quite an expensive venture from what I can see. Is there any way to get around this?!

I would have to agree, the start up costs seem to be very high here. Their package prices are too high as well, especially for IPTV which is still a relatively new technology that is unknown to most regular folk. Channel info is lacking, I would like to see a complete list of available channels posted on the site- why is it not there?! I am still not convinced of the legitimacy of this company, they have a Greek URL (.gr) and according to info on their site appeared to be based in Greece?! If it is supposed to serve the US and Canada then it should have an office in North America. Also, I state once again what is the point of offering channels from Greece when there is a 7hr time difference AND as Grk101 mentioned some programming will be blacked out due to rights issues?! This is where things get fishy to me, if this service was legit then they would not be allowed to offer ET1, ET3, Alter, ANT1, MEGA & Skai. All of these channels (except for Skai) have launched an international channel that is intended for the diaspora because their domestic channels are intended for the residents of Greece ONLY. I sincerely hope it is a legit service, its always good having another alternative to cable & satellite but I remain skeptical for the time being.

Based on the channel lineup listed by ellastv, it appears that this company may be connected to Greek Media Group- a subsidiary perhaps?! If true, then it would appear that this Dumas person has merely moved over to head up the new sister company. Anyone looked into this Ellas TV service? They apparently also carry some channels from Greece, which makes me believe it may be operating in some sort of grey area as those channels are domestic and most likely would not be available outside of Greece. Only two packages listed on their site at the present time and both are a bit on the pricey side IMO- MEGA Cosmos/Alter Globe for 30 bucks?! EDIT: The website has now been updated and they now offer several packages. The package I referred to above has been changed and now includes ERT World, MEGA Channel, Alter Channel, ET-1 & ET-3. That is a better deal for $30. but I still don't see how they can offer the channels from Greece OR why someone would want these channels seeing as how there is 7hr time difference between North America & Greece.

It is also criminal that the omogenia in North America are treated like second class citizens compared to Greeks in the rest of the world. :tdown: Greeks in Australia/New Zealand as well as Europe don't pay a dime for ERT World yet us here in North America have to pay through the nose for this channel. :angry: I would like to know why it is that we are forced to pay for this service when it is available FTA in the rest of the world?! Either make it a Free service for everyone or make it a pay service for everyone- who the heck is in charge of ERT World, no one?! ;)

According to LyngSat, ERT World is now available on Eutelsat W6 @ 21.6

ERT has posted an announcement on their website about changes to the FTA signal for Europe. It looks like Hellas Sat 2 will no longer carry ERT World, its not listed on their website anymore. The change will be with the Hotbird 6 signal, the new frequency is as follows: HOTBIRD 6 @ 13.0

I hope you are right about MEGA because it along with ERT World are the only two I am interested in, unfortunately the provider I am with does not carry either. MEGA Cosmos was not available here in Canada for several years so I am not too familiar with their programming only from what I have read. I have read about them airing some reality stuff as well, perhaps its only recently they started doing this, as you mentioned?! I hope they still make at least a few series every year, don't go over to the dark side completely like ANT1 has ;) To Nhsi looks interesting, will have to find a way to watch it online. Make no mistake, their number 1 priority is to make money, not to provide a service for the omogenia. I would wager that they are making money, perhaps not a lot but they are making something or else I think they would have left a long time ago. About 10 years or so ago all you had in North America was Antenna. Now you have 8 channels available here and 9 in Australia. That tells me that this is a profitable business, which is why so many channels now broadcast internationally. of course subscribers are getting fleeced in the process with the high prices they charge but what can you do?!

I agree that the Greek channels are way overpriced although this seems to be the norm with international channels, most are priced around the $15. mark. I would suggest a price point of $10 for ERT World, it doesn't air any entertainment programming so there is no reason (except greed) why it should be priced as high as it is. Comparing other state owned channels available in the US: Rai Italia- $9.99 RTP International- $9.99 TV5Monde- $9.99 Hmm, I am detecting a pattern here... :D As for Greek Media Group, they seem to be a low budget outfit designed to get maximum dollars for the channels they are distributing. Don't forget, they are mainly a marketing company, they don't own the rights to all the channels they distribute. Alter Globe & GMTV rights are owned by Ilyda, some company from Greece. GMTV appears to be a low budget channel run on the cheap, I don't think it has been very successful and I wonder why DirecTV hasn't dropped it (most likely a contract issue- its probably tied together with Alter Globe?!). Music video channels do not have as much appeal as they used to back in the day, nowadays you have the Internet and can access music content online through your computer or mobile phone- you don't need to sit in front of a TV to watch this stuff. As you mentioned though Grk101, I suspect that GMTV & Blue are being thrown in at no charge or very minimal charge which is why the providers have agreed to carry them.

That is unbelievable DKSat, are you saying that ERT World has now surpassed Antenna as the top channel in North America?! I recall in the past you posted that Antenna was the number one channel?! That doesn't really surprise me actually. As I posted above, the quality of the Greek channels (ANT1 & MEGA specifically) has declined in recent years and I would wager that all this reality crap doesn't appeal to the older generation- heck I am younger I don't like watching this stuff. I suspect the economy has a lot to do with the changes these networks have made to their programming, less serials (which are expensive to produce) and more cheaper fare like game shows & reality shows. No wonder people are moving towards ERT World, their programing seems to be aimed at an older audience.

ERT World is the only channel I would be interested in if I were DirecTV. Antenna would also be an option except they are locked into a long term deal with Dish which probably also has an exclusivity clause attached to it. Personally, I don't really see the need to add any other channels?! Also, the current economic climate probably makes things difficult for any channel looking to enter North America. Look at Star, it tried to enter this market and failed. I believe DKSat posted a while back that they initially approached DirecTV, who wasn't interested and then eventually ended up signing a deal with RCN. It only lasted a short while and not much of a surprise to me since Star is a niche channel and most probably don't know about it and the programming does not have widespread appeal- it caters mainly to a younger audience. Speaking of niche channels, it would be interesting to know how many watch ANT1 Gold & Blue, I suspect that viewership is not that high on these two channels compared to Antenna & ERT?! I think the focus should be on ERT World now, they need to expand their distribution and get on to cable in the US. I think the addition of ERT World will help sell some more cable subscriptions, especially in areas where satellite is not an option.

What about Ku-Band FTA in North America, is that not going to happen?! I knew it was too good to be true! :angry:

ERT has put up the following notice on their website, it outlines changes to the satellites that offer ERT World FTA around the world, effective Sept. 4: Changes to ERT World Frequencies Of note, the article above does not mention anything about ERT World FTA in North America on Ku-Band, only C-Band. :tdown:

Very interesting Kolossos, So if GlobeCast is out in Australia then why would they be in in North America?! DKSat posted above that ERT World will be available FTA in N.A. via GlobeCast's World TV platform. That doesn't really makes sense to me since if I am not mistaken Comart is a subsidiary of GlobeCast?! On another related topic, will these changes on the distribution side result in any changes on the programming side namely the much talked about, much anticipated LOCALIZED SCHEDULES!?! Will ERT ever get their act together and offer Greeks abroad what every other international services offers- a schedule programmed according to the local time zone?! Oh while they are at it, update the damn schedule for the soccer matches, so people know what the hell you are airing! :angry:

Actually I am aware of of this, I frequent various blogs about Greek television to see what changes are happening and what new shows are coming. They are following the lead of many other broadcasters around the world, filling their schedules with worthless reality crap because its cheap to produce. The other trend I noticed for the new season is for the few television series that will air, ANT1 & Mega will be adopting formats & plots from foreign shows- i.e. American, British & Latin American. I believe one of the networks is going to be launching a Greek version of My Name is Earl, unless something has changed recently. From what I have read on the net, most Greeks don't like this and I concur. They can't come up with some original ideas, I am sure there are many talented writers in Greece that could come up with good premises for a show. Looks like the end of television as we know it, they are dumbing it down, making the product more cheaper. :tdown: :tdown: This doesn't bode well for the Greek channels available internationally since they are premium services and they charge a lot. I am rethinking whether I want to spend $15 bucks a month to watch a channel that will air mainly reality junk, the programming I despise greatly. ANT1 & Mega will probably fill the schedules of ANT1 Satellite & MEGA Cosmos with old series, since they most likely only have the rights for these reality shows for Greece. As for Alpha, the only thing on there that I would watch is the show from Lakis Lazopoulos, its quite funny from the little bit that I have seen. The rest is crap but to each his own I guess?!

Thanks for the update DKSat. Interesting news, so ERT is the one directing them to go to DirecTV and cable, looks like there's some bad blood between ERT & Dish Network?! I wonder what that means for Antenna and their channels, who will subscribe to Dishnet just for Antenna especially now that its available on cable as well?! Could this mean the end of Greek programming on Dish?! They like to add a lot of niche, 2nd tier ethnics, I wonder what they will replace ERT World with, if anything?! The addition of ERT World will strengthen DirecTV's Greek package and might mean an increase in subs for them?! They should drop Alpha TV, that channel is full of reality junk, very little quality programming- at least IMO. Looking at the PCCW Global website, it appears as though this is a Chinese company?! If so that would explain why they have been able to secure deals in the span of only a week- the Chinese know how to get things done!

DKSat, Good to hear from you again file! :tup: I can't believe what I am reading, are you telling me that my wish will finally come true and we will see ERT World FTA in North America?! Are you sure PCCW Global will be allowed to offer it FTA since it still airs soccer matches?! Any news on whether the deal with this company will become permanent?! According to the info you posted, it appears ERT has signed a one year deal with PCCW Global because they will be going through a public bidding process to award the rights. Why would it take one year to decide whom to award the distribution rights to... oops I forgot we are talking about Greece here! :D Well, I guess we will see how this plays out. Hopefully this company starts signing some deals with cable companies in the US, so people there have more options available to them.

I read an article awhile back on Satleo that the main networks (ANT1, MEGA, ERT, etc) are ready to start broadcasting in digital. Mind you digital and HD are two seperate things which many seem to confuse, just because its in digital does not mean its high definition. I think HD is far off in Greece let alone the international channels that are available abroad. The best you can hope for is a digital broadcast but one never knows what the future holds. It appears to me as though there is no regulatory structure of any kind in place in Greece so without any rules to follow there is no emphasis on any station to go HD.

ERT has stated over and over again for 3 friggin' years now, that ERT World will have 3 seperate feeds with each one having a localized schedule, meaning we don't have to watch things according to Greek time. I have yet to see anything implemented and have received no response to any of my emails- typical Greek crap I guess. ;) I am sick of this crap, ANT1 & Mega both offer local feeds of their international channels where the program is aired according to the local time zone be it N. America or Australia- why the hell can't ERT get with the program and do the same?! Its bad enough we have been getting repeats for the past 4 months, we can't even watch some shows because they air in the middle of the night because of the stupid time difference with Greece. What kind of amateurs are running this channel, do they not have any professional people working at ERT who know what they are doing? :tdown: