Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2019)
 

I'm sure that the 20 year thing is just an Internet forum myth. You won't find a single source to it.

Nor does it add up, Sky Digital launched in 1998.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2019)
 

CBS and Viacom announce re-merger to be called ViacomCBS - what a mouthful!:

https://ir.viacom.com/news-releases/...viacom-combine

Webcast at 9.30 tonight our time available from their websites.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2019)
 

Even combined they don't have enough to be a serious player in my opinion.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2019)
 

Indeed, which is why it will be interesting to see what the next merger(s) will be.

ViacomCBS has been talking to Sony about merging with their tv/film unit, but the Japanese aren't interested, so that leaves the MGM library, AMC and John Malone's companies/interests: Discovery, Lionsgate and Starz as the only ones that are left. After that, they'll likely join up with a cable co and/or mobile co like Verizon.

Then, as I've said before on other threads, the tech giants may swoop in and buy all the media companies.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2019)
 

It's pretty big all the same. The new company will have some of the most well known brands under its name.

CBS
Showtime
MTV
VH-1
CMT
BET
Nickelodeon
Comedy Central
Paramount
Pluto TV
Network 10 (Australia)
5 (UK)
Pop
Smithsonian Networks
Simon & Schuster
Colours
Telefe
TV Land
VidCon

Sounds pretty big to me. There are bigger companies, of course, but this merger is nonetheless pretty significant.

https://advanced-television.com/2019...acom-to-merge/

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2019)
 

Looking at the market caps of both tells you they are far smaller than the likes of Disney and Comcast.

Maybe the merged company will be an acquisition for someone.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2019)
 

Of course not, this information will have been commercially sensitive. Sky Digital did indeed launch in 1998, I was one of their first customers.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2019)
 

It's good to see Viacom and CBS reuniting after they split up in 2006. It was an odd situation and they will be much stronger back together again.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2019)
 

Detailed information in long term contracts for public limited companies is commercially sensitive however the fact that they exist is not. It's part of the transparency of good corporate governance.

If this mythical 20(+1) year deal existed I'd expect we would read about it somewhere more credible than internet rumours.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2019)
 

JJ20X on Forum Box is reporting that the following channels has moved to the new stream.

-BBC ONE HD (England)
-ITV HD (Central)
-ITV HD (London)
-ITV HD (Meridian)
-UTV HD

Due to them changed multiplex/frequency you will need to re-Add to your Favourites.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2019)
 

E! HD is now on Channel 229.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2019)
 

Possibly nothing...but there are two HD streams on TSid104 (CO33) on DigitalBitRate. One currently with a screengrab of BBC News (or another BBC channel simulcasting it), that started on 13th according to my reading of the graph, the other with Ideal World, which has a graph line only starting today (15th).

The odd thing about all this is that TSid104 has now been removed from the whole VM network overnight according to, the much more knowledgeable than me on this subject, jj20x on Forumbox. He was saying the migration of services completed from that multiplex with the moving of two versions of ITV HD. So what DBR is showing doesn't make a lot of sense.

Looking further down the DBR page there is evidence of the changes jj20x mentions on Forumbox. There are now two versions of TSid 102 (CO57 & CO59). On one version there used to be two versions of ITV, ITV+1,ITV HD, C4, C4+1, C4 HD, C4 AD. Half of those have shut on the CO57 version, but a new ITV HD has been added.

All these removals on CO57 mentioned above have moved to CO59, along with a new version of ITV Wales HD. JJ20X had been talking recently about VM dealing with regional differences in the network in Manchester and Wrexham and this seems to be it. They both have been split into two separate versions of the same multiplex, where they both used to be mostly crammed onto the one multiplex, with another being used for the overspill.

Obviously this all only affects a few VM customers, those in those two regions, but they will have to re-add their Favourites presumably, though I'm guessing it's the mostly customers who get the Wrexham region.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2019)
 

There's a new article in Virgin TV Edit bringing together key highlights from On Demand / Box Sets, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video:

https://www.virginmedia.com/virgin-t...me-and-netflix

Prime Video still hasn't been added to the main Search & Discover menu on the V6 though, so not as integrated as it should be.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2019)
 

l suspect given time Prime Video will eventually be integrated into the Search & Discover menu on the V6.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2019)
 

Eventually... sigh.

Like they will eventually get around to updating the TCM logos that Sky and BT managed to do immediately. They have even added E! HD with 2 different logos on both the TV Guide and the website, neither of which are the same as on Sky and BT.

It's classic VM 😂