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Thai Consumer Group Urges GMM Boycott Over Euro Fiasco


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Consumer group urges GMM boycott over Euro fiasco

The Nation

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BANGKOK: -- An umbrella agency representing consumers yesterday called for a nationwide boycott of entertainment programmes produced by GMM Grammy to protest at its failure to broadcast Euro 2012 soccer matches via True Visions subscription channels.

In an open letter, the Confederation of Consumer Organisations, Thailand (CCOT), called on consumers to lodge a classaction civil lawsuit demanding a blanket broadcast of live football matches on all available channels. The group did not state its views on True Visions, or say what action it would take in regard to True.

CCOT chairwoman Bunyuen Siritham said the boycott was needed as a countermeasure against a conglomerate that lacked good governance in its publicservice policies. She called on consumers to stop buying songs and magazines produced under the GMM Grammy label and to stop listening to or watching any of its programmes on radio and free or satellite TV channels.

The chairman of the Foundation for Consumers, Saree Aongsomwang, said a large number of households in Thailand had been deprived of their basic right to watch freeTV programmes, and all government agencies and regulatory bodies had completely failed to protect their rights. She said a request for an injunction ordering GMM Grammy to allow all channels to air the remaining Euro 2012 matches would also be made along with the lawsuit.

Law lecturer Kaewsan Atibodhi directed blame at the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) for failing to regulate the situation, while GMM Grammy and Channels 3, 5 and 9 had violated Article 47 of the Constitution. The article upholds the principle against limiting people's basic right to access media. He said judicial action was now needed to take care of the issue.

TrueVisions and GMM Grammy are under fire for their failure to strike a deal before the tournament began earlier this month ensuring the airing of all Euro 2012 matches. The two conglomerates have been equally blamed by subscribers and critics alike for the socalled "dark screen" issue, while regulatory bodies such as the NBTC have been exposed as powerless. The government's consumer protection mechanism also failed completely to take action against the firms, Kaewsan said.

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-- The Nation 2012-06-25

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Thais have a Consumer Group???? blink.png

They have a lot more to contend with than a once in a blue moon football tournament then. How about staring with..............after sales service, refund policies, warranty claims, trade description, double pricing, and eh.....dare I say, jet ski scams.......coffee1.gif

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IMO GMM have a long way to go as far as capturing the farang consumer

I have one of their boxes and have gone thru all their channels and their

really is not much there for a non Thai speaking person

I will not be boycotting GMM but my ox will be gathering dust once the EUROS are over,

not in protest of their handling of the EUROS but solely due to the poor programming

choice for an English speaking person

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IMO GMM have a long way to go as far as capturing the farang consumer

I have one of their boxes and have gone thru all their channels and their

really is not much there for a non Thai speaking person

I will not be boycotting GMM but my ox will be gathering dust once the EUROS are over,

not in protest of their handling of the EUROS but solely due to the poor programming

choice for an English speaking person

My commisserations for your ox. May he rest in peace.

It's certainly a new twist on the "sick buffalo" story. "You give me money, my ox is gathering dust".

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Sorry but why do people think that there are gonna be English speaking programs on Thai TV.

Use the tail for a good soup - Oxtail.

A good point to make. We don't expect the proper use of English grammar here on ThaiVisa do we? laugh.png

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Sorry but why do people think that there are gonna be English speaking programs on Thai TV.

Use the tail for a good soup - Oxtail.

Fair enough criticism. However, there is no excuse for there not to be multilingual options. In the EU and North America all sorts of language options are available to various ethnic communities. I don't think one needs to have taken a marketing course to appreciate that in the areas of Pattaya, Phuket & Chiang Mai there are large numbers of German, English, Swedish and Russian language speakers.. Serve the market and make a profit. It's bad enough that I have to endure Fox, but the feed freezes. Would it be so difficult to offer some options from Australia, Hong Kong or the EU? My DW news feed is so bad, I think I am having a seizure.

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If the TV companies make a cock up of The Open and/or the Ryder Cup I'll be taking a 4lb hammer to my set top box before returning it.

What is the difference between GMM and the Titanic? The Titanic had a better band.

Edited by Bagwan
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Sorry but why do people think that there are gonna be English speaking programs on Thai TV.

Use the tail for a good soup - Oxtail.

Fair enough criticism. However, there is no excuse for there not to be multilingual options. In the EU and North America all sorts of language options are available to various ethnic communities. I don't think one needs to have taken a marketing course to appreciate that in the areas of Pattaya, Phuket & Chiang Mai there are large numbers of German, English, Swedish and Russian language speakers.. Serve the market and make a profit. It's bad enough that I have to endure Fox, but the feed freezes. Would it be so difficult to offer some options from Australia, Hong Kong or the EU? My DW news feed is so bad, I think I am having a seizure.

This is not Europe or America, this is a 3rd world country.

Would be a great way to enter the market by offering multi lingual channels, but True and Grammy might not like someone stepping on their toes.

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In an open letter, the Confederation of Consumer Organisations, Thailand (CCOT), called on consumers to lodge a classaction civil lawsuit demanding a blanket broadcast of live football matches on all available channels. The group did not state its views on True Visions, or say what action it would take in regard to True.

Do you hear the thunder!!!???...What is that loud noise!!!???...Is it thousands of people running to the courts to file a lawsuit!!!!???

No, never mind, it was just the rumble of a bunch of TrueVisions trucks going by with a full days worth of new installations on their work schedules.

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One more NGO small group trying to raise it's profile by siding with cheap football fans.

(As opposed to not cheap football fans.) I wonder who backs them,

noting they are conspicuously not commenting on True,

who is clearly a full partner in this cockup.

Still never imagined full televised access to all Football Matches as a 'right'.

In this case it is the right of those who want to profit, and make the most noise.

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"TrueVisions and GMM Grammy are under fire for their failure to strike a deal before the tournament began earlier this month ensuring the airing of all Euro 2012 matches. The two conglomerates have been equally blamed by subscribers and critics alike for the socalled "dark screen" issue, while regulatory bodies such as the NBTC have been exposed as powerless. The government's consumer protection mechanism also failed completely to take action against the firms, Kaewsan said."

What a crock of shit. GMM Grammy lawfully purchased the rights and if they wanted to sub-license the rights True, or anyone else had to come to a commercial agreement with them. My guess is that True wanted it for free. True is just plain crap IMHO

Yes exactly, True didn't want to pony up for the buy in.

Maybe imagining to play the nationalist card and use

their friends in ministries to bash GMM into submission and get it for free.

"TrueVisions and GMM Grammy are under fire for their failure to strike a deal..."

Never ANYWHERE has it been said GMM Grammy refused to sell access to Truevision.

Edited by animatic
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"TrueVisions and GMM Grammy are under fire for their failure to strike a deal before the tournament began earlier this month ensuring the airing of all Euro 2012 matches. The two conglomerates have been equally blamed by subscribers and critics alike for the socalled "dark screen" issue, while regulatory bodies such as the NBTC have been exposed as powerless. The government's consumer protection mechanism also failed completely to take action against the firms, Kaewsan said."

What a crock of shit. GMM Grammy lawfully purchased the rights and if they wanted to sub-license the rights True, or anyone else had to come to a commercial agreement with them. My guess is that True wanted it for free. True is just plain crap IMHO

Yes exactly, True didn't want to pony up for the buy in.

Maybe imagining to play the nationalist card and use

their friends in ministries to bash GMM into submission and get it for free.

"TrueVisions and GMM Grammy are under fire for their failure to strike a deal..."

Never ANYWHERE has it been said GMM Grammy refused to sell access to Truevision.

Yes, quite right! Clearly True should have paid GMM for the rights to broadcast FTA channels that they have broadcast for years without issue...?

ITV and the BBC should take some tips off GMM and do similarly to Sky next time they have the audacity to try to air FTA channels over satellite TV... how dare they?! It's not like they are FTA channels are they? .... err.... coffee1.gif

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"TrueVisions and GMM Grammy are under fire for their failure to strike a deal before the tournament began earlier this month ensuring the airing of all Euro 2012 matches. The two conglomerates have been equally blamed by subscribers and critics alike for the socalled "dark screen" issue, while regulatory bodies such as the NBTC have been exposed as powerless. The government's consumer protection mechanism also failed completely to take action against the firms, Kaewsan said."

What a crock of shit. GMM Grammy lawfully purchased the rights and if they wanted to sub-license the rights True, or anyone else had to come to a commercial agreement with them. My guess is that True wanted it for free. True is just plain crap IMHO

Yes exactly, True didn't want to pony up for the buy in.

Maybe imagining to play the nationalist card and use

their friends in ministries to bash GMM into submission and get it for free.

"TrueVisions and GMM Grammy are under fire for their failure to strike a deal..."

Never ANYWHERE has it been said GMM Grammy refused to sell access to Truevision.

Yes, quite right! Clearly True should have paid GMM for the rights to broadcast FTA channels that they have broadcast for years without issue...?

ITV and the BBC should take some tips off GMM and do similarly to Sky next time they have the audacity to try to air FTA channels over satellite TV... how dare they?! It's not like they are FTA channels are they? .... err.... coffee1.gif

If True bought the rights in the past, then they had the right to broadcast in the past.

If they are not the CURRENT Thai National Rights holder,

then they have to negotiate a deal with them.

They bid for the rights, they were out-bid, and lost face,

and didn't want to pay into the pot of those that out-bid them.

Edited by animatic
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Sorry but why do people think that there are gonna be English speaking programs on Thai TV.

Use the tail for a good soup - Oxtail.

Fair enough criticism. However, there is no excuse for there not to be multilingual options. In the EU and North America all sorts of language options are available to various ethnic communities. I don't think one needs to have taken a marketing course to appreciate that in the areas of Pattaya, Phuket & Chiang Mai there are large numbers of German, English, Swedish and Russian language speakers.. Serve the market and make a profit. It's bad enough that I have to endure Fox, but the feed freezes. Would it be so difficult to offer some options from Australia, Hong Kong or the EU? My DW news feed is so bad, I think I am having a seizure.

English language programming consists of 3 minutes of commercials and 5 minutes of program if you are lucky. They made the US Open golf so hard to watch I didn't try. What do you thnk the olympics will be like? Same stuff, different day. They can all have their boxes back, IMHO.
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"TrueVisions and GMM Grammy are under fire for their failure to strike a deal before the tournament began earlier this month ensuring the airing of all Euro 2012 matches. The two conglomerates have been equally blamed by subscribers and critics alike for the socalled "dark screen" issue, while regulatory bodies such as the NBTC have been exposed as powerless. The government's consumer protection mechanism also failed completely to take action against the firms, Kaewsan said."

What a crock of shit. GMM Grammy lawfully purchased the rights and if they wanted to sub-license the rights True, or anyone else had to come to a commercial agreement with them. My guess is that True wanted it for free. True is just plain crap IMHO

Yes exactly, True didn't want to pony up for the buy in.

Maybe imagining to play the nationalist card and use

their friends in ministries to bash GMM into submission and get it for free.

"TrueVisions and GMM Grammy are under fire for their failure to strike a deal..."

Never ANYWHERE has it been said GMM Grammy refused to sell access to Truevision.

Yes, quite right! Clearly True should have paid GMM for the rights to broadcast FTA channels that they have broadcast for years without issue...?

ITV and the BBC should take some tips off GMM and do similarly to Sky next time they have the audacity to try to air FTA channels over satellite TV... how dare they?! It's not like they are FTA channels are they? .... err.... coffee1.gif

If True bought the rights in the past, then they had the right to broadcast in the past.

If they are not the CURRENT Thai National Rights holder,

then they have to negotiate a deal with them.

They bid for the rights, they were out-bid, and lost face,

and didn't want to pay into the pot of those that out-bid them.

Factually incorrect.

I notice that yet again, you choose to ignore the topic and the fact the games were broadcast on FTA channels... which True have the right to broadcast!

You deliberately skirt this issue in all of your posts on this subject. Had Grammy not used Thai FTA channels as the platform for the Euro 2012 there wouldn't be an issue. Had Grammy bought the rights then aired the games on "Grammy Sports 1, 2 & 3" there would not be an issue.

I guess the fact that "a large number of households in Thailand had been deprived of their basic right to watch free TV programmes, and all government agencies and regulatory bodies had completely failed to protect their rights", is totally irrelevant against a backdrop of GMM using their considerable resources and leverage to force an inferior product on consumers and deny consumers their basic rights to view FTA Thai TV...

I'm sorry but IMO, this the real issue; that a company can hijack Thai FTA TV if they have the right contacts and leverage over the Government agencies and regulatory bodies, consumers be damned.

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True Visions is an oxymoron (that's enough of the poor beast - or is it a euphemism for Arisman I wonder.....)

At a time when HD is avaliable the world over and some sports broadcasts are even in 3D, True brings you PAL running on a cheapskate, unreliable box using a dish that isn't big enough to see through rainclouds.

"Class Action" against whom? Who do the True Vision customers have a contract with?

Can I sue True for not showing Only Fools and Horses every day? Or is that only open to non-oxidentals?

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True Visions is an oxymoron (that's enough of the poor beast - or is it a euphemism for Arisman I wonder.....)

At a time when HD is avaliable the world over and some sports broadcasts are even in 3D, True brings you PAL running on a cheapskate, unreliable box using a dish that isn't big enough to see through rainclouds.

"Class Action" against whom? Who do the True Vision customers have a contract with?

Can I sue True for not showing Only Fools and Horses every day? Or is that only open to non-oxidentals?

How is PAL/ NSTC relevant to 3D or HD?!!! And how is anything you have written relevant to this thread?!

On one hand we have Truevisions, offering HD PVR receivers, supporting HDMi, optical audio, component video, composite video and analogue audio connections, who install basic free satellite dishes for their customers....

On the other hand we have GMM Grammy offering receivers that aren't even compatible with modern HDMi only TVs, support only composite and analogue audio connections, no HD, no PVR and for the most part using Truevisions satellite dishes in favour of having their own dedicated installation team....

I watch HD content on True daily, watched last seasons premiership in HD on True and am enjoying Game of Thrones in HD on HBO HD courtesy of True...

I'd like more HD content but at least they are bringing Thai satellite TV into the 21st century, remind me what HD content you get from GMM?

As for True's "Unreliable, cheap box?" It's actually made by Samsung and used by a number of other satellite companies the world over... it's not a True product. Who makes the GMM receivers again?

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"TrueVisions and GMM Grammy are under fire for their failure to strike a deal before the tournament began earlier this month ensuring the airing of all Euro 2012 matches. The two conglomerates have been equally blamed by subscribers and critics alike for the socalled "dark screen" issue, while regulatory bodies such as the NBTC have been exposed as powerless. The government's consumer protection mechanism also failed completely to take action against the firms, Kaewsan said."

What a crock of shit. GMM Grammy lawfully purchased the rights and if they wanted to sub-license the rights True, or anyone else had to come to a commercial agreement with them. My guess is that True wanted it for free. True is just plain crap IMHO

Yes exactly, True didn't want to pony up for the buy in.

Maybe imagining to play the nationalist card and use

their friends in ministries to bash GMM into submission and get it for free.

"TrueVisions and GMM Grammy are under fire for their failure to strike a deal..."

Never ANYWHERE has it been said GMM Grammy refused to sell access to Truevision.

Yes, quite right! Clearly True should have paid GMM for the rights to broadcast FTA channels that they have broadcast for years without issue...?

ITV and the BBC should take some tips off GMM and do similarly to Sky next time they have the audacity to try to air FTA channels over satellite TV... how dare they?! It's not like they are FTA channels are they? .... err.... coffee1.gif

If True bought the rights in the past, then they had the right to broadcast in the past.

If they are not the CURRENT Thai National Rights holder,

then they have to negotiate a deal with them.

They bid for the rights, they were out-bid, and lost face,

and didn't want to pay into the pot of those that out-bid them.

This is exactly what happens when you have such a dominant company as True, that cozies up to the powers that be in order to keep itself safe by giving complete unfettered access to the FTA channels. The problem is that the FTA channels are in government owned businesses just like any other commercial organisation, but they are/were connected to True at the hip. True has a pretty much millpond market for satellite business, no one else has the money to set one up, they are dominant, and they have the connections to all the existing large FTA channels, and do them a service that suits both sides by passing their signals through the True network. This ordinarily keeps everything very sweet, and insures that True always has access to anything good that is on the FTA.

So Grammy comes along and wants a bit of True's action. They bid for the Euro's, which True had never any intention of bidding for, believing probably rightly so that Grammy would have to contract one of the FTAs to distribute the channels. True, was and still is, in the box seat because their satellite network is the biggest around, and they would get the signals for nothing. Grammy knew all along that this was how True saw the situation, and knew that all they would be doing is helping True to keep market share to Grammy's detriment, so Grammy blocks the signal to True subscribers.

It isn't good that this has happened, but from Grammy's perspective, why should they help True? Likewise, why should True do any favours to let Grammy into the market at all. The only way around this, is for the government to have legislated that all international football tournaments have to be distributed across all network systems, domestic, cable and satellite, but then of course, that would put a very different slant on how much anyone would pay to get hold of the rights.

Grammy tried to "force" True to pay, and I can't for the life of me see that True has to pay a penny but I would imagine that Grammy's foray into the satellite business may well have cost them an absolute fortune, and if the choice of programming that people describe is that bad, may well be their last.

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The odd thing is, I have both True and a local cable set top box, and I can happily watch the Grammy signal, channel 3,5 or 7, or Vietnamese, and Chinese coverage on the cable signal. You are right, Grammy is the problem in this loop, because the HAD to rely on distribution from 3,5 and 7 to make money to make the whole thing work. If they had had the balls, maybe they should have broadcast it ONLY on their set top boxes, and legally no problem. Might well have worked out for the better anyway.

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True, True, True...

If the numbers in the OP are correct True subscribers make up less than 20% of satellite TV viewers. If Grammy sold 1 mil of its boxes there are still 10 million satellite dishes that can't watch free to air channels during football games.

I believe it's the politically driven programs like ASTV and red tv stations that are responsible for this boom in satellite TV in Thailand but one way or another there are millions of them out there and god knows who they have to pay to watch free to air channels now.

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I am not certain about elsewhere but in Pattaya it is possible to get some broadcasts through cable TV and replays through True BUT I know of cases where bar owners were showing them and the BIB took their managers away to the monkey house and they weren't released until sizeable "fines" were paid. It is amazing how corrupt and opportunistic Thai business & public service are.

I know nothing will happen but at least I am certain GMM and the BIB must somehow be in bed together

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What is the point of paying for ANY satellite service in this country, when the movies and series programming is routinely hacked to pieces by the censors with atrocious pan and scan or, even worse, greasing out the "offending" image? And if I really want baseball, NFL, or NHL games, I can get my favorite teams directly online and not be cut out of the NFL entirely (TrueVisions), be limited to the Yankees, or see nothing of the NHL. Satellite in Thailand is the biggest waste of money imaginable.

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True Visions is an oxymoron (that's enough of the poor beast - or is it a euphemism for Arisman I wonder.....)

At a time when HD is avaliable the world over and some sports broadcasts are even in 3D, True brings you PAL running on a cheapskate, unreliable box using a dish that isn't big enough to see through rainclouds.

"Class Action" against whom? Who do the True Vision customers have a contract with?

Can I sue True for not showing Only Fools and Horses every day? Or is that only open to non-oxidentals?

How is PAL/ NSTC relevant to 3D or HD?!!! And how is anything you have written relevant to this thread?!

On one hand we have Truevisions, offering HD PVR receivers, supporting HDMi, optical audio, component video, composite video and analogue audio connections, who install basic free satellite dishes for their customers....

On the other hand we have GMM Grammy offering receivers that aren't even compatible with modern HDMi only TVs, support only composite and analogue audio connections, no HD, no PVR and for the most part using Truevisions satellite dishes in favour of having their own dedicated installation team....

I watch HD content on True daily, watched last seasons premiership in HD on True and am enjoying Game of Thrones in HD on HBO HD courtesy of True...

I'd like more HD content but at least they are bringing Thai satellite TV into the 21st century, remind me what HD content you get from GMM?

As for True's "Unreliable, cheap box?" It's actually made by Samsung and used by a number of other satellite companies the world over... it's not a True product. Who makes the GMM receivers again?

I think you have misunderstood. The resolution that the vast majority of True channels is broadcast still fits the old PAL standards of 525 lines at 25P or whatever they had. 720P is a luxury and the 1080P is way off.

So, if you have a nice telly, the experience is blocky.

I have 2 True boxes at home - one is still the old red, white yellow crap. The other offers HD with HDMI output but crap in means crap out.

I didn't mention GMM in the least so I'm not sure why you brought it up.

When I have had 3 boxes fail in a month and the engineers complaining about the number they replace - I reserve the right to call them cheap

So when you have figured out how to spell NTSC - please review your post!

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True Visions is an oxymoron (that's enough of the poor beast - or is it a euphemism for Arisman I wonder.....)

At a time when HD is avaliable the world over and some sports broadcasts are even in 3D, True brings you PAL running on a cheapskate, unreliable box using a dish that isn't big enough to see through rainclouds.

"Class Action" against whom? Who do the True Vision customers have a contract with?

Can I sue True for not showing Only Fools and Horses every day? Or is that only open to non-oxidentals?

How is PAL/ NSTC relevant to 3D or HD?!!! And how is anything you have written relevant to this thread?!

On one hand we have Truevisions, offering HD PVR receivers, supporting HDMi, optical audio, component video, composite video and analogue audio connections, who install basic free satellite dishes for their customers....

On the other hand we have GMM Grammy offering receivers that aren't even compatible with modern HDMi only TVs, support only composite and analogue audio connections, no HD, no PVR and for the most part using Truevisions satellite dishes in favour of having their own dedicated installation team....

I watch HD content on True daily, watched last seasons premiership in HD on True and am enjoying Game of Thrones in HD on HBO HD courtesy of True...

I'd like more HD content but at least they are bringing Thai satellite TV into the 21st century, remind me what HD content you get from GMM?

As for True's "Unreliable, cheap box?" It's actually made by Samsung and used by a number of other satellite companies the world over... it's not a True product. Who makes the GMM receivers again?

I think you have misunderstood. The resolution that the vast majority of True channels is broadcast still fits the old PAL standards of 525 lines at 25P or whatever they had. 720P is a luxury and the 1080P is way off.

So, if you have a nice telly, the experience is blocky.

I have 2 True boxes at home - one is still the old red, white yellow crap. The other offers HD with HDMI output but crap in means crap out.

I didn't mention GMM in the least so I'm not sure why you brought it up.

When I have had 3 boxes fail in a month and the engineers complaining about the number they replace - I reserve the right to call them cheap

So when you have figured out how to spell NTSC - please review your post!

Sorry for mentioning GMM, guess that's totally out of context to this thread or when discussing satellite providers in Thailand?!

Also apologies NTSC... what a horrific spelling mistake that clearly rendered my entire post unreadable, my sincere apologies to the Nazi spelling police! Never The Same Colour... and again, what relevance to HD/ 3D exactly?

Sorry, what satellite services in 1080P are available the world over?

Truevisions HD PVR - It's 1080i on HD channels, know of 100s of people who use them and not a single failure... you are aware that you can freely upgrade your old receivers to new model?

Seems a bit pointless complaining about it when said company have offered to replace all receivers FOC with the new model...

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