Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Sky signs exclusivity deal with Twin Peaks maker Showtime
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/n...-Showtime.html

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Bad news for Virgin customers unless one subscribes to Now TV.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

That's a good deal for Sky, and as the article reminds us, BT have a deal with AMC.

This is bad news for Virgin, though, because Sky will inevitably show the Showtime programmes only on Atlantic, and we don't have access to AMC on BT.

So what will we get from Virgin? Clue: You don't need any fingers to count the number of exclusive deals we'll have...

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

There is zero chance of us getting Sky Atlantic sadly so the only reasonable option now is Now TV.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Good to see old Rup and his ilk getting worried and having to band together with others because Netflix know what global viewers want and are going for it.

They're like modern day luddites standing against the progress that most viewers want.

And at the same time, you have to hand it to Rupert; he knows how to make good moves to further his cause.

The above means no HBO Go, or Showtime streaming service in the UK for a good few years. A battle that the US has won and the UK has lost. It now makes Now TV an even better option.

And certainly can't help VM retain customers, who primarily subscribe to their pay TV offerings.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Oh they are certainly going for it , but at some point the subscribers will be the one's who foot the bill just like the traditional pay tv customers now. The article below says Netflix's 3rd party content costs are approximately 4.6 times its $7.7bn net revenue. If the pay platforms start working together you'd expect this to rise further meaning ever increasing subs for all. No wonder original content is becoming more and more popular among providers.

http://www.theguardian.com/media/201...r-priced-plans

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Some think that Now TV will never appear on Virgin's boxes. If that's the case, the future for cable customers in the UK is bleak. I am getting worried that I might have to go with Sky in the future, which is such a shame. I hope VM pull a rabbit out of the hat soon.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Well the only rabbit they will pull out of the hat this year is a new TiVo STB but whether that is enough we shall see.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

This is worth a watch (from a few days ago) Netflix Q4 2015 Earnings Interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvIsZxcV7Y0

---------- Post added at 18:02 ---------- Previous post was at 17:45 ----------

Content wise, there are no rabbits left. But many people aren't interested in premium US cable network content such as HBO, Showtime, Starz and AMC, so it will make no difference to them. US Network TV content generally gets bought by the channels available to VM for the most part (although there are a few exceptions such as Blue Bloods).

But for those who do want the premium cable content, there are streaming options that make it unnecessary to resort to a yearly Sky pay TV contract.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

I don't think it's of no interest, it's just that they can't go to all the trouble of vpns, etc, to access that content. I agree that quite a bit of it gets taken up by UK channel providers, but looking to the future, it's beginning to look as though the big global guys will get there before our little UK channels and leave them with the dregs.

I do think there are rabbits left and VM should seize them. We need more streaming services on the Tivo box and VM need to do those difficult deals with Amazon and Sky.

Whilst I'm all right because I have a smart TV and a Roku streaming stick, a huge proportion of the British public do not have a smart TV, and have never heard of Roku, let alone a streaming stick! VM really need to act now, before it's too late.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

All I can say if a studio wants big audiences go with Netflix, sell an exclusive to a national broadcaster and watch your show disappear. How many great shows failed to catch on in the UK because broadcasters didn't give them a fair shot or the channel just din't have the reach. How many people do you know that watched fear the walking dead on AMC? C5 treated Braking Bad appealingly, And Californication got dropped by Sky and only got picked up again a few years later as a filler for their newly launched Sky Atlantic.

From a studio point of view if Netflix is paying the money and they have the audience makes sense to go with them.

They maybe building debt but that is no bad thing when you are talking such a global endevour, they will break even at somepoint.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Sorry, but I don't think adding a bunch of smart apps to Tivo is going to make a huge difference, when inexpensive boxes to do the same thing are readily available.

Many people are content with VM's TV offering, which essentially only lacks Atlantic (which is now boosted by the Sky Showtime deal). Some people don't care about such content. Many of those that do will add a Now TV subscription, with a £15 Now TV box. Some will move to Sky, and I think more people will start to consider the option of completely cutting the cord.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

I can assure you it's of no interest to me.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Someone I know who works for a big TV company was trying to pitch me the idea that Virgin Media is an acquisition target for Sky, perhaps as part of the expected Sky / Fox deal.

At a time when BT are expanding into TV and satellite is on a slow decline it would enable Sky to reduce their dependency on BT infrastructure. The city would like it as it would immediately add 4 million more direct customers and Sky is felt to be better at monetising them than Liberty Global has been. Competition authorities are less of an issue now having already allowed through the BT / EE deal, there's the growth of competition from streaming services and also the cosy relationship between Murdoch and the Tories, though the broadband market is a more significant problem, especially as TalkTalk seem unlikely to survive.

Sky also have leverage over Virgin that come the end of the TV contract in 2017 they won't really need them any more if they can sell customers Now TV direct instead, which would make Virgin's TV offering unviable. John Malone and Rupert Murdoch have been on better terms the past few years which would make a deal easier and it's been reported in the press that Malone's not that attached to keeping Virgin as part of LG if someone comes along with a decent offer. If he can push up short term profitability and get Sky into a bidding war with Vodafone for it then even better.

Re: Netflix/Streaming Services
 

Sky will not be buying Virgin Media........