I have a Samsung Smart TV on which I can record and playback TV and radio programmes without problems, using an attached portable HDD. However I cannot access the recordings on my PC.

When I try to load the HDD I am told to format the drive because the file system cannot be accessed. Principally, I record the BBC Long Wave Morning Service via the Freesat connection, and I would like to be able to transfer the programmes on to a SD card/CD, to be listened to when convenient.

Denis Wilkinson, by email. Back to your Samsung TV, and I am afraid that it is all bad news.

There are several reasons you can’t replay recordings on your PC. Firstly the HDD is formatted using the XFS filing system, used by Linux, possibly because the TV’s built-in PVR is Linux based. Windows can read the contents of the drive with suitable software, but that wouldn’t solve the problem.

Even if you could copy the recordings to your PC they would still be unreadable as they are encrypted. Whilst decryption is theoretically possible, they are further protected for Digital Rights Management (DRM) purposes. Samsung isn’t alone in this though some smart TV and PVR manufacturers do allow recordings of some free-to-air (FTA) channels to be playable on a PC but they are in the minority. I doubt that it’s done to make life difficult for users. You have to remember that products like these are made for world markets and sold in countries where there are large variations broadcaster’s licensing agreements, copyright restrictions and local censorship laws. It would be very difficult for manufacturers to accommodate every possible variation so they take the easy way out by only allowing recordings to be replayed on the device they were made on.

Foxtel headquarters in In 1995, a venture between News Corporation (in particular 20th Century Fox Media) and Telstra took place whereby Telstra would transmit a TV signal through its coaxial network and News Corporation would be the basis for offering channel negotiations and connections. Foxtel was formed ('Fox' representing News Corporation's Fox and 'Tel' representing Telstra). On 23 October 1995, Foxtel commenced a 20 channel service, delivered over the Telstra Hybrid Fibre Coaxial network. In May 1998, Australis Media, the owner of a satellite television service known as, was declared insolvent. In June 1998, Foxtel was able to significantly boost its customer base by acquiring Galaxy subscribers from the liquidator of Australis Media and immediately commenced supplying programming to Galaxy's subscribers on an interim basis. In February 1999, Foxtel began offering its own satellite service to new customers.

DeSTRoi - Decrypt Samsung TV Recordings is a free program that lets you download movie files directly from your TV by FTP and decrypt them. The program has support for all Samsung video formats such as SRF and TS. You can also use and anonymous FTP connection. Share your experience. After having two identical LG TVs for a while, I started to use the function for recording to HDD. Recording TV at all is often illegal in some ways, so why adhere to it not being allowed out through USB to HDD. Samsung and other makers do not top line the restriction but don't hide this fact either.

Bought half of News Corporations shares in October 1998, giving each quarter ownership. In 2002, a Content Sharing Agreement between Foxtel and was approved by the (ACCC). On 11 July 2011, Austar announced that 'it had entered into definitive transaction agreements with Liberty Global, Inc. (LGI) and Foxtel Management Pty Limited (Foxtel) under which Foxtel will acquire Austar by a series of transactions including a scheme of arrangement (Scheme).' This takeover involved a minority shareholder approval on 30 March 2012, the approval of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) on 10 April 2012, and has had approval from a Second Court Hearing. The Austar shares have been suspended on the ASX as of 16 April 2012, and were delisted from the ASX on 27 April 2012. The takeover was completed on 24 May 2012.

News Corporation acquired in November 2012, bringing its stake to 50%, up from 25%. Foxtel logo until 2017 On 15 June 2015, Foxtel officially agreed to buyout 15% shares in, pending the approval from the ACCC. Prior to the acquisition, Discovery backed out from bidding partnership with Foxtel. In June 2017, Foxtel announced that it would be undergoing a major rebrand – the first in its 22-year history – as part of a move to convey an image that 'Foxtel is for everyone'.

The previously logo, described by the company as 'quite aggressive, quite arrogant, quite elitist', would be replaced with an all lowercase logo, and its Foxtel Play service would rebranded to. Ratings [ ] Foxtel grew rapidly in 2007, with most of Foxtel's highest-ever rating events being broadcast that year, including the quarter-final between and, which drew an average of 419,000 viewers, an Australian pay television record at that time. This ratings record has since been eclipsed by the 2011 Rugby World Cup on Fox Sports 1 averaging around 500,000 viewers, which was smashed by the Coverage, broadcast on 8 dedicated channels in both HD and SD formats, which saw an average of 946,432 viewers tuning in on the opening weekend, with around 600,000 to 700,000 viewers nightly thereafter. As of 2012, channels, in particular, average between 90,000 and 300,000 + viewers for NRL/AFL matches throughout the week. The highest rated light entertainment shows are most weeknights on Fox8 with around 110,000 viewers, as well as with around 70,000 viewers.

A&E has also recorded healthy audience numbers for its & syndicated shows from the US – (85,000), (85,000), and (90,000). Also consistently rates well with British soaps (80,000) and (65,000). The LifeStyle channel has experienced audiences in excess of 100,000 people for its Premiere shows,,, and brings strong ratings.

Availability [ ] Foxtel transmits its cable service via (HFC) cable into the, Sydney,, and metropolitan areas, along with the. Foxtel now also transmits its satellite service into these cities as well as all over Australia including regional areas since the takeover of Austar, previous Austar customers are now 100% Foxtel customers with the conversion from Austar to Foxtel in regional Australia is now complete, however, satellite service is not supplied to user sites where Telstra HFC cable is available in metropolitan areas. Foxtel on Mobile launched on Telstra's Next G Network in late 2006 and is now available within Telstra Next G (HSDPA/850 MHz) coverage areas, which covers 99% of the population. Telstra's network and Foxtel were created to combat the threat posed to Telstra's local call business by the combination of (now known as Optus TV) content bundling with ' local telephony services; Foxtel was the content arm of Telstra's defence strategy, while Telstra's multimedia broadband network was originally the sole delivery system. In 2002, Foxtel and Optus Television agreed to a content-sharing arrangement.

Programming competition between the two companies has now dissipated. Prior to its acquisition by Foxtel in 2011,, a regional operator, also carried most Foxtel programming. Foxtel subscriber growth from 1995 to 2007 As of 2011, Foxtel is Australia's largest pay television operator, with programming available to over 70% of Australian homes, and delivered to over 1.65 million, either directly or by Foxtel's wholesale customers. In April 2008, Foxtel's penetration into Australian homes passed 30%.

This penetration rate is significantly lower compared with market penetration rates in the US (over 85%) and in Western Europe (over 55%). This is due to the fact that Australian pay-TV fees are significantly more expensive and pay-TV began delivering its service much later in Australia than in the US.

[ ] Foxtel announced its maiden annual profit in 2006, more than 10 years after it commenced services. The installation and maintenance of Foxtel services is Telstra's responsibility. In many markets Telstra has outsourced installation and maintenance to large communications contractors, including and Siemens-Thiess Communications Joint Venture. In 2007, formed an agreement with Foxtel to allow them to carry a digital version of Ten's programming. Included in the deal is data, which allows Foxtel iQ users to schedule recordings on Ten. Before the agreement, Ten was carried in an analogue format on cable only.

In 2008, finally entered an agreement to allow Foxtel to carry its SD signal. In 2008, the first Pay TV package comparison site YouCompare was launched to allow Foxtel packages and pricing to be compared to, however this service was ceased along with the ceasing of 's service in late 2010.

On 15 November 2009, Foxtel released an additional 25 channels to satellite and cable subscribers, consisting of high definition channels, movie and theme channels, and several new time-shifted channels. As part of the release, Seven began broadcasting to satellite subscribers in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.

On 24 November 2009, Foxtel added to the East Coast (satellite) and 7TWO and to cable subscribers. Was recently introduced on 4 December 2009 to all Foxtel and subscribers.

On 20 May 2010, Foxtel and announced a new way of receiving Foxtel through Xbox 360's online service Xbox LIVE. The service launched November 2010 with 30+ channels and an additional 12 Video-on-demand channels.

It also provided Foxtel's movie service, known as Foxtel On Demand, to non-subscribers for the first time on a pay-per-view basis. Further linear channels were added in April 2011 with the addition of 7 Telstra BigPond channels. In June 2011, Foxtel launched an over-the-top service on Telstra's IPTV set top box called Foxtel on T-Box carrying the same services as the Foxtel on Xbox service.

Also as of June 2011, Foxtel's subscribers numbered just over 1.65 million. In November 2014, Foxtel added 2 new SD channels, 9 new HD channels and rebranded 2 sports channels to satellite and cable subscribers. Channels [ ] Foxtel defines a order that groups channels by their content. General entertainment channels are from 100 to 149 which includes metropolitan/state-based localised advertising primary channels the,,, the and, with metropolitan/state-based localised advertising multichannels /,,,,,, and, As well as national channels,,,,,, Binge,,, and the Foxtel on Demand Movie Preview. Also for the following extra channels which are,, 's, and,,,, and Foxtel Arts Foxtel has announced key programming slated to air on its brand new channel,. Binge is part of the Drama tier and started airing 5 October 2016 at 9:00am.

It will be available on channel 116 in High Definition with access to Closed Captions and Series Link. Timeshifted versions of general entertainment channels are from 150 to 169 for a two-hour delay of,,,, Arena,,,,,,, and. Special interest channels are from 170 to 179 which includes, and. Extra channels are from 180 to 199 which includes,,,,, and. High definition channels are from 200 to 299 which includes metropolitan/state-based localised advertising versions of the,,,,,,,,,,,, and, As well as national channels Foxtel HD+ Welcome Movie,, (native & SD upscaled),,,,,,,,,,,,,,, and. Movie packaged channels are from 400 to 499 which includes Foxtel Movies More (themed movies and pop-up events),,,,,,,,,,, and. Metropolitan/state-based localised advertising Sports Channels packaged channels are from 500 to 599 which includes,,,,,, 's and,,,,,, (pay-per-view),,,,, Chelsea FC TV, Liverpool FC TV and Manchester United FC TV (All three coming July 1, 2016).

Metropolitan/state-based localised advertising News, Coverage and informational channels are from 600 to 699 which includes Sky News Local,,,,, 's, (with two-hour timeshifted version), (with two-hour timeshifted version),, 's,,,,,, and. Also included in the line-up are,,, and, ', (with two-hour timeshifted version),,, and. Pre-Teenage entertainment channels are from 700 to 799 which includes channels,, 's and. Also included in the line-up are,,,, and.

Music video channels are from 800 to 829 which includes,, and. Also included in the line-up are, channels and. Audio only channels are from 830 to 899 which includes Foxtel Tunes (formerly known as Air Active),,,,,, NSW,,,, and. Pay-per-view and foreign language channels are from 900 to 989 which includes Foxtel on Demand, Greek radio and, Italian radio and and Adults Only Select 1 and 2. Interactive services available are Foxtel Tunes, Modem Connection Test, Sky News Multiview/Local, Sky News Weather Active, Fox Sports Active and Active. Current channels [ ] Sports.

Main article: Foxtel Now (Formerly Foxtel Play) is an alternative to the traditional Foxtel subscription, offering customers a no lock in contract subscription starting at $10. The service offers over 50 live channels and hundreds of hours of video on-demand content across 6 subscription packages.

The service is available across a range of devices such as computers, TVs and video game consoles. In addition, subscribers have access to Foxtel's Foxtel Go app expanding access to smartphones and tablets.

On 4 October 2016, Foxtel announced that a new look Foxtel Play streaming service will roll out from December 2016 and that Foxtel Play will be a simpler, cheaper and more flexible IP-delivered product. As part of a company wide rebrand in June 2017, Foxtel announced that from 7 June, Foxtel Play would be renamed Foxtel Now and would gain streaming and support with a lower starting price of $10 per month. Foxtel Guide [ ] On 5 December 2009, Foxtel launched a mobile TV guide for the Apple, dubbed 'Foxtel Guide'. Features include: remote record for iQ and iQ2, free to air listings, program descriptions and classifications. The application is free to download from the iPhone and is available to non-subscribers (with the exception of the ability to remote record). On 25 February 2011, Foxtel released an application which is available as a free app from.

The app is optimised for both Android smartphones and tablets. Foxtel magazine [ ] The Foxtel magazine contains daily listings for most channels offered on the Foxtel platform. Foxtel subscribers can opt-in and subscribe to the Foxtel magazine for a monthly fee. Legacy Foxtel Platinum subscribers who opted in for the magazine prior to the Platinum magazine unbundling period in mid-2010, currently still continue to get the magazine free of charge. Foxtel's magazine is Australia's most-read paid-for monthly magazine, with a monthly reach of about 700,000.

It is published for Foxtel by Medium Rare Content Agency, and distributed to Foxtel subscribers (who choose to pay for this service) by via post. Foxtel no longer offers the magazine free to new 'Platinum' subscribers. The change to this policy was introduced by Foxtel to reduce physical waste (paper and associated environmental impact) from printing the monthly magazine, and to reduce monthly costs associated with printing and posting overhead for the Foxtel magazine, to all legacy Platinum customers who decided not to opt-in during the opt-in period in early 2010. As of February 2016, the magazine no longer lists the sports channels. Past Services [ ] Foxtel Digital [ ].

Foxtel Digital logo Foxtel launched its digital service (Foxtel Digital) in March 2004. The service is loosely based on another of News Corporation's subscription providers,. Foxtel HD+ Logo Foxtel announced their service originally called Foxtel HD+ on 30 January 2008, and became officially available on 19 May 2008 at a nominal price of $10 AUD despite similar 'HD' resolution broadcast channels already available on Free-To-Air television.

Main article: In 2014, Foxtel launched a movie streaming operation Presto, which was initially priced at AU$19.99, but was halved a few months later. Presto will spin-off a television streaming service with in early 2015. Foxtel announced the Presto service will be closed in January 2017, and customers moved to a Foxtel service. Devices [ ] Foxtel Standard [ ] There is a variety of Foxtel standard units. These lack the recording features of the iQ models, but can be connected to a VCR or DVR. Foxtel has phased out the standard boxes for all new installations and installs the iQHD instead. The additional features of the iQ models (such as recording) can be deactivated if the customer does not wish pay for them, in effect making them operate as if they were a standard model.

Foxtel iQ [ ] Foxtel launched Foxtel iQ in early 2005. Launch X431 Serial Number on this page. It is a in which subscribers are able to record programs onto a inside the for later viewing. Foxtel iQ includes a feature called Series Link, which lets the viewer choose to record all future episodes in a given television series (availability is limited to certain programmes). Foxtel iQ also allows viewers to use live rewind and pause features during television programmes.

Two new services, On Demand and Remote Record, launched in 2007. Remote Record was launched on 1 January 2007 and allows users to log into the interactive TV guide on the Foxtel website and then command their iQ at home to record shows, while on Demand was launched on 8 February 2007. This service is based on, which was launched on News Corporation's UK television platform in 2001.

There are currently two models of Foxtel iQ, with identical functionality to the user but different audio-visual output abilities. Both models have two tuners, allowing users to record two programs (or record one and watch one) simultaneously. Pace plc are the set top box provider for iQ, of which they claim that the cable version of iQ is the first -based cable.

The updated version of the original iQ unit is physically smaller, however allows for better quality recordings and HDMI up-scaling as well as an Ethernet Port to allow Box Office downloads and it can also order On Demand titles without the need of the phone line connected to the model. Within Foxtel and Telstra, these boxes are referred to as iQ 1.5 to differentiate them from the original IQ boxes. Foxtel iQ2 [ ] Foxtel's second generation iQ, the Foxtel iQ2 was launched alongside the Foxtel HD+ service in mid-2008. Equipped with a 320GB HDD, iQ2 is capable of recording 30 hours of HD and 90 hours of SD content and offers, double that of the original iQ. The unit also offers connectivity. The iQHD is equipped with four tuners, allowing users to record two programs at once while watching a third live. The fourth tuner is reserved for on demand content.

As of 2011, 75 percent of Foxtel subscribers are using an iQ series unit, 40 percent are using Multi-Room, and 40% are using iQ2 (and therefore, HD). On 2 November 2011, Foxtel started notifying subscribers of the option to upgrade (at an additional one-off $200 upgrade fee) to the new iQHD 1TB model with 4 times the recording capacity. Foxtel iQ3 [ ] Foxtel's third generation iQ model, iQ3, was first referenced by CEO Richard Freudenstein in March 2012, and was released to customers on 23 March 2015. The iQ3 contains increased internet connectivity with the inclusion of WiFi, the ability to rewind to the beginning of a program midway through a program even if the viewer was not viewing the channel at the time of the start of the program. The iQ3 includes a 1 terabyte hard drive (3x the capacity of the previous iQHD) and a bluetooth remote.

After the release, many customers had complaints due to the unstable nature of the iQ3 graphical user interface and have accused Foxtel of releasing an 'unfinished product'. Foxtel denied such claims as newfound market rival emerged. As of November 2015, instability issues are yet to be resolved. Advertising on Foxtel [ ] When Foxtel was launched in 1995, advertising during programs was banned under Australian Government legislation for the first two years. Foxtel has since significantly increased advertising across its platform, although still today legislation prevents Foxtel and other pay TV businesses from earning more than 50% of their revenue from advertising, sometimes viewers are exposed to up to 5min worth of adverts for every 8 minutes of programming. Certain programming on select channels are broadcast commercial-free such as movies on their movie channels and selected games on Fox Sports [ ] but in-between each program Foxtel would then stream many ads giving a long time between the end of one movie and the start of the next. Marketing [ ] EOFYS [ ] EOFYS (pronounced 'E o f os' [ ]) is an acronym originating from Australia referring to an 'End of Sale'.

Its first use was in a 2009 Foxtel advertising campaign created. Since the Foxtel advertisement, other Australian businesses and advertising firms [ ] have taken licence to adopt the term, and it has become an acceptable part of the [ – ] and verbal nomenclature referring to businesses offerings before the Australian financial year end on 30 June. [ ] Legislation affecting Foxtel [ ] Anti-siphoning [ ] The Australian also prevent Foxtel and other pay TV suppliers from acquiring exclusive rights to specific sporting events such as cricket, golf, tennis and the football codes. Under the legislation pay TV licensees are prevented from bidding for major sporting events until a right is acquired by the, or a free-to-air commercial network. In 2009, the Minister for Communications announced a review of the legislation.

In an Olympics year, the Australian anti-siphoning list runs to over 1300 events and is one of the longest in the world. Third party access [ ] Foxtel prevents users from using their subscription card in a third-party decoder, and requires all users to watch the service on a supplied set-top box, included with the subscription, however some users have reported being able to watch certain channels on a computer with a DVB-C card and using sasc-ng to decrypt the video content using card readers to read the decoding keys stored on the card used in Foxtel's iQ. Foxtel Networks [ ] On 24 May 2012, Foxtel merged with, resulting in Foxtel gaining Austar's shares in (which Foxtel closed and created Foxtel Networks), as well as their shares in Main Event. The channels owned by Foxtel include.

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External links [ ] • • • •.