General : Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)

[Raider999]

Originally Posted by muppetman11

Doesn’t appeal to me really either but if Sky and Virgin continue to drop channels without reducing charges they’ll find many look to the cheaper streaming alternatives and continue with linear on Freeview or Freesat. Not everyone watches Sport.

Agreed, however sky built their company on sports and in particular Premier Football.

You only have to look at the relative cost of having all sky sports channels against having all the movie channels to realise, like it or not, sports drives sky.

Similarly, BT chose to boost their to offering by getting into sports not movies.

[muppetman11]

I'm well aware of that and fully agree but my point to Mad Max was as follows.

With the removal of pay channels more people are likely to leave , the more who leave the costlier the subscription goes for those who remain.

As an example Virgin has agreed carriage costs with BT for its Sport channel , the more people leaving requires those remaining to pay more until it can renew it's agreement at contract end.

I'm not saying losing the UKTV channels alone will have a huge impact on Virgin but at the prices both Virgin and Sky now charge they have to be cautious.

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter

The reason I say that is because some of the new channels are low value bargain basement type channels that won't get that many viewers.

Many wouldn't have appeared without VM needing quick replacements as they couldn't have afforded the carriage costs, so i'm sure that VM must have done them a deal that they couldn't have refused. I suspect that a short term contract will have been made for something like a year. They might even have agreed to carry some of the channels for free, given that they say that they have offered to carry the FTA UKTV channels for free, then, when the contracts expire they could ask them for the normal commercial rates, whilst knowing that some of them couldn't afford them. This would allow VM to say that it was the choice of the channel owners to leave the platform.

Horse & Country is a prime example as they had to come off Freesat because they couldn't afford the EPG fee.

Then, if VM don't feel that they need them anymore (especially if the UKTV channels return and some form of payment is agreed), they would most likely say something along the lines of them having such low viewer numbers that they have stopped carrying them to invest in better programming elsewhere blah blah.

There is also the fact that capacity is fast running out. Yes, they could increase capacity, but that would involve costs for new infrastructure. I think it more likely that they will follow the likes of Sky & Freeview and squeeze more channels into existing capacity. This would reduce the picture quality, so maybe this is the excuse that they will use to remove some of them??

I say some of them as I don't think that they will all be removed e.g. History HD, Paramount HD will probably stay.

I hope i'm wrong because different people like different things and more choice is always welcome, but this is what I suspect will happen.

The new channels are:

Love Nature, Paramount, Premier Sports 1 and 2, Freesports, BT Sports UK, Vice, Your TV, Zoomoo, Horse & Country. We also have IQTV on demand.

Which of these are 'low bargain basement type channels'?

Ok, you have Horse & Country, but all the other channels will please some, and personally, I would never watch Zoomoo (for children), IQTV, Vice, or any of the sports channels.

However, I would watch Love Nature and Paramount, so that's plus 2 over the UKTV channels in my book!

By the way, this is not the end. More channels are in line for the autumn and early next year, so far too early to judge at the moment.

[RichardCoulter]

Premier Sports cannot be counted as it's only a short term promotion to appease people.

IQTV is pathetic, why are Full House customers subsidising the £3.49 a month charge for 6 year old repeats of The Weakest Link? This type of thing is available on the linear channels anyway.

Paramount, Freesports, Your TV, Horse & Country are FTA and/or mostly repeats and the first three should have been added as a matter of course from when they first opened.

Vice has been a ratings disaster, with Sky withdrawing funding after the first year and their HD channel closing down. Their SD channel is now run by using their online content.

Love Nature is a channel that I've enjoyed on occasion.

To say that the UKTV dispute is supposed to be about lack of VOD, which of the new channels offer VOD at all?

The only future new channels i'm aware of are two more +1 channels.

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by Raider999

Agreed, however sky built their company on sports and in particular Premier Football.

You only have to look at the relative cost of having all sky sports channels against having all the movie channels to realise, like it or not, sports drives sky.

Similarly, BT chose to boost their to offering by getting into sports not movies.

We lose some channels and gain others. I don't see Virgin's offering being worse following the absence of the UKTV channels. Anything I watched on Alibi or W tended to be disappointing, and those were originals.

Goodbye to bad rubbish, I say.

However, I have found myself watching Love Nature and Paramount, so a plus for me.

---------- Post added at 21:45 ---------- Previous post was at 21:42 ----------

Originally Posted by muppetman11

I'm well aware of that and fully agree but my point to Mad Max was as follows.

With the removal of pay channels more people are likely to leave , the more who leave the costlier the subscription goes for those who remain.

As an example Virgin has agreed carriage costs with BT for its Sport channel , the more people leaving requires those remaining to pay more until it can renew it's agreement at contract end.

I'm not saying losing the UKTV channels alone will have a huge impact on Virgin but at the prices both Virgin and Sky now charge they have to be cautious.

New channels are being added as well. Maybe it would be better to reassess later in the autumn, when the full extent of the planned changes will be known.

[RichardCoulter]

I had pretty high hopes for Paramount, but it's clear to me that it's simply the same old shows being shown on a different channel in order to get their permitted minutage up for adverts. The fact that it's available in HD on VM is a plus for those that want to watch any of the programming though.

Not that Viacom are on their own in doing this, this is why ITVBe was created.

All those who have left or downgraded will have affected the projected income for VM, in particular it will have put pressure onto the business model of putting BT Sport into Full House.

Remaining customers will be expected to make up the shortfall, but there's one here who won't be.

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter

Premier Sports cannot be counted as it's only a short term promotion to appease people.

IQTV is pathetic, why are Full House customers subsidising the £3.49 a month charge for 6 year old repeats of The Weakest Link? This type of thing is available on the linear channels anyway.

Paramount, Freesports, Your TV, Horse & Country are FTA and/or mostly repeats and the first three should have been added as a matter of course from when they first opened.

Vice has been a ratings disaster, with Sky withdrawing funding after the first year and their HD channel closing down. Their SD channel is now run by using their online content.

Love Nature is a channel that I've enjoyed on occasion.

To say that the UKTV dispute is supposed to be about lack of VOD, which of the new channels offer VOD at all?

The only future new channels i'm aware of are two more +1 channels.

Maybe you should wait and see.

I know that Paramount are not showing much original material, but the repeats they are showing are nowhere near as well worn, and many of their programmes I personally have not seen. A good selection of films, as well.

I think that Love Nature and the Paramount Network alone offer better value - I am more likely to watch them than Eden and all of the UKTV channels put together.

Quality over quantity.

[Chad]

I'm very happy about the Premier Sports deal. It's allowed me to watch the Rangers game via my Dad's Virgin TV Go account. Now it's over to Burnley vs. Aberdeen on BT Sport. Can't beat free sport.

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter

I had pretty high hopes for Paramount, but it's clear to me that it's simply the same old shows being shown on a different channel in order to get their permitted minutage up for adverts. The fact that it's available in HD on VM is a plus for those that want to watch any of the programming though.

Not that Viacom are on their own in doing this, this is why ITVBe was created.

All those who have left or downgraded will have affected the projected income for VM, in particular it will have put pressure onto the business model of putting BT Sport into Full House.

Remaining customers will be expected to make up the shortfall, but there's one here who won't be.

And how exactly is UKTV any better?

I'm sorry, but I don't buy your assessment of the situation.

[RichardCoulter]

Originally Posted by Chad

I'm very happy about the Premier Sports deal. It's allowed me to watch the Rangers game via my Dad's Virgin TV Go account. Now it's over to Burnley vs. Aberdeen on BT Sport. Can't beat free sport.

It's only available at no extra cost for another 6/7 weeks, but I don't blame you for using it whilst you can.

---------- Post added at 21:55 ---------- Previous post was at 21:54 ----------

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

And how exactly is UKTV any better?

I'm sorry, but I don't buy your assessment of the situation.

I see no point in going over the same old ground over and over and over again.

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter

It's only available at no extra cost for another 6/7 weeks, but I don't blame you for using it whilst you can.

---------- Post added at 21:55 ---------- Previous post was at 21:54 ----------



I see no point in going over the same old ground over and over and over again.

Well, you keep repeating your assertions while I reaffirm my views.

Let's agree to disagree!

[Chad]

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter

It's only available at no extra cost for another 6/7 weeks, but I don't blame you for using it whilst you can.

The channel is only good for me during the European qualifiers anyway. I only watch Rangers, Scotland and boxing. No value in me subscribing to the various channels when I can piggyback off my parents package. My Dad's cool with it. He doesn't use it anyway, he doesn't have the Internet. He's happy I'm not forking out. The beauty of streaming.

[Media Boy UK]

But Virgin Media may need to keep 124 to 129 free for this:

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/consultatio...minence-regime

Ofcom says late last week: Under NEW Ofcom proposals:
*Virgin Media will be forced to promote S4C, local TV and BBC Alba (Plus make room for BBC 4 and BBC 4 HD in Scotland when BBC Scotland and BBC Scotland HD launch) up its EPG."

[RichardCoulter]

BBC4 Scotland

[ozsat]

All the European Football football will be finished on Premier Sport by the time the free period is over.

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter

It's only available at no extra cost for another 6/7 weeks, but I don't blame you for using it whilst you can.

---------- Post added at 21:55 ---------- Previous post was at 21:54 ----------

---------- Post added at 06:50 ---------- Previous post was at 06:48 ----------

So are most of the UKTV channels

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter

Paramount, Freesports, Your TV, Horse & Country are FTA and/or mostly repeats...

---------- Post added at 06:51 ---------- Previous post was at 06:50 ----------

I don't think anybody ever mentioned BBC4 Scotland

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter

BBC4 Scotland