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-   -   General : Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018) (https://www.cableforum.uk/board/showthread.php?t=33705858)

Hugh 21-09-2018 17:08

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Too much money to be made (including for the actors) in re-runs and sales to other markets.

Keeping "everything" on the cloud, free to access by customers, would destroy that model.

ozsat 21-09-2018 17:31

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
The 'available to play' should be based on your download speed.

It does some calculation to ensure you can't start playing it until it knows you will not catch up with how far it has downloaded.

I find UHD series (up to one hour) are available in a few second.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jfman (Post 35963807)
You fail to elaborate how these rights issues are “ironed out” when you can’t even state what benefits there are to these broadcasters to engage with such a platform?

My experience of Sky Q it takes minutes to get HD to be playable.


OLD BOY 21-09-2018 17:47

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Hugh (Post 35963917)
Too much money to be made (including for the actors) in re-runs and sales to other markets.

Keeping "everything" on the cloud, free to access by customers, would destroy that model.

No, it would not, provided there was a time limit. As I said earlier, it's just another method of recording.

---------- Post added at 17:47 ---------- Previous post was at 17:45 ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by jfman (Post 35963888)
Giving users the ability to record/bookmark to the cloud would, in the five year example, have huge negative implications for BBC/ITV etc. Right now I’d have to decide if something was in the top 500 hours (HD) of content I wish to retain. I’d also be committed to retaining that single STB, with it’s failure or if I choose to upgrade I would lose out.

If the cloud was set up with everyone sharing the same source recordings the amount a user could retain would be virtually infinite.

If a user could go back and say, rewatch the whole of Line of Duty or Broadchurch, in my view it’d impact on the resale rights by those production companies or the success of any future “Netflix style” operation they have planned.

If there was any reasonable chance of this launching here I believe we’d have it by now or be in very advanced development. Liberty already have nearly 2m STBs out there.

Well, the 5-year limit already applies elsewhere. There's a limit to how much you can actually watch, anyway!

jfman 21-09-2018 17:52

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
So the whole point would be to inhibit the service, restricting recordings to a few months, why not restrict the capacity to something like 1TB as well?

Might as well keep a V6 as is.

As I’ve said structural issues in the UK market mean we are unlikely to see it, despite Liberty rolling it out elsewhere in Europe where it doesn’t have the same issues.

OLD BOY 21-09-2018 18:50

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by jfman (Post 35963930)
So the whole point would be to inhibit the service, restricting recordings to a few months, why not restrict the capacity to something like 1TB as well?

Might as well keep a V6 as is.

As I’ve said structural issues in the UK market mean we are unlikely to see it, despite Liberty rolling it out elsewhere in Europe where it doesn’t have the same issues.

I never said restricted to a few months, and I have pointed out that elsewhere in Europe it is five years.

Two years would be good, I think, but one year would be too restrictive. About half of my recordings are one to two years old. If we had cloud recordings, what would be the difference to broadcasters?

I think you are seeing obstacles where there are none.

jfman 21-09-2018 19:21

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
I fail to see how it could reasonably be described as having no obstacles.

The difference to broadcasters is you have a finite amount of recording space. So while you may keep a limited amount of content (and most of it temporarily) this would allow almost four million households to hold a significant back catalogue of broadcast television through series links without ever having to worry about running out of space.

All the while some of the same content providers are considering a subscription platform for their back catalogues. As Hugh points out content providers want more control of reruns and overseas distribution, not less.

Liberty will have more success with this in non-English speaking markets where distribution through cable is more likely to be the platform of choice for delivery of any enhanced services and the content providers aren’t also the owners of rival platforms.

OLD BOY 21-09-2018 19:33

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by jfman (Post 35963938)
I fail to see how it could reasonably be described as having no obstacles.

The difference to broadcasters is you have a finite amount of recording space. So while you may keep a limited amount of content (and most of it temporarily) this would allow almost four million households to hold a significant back catalogue of broadcast television through series links without ever having to worry about running out of space.

All the while some of the same content providers are considering a subscription platform for their back catalogues. As Hugh points out content providers want more control of reruns and overseas distribution, not less.

Liberty will have more success with this in non-English speaking markets where distribution through cable is more likely to be the platform of choice for delivery of any enhanced services and the content providers aren’t also the owners of rival platforms.

If that was the problem, they could put a limit on the number of hours of recording by way of the cloud in the same way as we have with recording capacity on our STBs. Seriously, I think all the issues you have with this are capable of being overcome.

jfman 21-09-2018 19:55

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
A limit on the number of hours and short time limits on recordings isn’t what cloud based recording is intended to offer, barely better than what we have now and not representative of the service being rolled out in other Liberty markets.

It’s possible to launch an extremely watered down service because Virgin’s competition simply wouldn’t want a full fat version on the market.

Raider999 21-09-2018 20:31

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by RobboEdin (Post 35963791)
I disagree with your figures.
In my experience an hour of UHD recording is between 8 and 10 GB.
Say a football match is two hours and assuming the higher figure, that makes 20 GB or 2% of a 1 TB V6.

I don't know where your 8-10 Gb per hour comes from, but

Your calculations are too simplistic, my figures are based on actual experience of recordings.

Have you taken the following into account :-


A HD football recording takes 2%, a UHD recording takes 5%.

Football recordings of a match are usually around 3 hours with before and afters.

I have recorded the same on UHD and HD as I was interested how much disk space they take.

I don't know how much, but I suspect some of the 1Tb is used for software, EPG etc (certainly is on sky boxes)

---------- Post added at 20:28 ---------- Previous post was at 20:25 ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by jfman (Post 35963938)
I fail to see how it could reasonably be described as having no obstacles.

The difference to broadcasters is you have a finite amount of recording space. So while you may keep a limited amount of content (and most of it temporarily) this would allow almost four million households to hold a significant back catalogue of broadcast television through series links without ever having to worry about running out of space.

All the while some of the same content providers are considering a subscription platform for their back catalogues. As Hugh points out content providers want more control of reruns and overseas distribution, not less.

Liberty will have more success with this in non-English speaking markets where distribution through cable is more likely to be the platform of choice for delivery of any enhanced services and the content providers aren’t also the owners of rival platforms.

I would have thought there would be 1 recording of a program in the cloud with some way of finding it stored on your V6. Possibly a marker with the cloud address?.

Seriously doubt each person will have their own mini-cloud with recordings just for them - that would end up with an infinite amount of space being required.

---------- Post added at 20:31 ---------- Previous post was at 20:28 ----------

Why not just offer 2Tb or 4Tb V6 boxes? There was originally supposed to be a 2Tb option, this was quietly dropped by Virgin.

RobboEdin 21-09-2018 20:34

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
The big mistake you have made is using the percentages displayed by the TiVo software. That algorithm has been wrong for a long time.
The 8-10 GB figure I quote is straight from programs recorded on channel 999.
You can get this from going into My Shows, highlighting a show then pressing right. Once there, press the Info button then scroll down and you’ll get the actual GB figure for that program.
When two different people tell you you’re wrong and they get their information from two different but valid sources, you’re usually wrong.

Raider999 21-09-2018 21:18

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by RobboEdin (Post 35963955)
The big mistake you have made is using the percentages displayed by the TiVo software. That algorithm has been wrong for a long time.
The 8-10 GB figure I quote is straight from programs recorded on channel 999.
You can get this from going into My Shows, highlighting a show then pressing right. Once there, press the Info button then scroll down and you’ll get the actual GB figure for that program.
When two different people tell you you’re wrong and they get their information from two different but valid sources, you’re usually wrong.

You may be correct re the percentages used by V6 - but surely they will be wrong by the same percentage?

I can agree with your last sentence, however I can only find you telling me I am wrong (twice) - maybe I missed another post somewhere.

As for the 8-10Gb figure - my recordings have been from BT sports UHD channel (555) and the corresponding recording from the HD channel - possibly BT has a less compressed offering?

RobboEdin 21-09-2018 21:33

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
jfman, post 2182, is the second person who disagrees with you. He gives the actual fugures for BT 4K, channel 555, at around 12 GB per hour, slightly more than the 8-10 GB I suggest for channel 999.

Raider999 21-09-2018 22:16

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by RobboEdin (Post 35963962)
jfman, post 2182, is the second person who disagrees with you. He gives the actual fugures for BT 4K, channel 555, at around 12 GB per hour, slightly more than the 8-10 GB I suggest for channel 999.


See that post now, didn't pick it up before as it didn't quote myself.

Yes 12Gb is higher than you suggest (between 50% and 20%) - I have not found anything on 999 I want to watch - hence my use of 555 as a yardstick.

Again he is working on 2 hours of broadcast whereas 3 hrs would be a more normal length.

jfman 21-09-2018 23:48

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
I only gave that as an illustrative figure to help the discussion.

Virgin TV Ultra HD broadcasts at a variable bitrate and recorded averages are 10-20% lower than BT Sport 4K.

---------- Post added at 23:48 ---------- Previous post was at 23:25 ----------

I don’t know what makes the percentages differ, but there is probably reserved space for software/apps/EPG and the rewind buffer for however many channels are running in the background.

Also how they calculate megabytes and above (one million or 1024*1024 bytes, which carries on into gigabytes).

Then how it applies rounding.

It’s only supposed to be a guide to help clear recordings and make space. The margin of error makes meaningful and accurate comparisons pointless.

OLD BOY 22-09-2018 10:46

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Raider999 (Post 35963950)

I would have thought there would be 1 recording of a program in the cloud with some way of finding it stored on your V6. Possibly a marker with the cloud address?.

Seriously doubt each person will have their own mini-cloud with recordings just for them - that would end up with an infinite amount of space being required.

---------- Post added at 20:31 ---------- Previous post was at 20:28 ----------

Why not just offer 2Tb or 4Tb V6 boxes? There was originally supposed to be a 2Tb option, this was quietly dropped by Virgin.

Yes, it's more a bookmark than a recording by the individual.

The reason cloud recording might be preferable to VM is that it would be cheaper for STBs not to include a recording function. Broadcasters would prsfer access to the cloud so they could control and monetise their shows.

muppetman11 22-09-2018 10:49

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by ozsat (Post 35963921)
The 'available to play' should be based on your download speed.

It does some calculation to ensure you can't start playing it until it knows you will not catch up with how far it has downloaded.

I find UHD series (up to one hour) are available in a few second.

My experience is pretty much the same with a 76/20 FTTC connection.

jfman 22-09-2018 11:17

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
It took minutes to wait for HD for me when I had Sky Q. The point is that on demand/cloud over cable wouldn’t rely on variability of internet speeds.

---------- Post added at 11:17 ---------- Previous post was at 11:13 ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by OLD BOY (Post 35963998)
Broadcasters would prsfer access to the cloud so they could control and monetise their shows.

Except they wouldn’t, Liberty would be setting the package prices and bundling it all together. Individual broadcasters and content providers would have less control than going it alone with their own apps and subscription services.

ozsat 22-09-2018 11:19

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
A slow internet speed will mean slow downloading from 'the cloud' even if on cable.

Some users have slow cable speeds.
Quote:

Originally Posted by jfman (Post 35964003)
It took minutes to wait for HD for me when I had Sky Q. The point is that on demand/cloud over cable wouldn’t rely on variability of internet speeds.


muppetman11 22-09-2018 11:22

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
There have been many documented problems with On Demand over Virgin in fact lots and lots.

jfman 22-09-2018 11:25

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by ozsat (Post 35964005)
How is you content on 'the cloud' going to get to your box if it is not on the Internet?

A slow internet speed will mean slow downloading from 'the cloud' even if on cable.

Some users have slow cable speeds.

Liberty could provide the content over DVB-C as with current on demand content.

Average speeds on cable are higher than non-cable fibre products, if they did opt for delivery over the internet.

---------- Post added at 11:25 ---------- Previous post was at 11:24 ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by muppetman11 (Post 35964006)
There have been many documented problems with On Demand over Virgin in fact lots and lots.

I’ve never had any issues.

ozsat 22-09-2018 11:35

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
I think most OD over Virgin complaints are more down to using the old TiVo boxes rather than the V6.

muppetman11 22-09-2018 11:57

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by ozsat (Post 35964010)
I think most OD over Virgin complaints are more down to using the old TiVo boxes rather than the V6.

Yes we have no experience with V6 but had problems with OD using the old TiVo boxes and the even older V+ or whatever it was called (on that it was near unusable at peak times).

jfman 22-09-2018 12:06

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
I’d have fully expected you to have issues, it’s the best way for you to continue to promote Sky in a discussion about cable services.

muppetman11 22-09-2018 12:16

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by jfman (Post 35964014)
I’d have fully expected you to have issues, it’s the best way for you to continue to promote Sky in a discussion about cable services.

My problems when I had them were discussed many moons back with Spiderplant so sorry you've got the wrong end of the stick. The problem was to many trying to access the service in the evenings we also struggles with some peak time contention with the broadband.

I'm starting to see why you got a ban over on DS , I guess some people like to believe they are always right and struggle to converse with people and accept differing opinions.

OLD BOY 22-09-2018 12:31

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by muppetman11 (Post 35964006)
There have been many documented problems with On Demand over Virgin in fact lots and lots.

It used to be a nightmare, but the V6 appears to have cured these problems. I watch far more on demand these days with the better reliability and the increased number of tuners.

jfman 22-09-2018 12:38

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by muppetman11 (Post 35964015)
My problems when I had them were discussed many moons back with Spiderplant so sorry you've got the wrong end of the stick. The problem was to many trying to access the service in the evenings we also struggles with some peak time contention with the broadband.

I'm starting to see why you got a ban over on DS , I guess some people like to believe they are always right and struggle to converse with people and accept differing opinions.

On the contrary - I supposedly reregistered in 2010 with a near identical name. Having upset a clique over there who didn’t like being proven wrong that was a breach of T&Cs according to admin who hadn’t noticed for 8 years. Anyway we’ve been told by moderators here that subject has to be left alone.

I just find your contribution to this thread curious, as you obviously aren’t that interested in what may or may not be coming soon to Virgin Media.

muppetman11 22-09-2018 12:52

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by OLD BOY (Post 35964016)
It used to be a nightmare, but the V6 appears to have cured these problems. I watch far more on demand these days with the better reliability and the increased number of tuners.

I don't doubt it , I have family members with V6 who love it. The bulk of my issues came from the Samsung V+ and On Demand in the evening.

All services suffer problems and downtime but on the V+ the service was more miss during the evening sadly.

OLD BOY 22-09-2018 13:00

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by jfman (Post 35964017)
On the contrary - I supposedly reregistered in 2010 with a near identical name. Having upset a clique over there who didn’t like being proven wrong that was a breach of T&Cs according to admin who hadn’t noticed for 8 years. Anyway we’ve been told by moderators here that subject has to be left alone.

I just find your contribution to this thread curious, as you obviously aren’t that interested in what may or may not be coming soon to Virgin Media.

To be fair, there are a lot of people who are flexible and switch providers from time to time. By keeping an eye on the forums of other providers, you become more aware of issues and developments.

Whether or not muppetman fits into this category, I tbink he makes a useful contribution to cable forum (even though he gets rather irritated with me sometimes!).

---------- Post added at 13:00 ---------- Previous post was at 12:56 ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by muppetman11 (Post 35964022)
I don't doubt it , I have family members with V6 who love it. The bulk of my issues came from the Samsung V+ and On Demand in the evening.

All services suffer problems and downtime but on the V+ the service was more miss during the evening sadly.

I know, it was certainly unreliable in those days, and on the Tivo, BBC i-Player was virtually unwatchable.

Happy to say that the V6 is a tremendous improvement and we've had absolutely no issues since we got two of them about 18 months or so ago.

muppetman11 22-09-2018 13:00

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by OLD BOY (Post 35964023)
To be fair, there are a lot of people who are flexible and switch providers from time to time. By keeping an eye on the forums of other providers, you become more aware of issues and developments.

Whether or not muppetman fits into this category, I tbink he makes a useful contribution to cable forum (even though he gets rather irritated with me sometimes!).

Never OB friendly banter just as it is with Den.:D

cheekyangus 24-09-2018 17:36

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Just seen on Twitter here
https://twitter.com/FreeSportsUK/sta...53845935857666

FreeSports in HD is on Virgin Media from tomorrow!

OLD BOY 24-09-2018 17:40

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by cheekyangus (Post 35964274)
Just seen on Twitter here
https://twitter.com/FreeSportsUK/sta...53845935857666

FreeSports in HD is on Virgin Media from tomorrow!

Christ, that came out of nowhere. Thanks, cheekyangus!

Dave42 24-09-2018 17:41

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
so 2 HD channels tomorrow :)

Gold HD
Freesports HD

SonicMaster 24-09-2018 17:57

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by cheekyangus (Post 35964274)
Just seen on Twitter here
https://twitter.com/FreeSportsUK/sta...53845935857666

FreeSports in HD is on Virgin Media from tomorrow!

Hmmm, I wonder if we'll get Premier Sports 2 in HD too.

OLD BOY 24-09-2018 18:57

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
It seems that some satellite viewers are not at all happy that it won't be on Sky for the time being. Not sure what the delay is there unless Sky see this as too much competition with their own sports channels.

Dave42 24-09-2018 19:04

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by OLD BOY (Post 35964286)
It seems that some satellite viewers are not at all happy that it won't be on Sky for the time being. Not sure what the delay is there unless Sky see this as too much competition with their own sports channels.

hmmmmmmmmmmm sky sports is millions time better than freesport OB

OLD BOY 24-09-2018 19:39

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave42 (Post 35964287)
hmmmmmmmmmmm sky sports is millions time better than freesport OB

I agree, it is. But I think they will be concerned by any more sports competition that might detract from their own sports channels. The HD might be a step too far for Sky's taste.

I cannot think of any other reason Sky won't carry it.

cheekyangus 24-09-2018 20:13

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by OLD BOY (Post 35964297)
I agree, it is. But I think they will be concerned by any more sports competition that might detract from their own sports channels. The HD might be a step too far for Sky's taste.

I cannot think of any other reason Sky won't carry it.

Maybe it can't. Maybe VM provided a little sweetener for a short exclusivity period. I'd imagine FreeSports is run on tight margins and will take any help offered.

Raider999 24-09-2018 20:25

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Any news on the channel number? Or is it just replacing Freesports SD?

Media Boy UK 24-09-2018 20:27

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Raider999 (Post 35964312)
Any news on the channel number? Or is it just replacing Freesports SD?

Base on the way FreeSports has reveal the info we think it safe to say FreeSports HD will launch on Channel 553.

Raider999 24-09-2018 20:32

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Media Boy (Post 35964313)
Base on the way FreeSports has reveal the info we think it safe to say FreeSports HD will launch on Channel 553.


Ok thanks for the prompt reply

Dave42 25-09-2018 08:44

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
gold HD now on 124

Freesports HD now on 553

nomadking 25-09-2018 09:52

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Not that much on Gold HD is going to be HD. The listings on the EPG are not currently properly tagged as being HD, when they are HD, eg "The Story of Only Fools and Horses". You have to get that info from elsewhere, eg Radio Times website.

brava210 25-09-2018 10:12

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Comparing gold HD on sky and virgin, sky looks much better.

OLD BOY 25-09-2018 13:30

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by brava210 (Post 35964349)
Comparing gold HD on sky and virgin, sky looks much better.

The difference could be due to the picture settings or the model of TV used.

brava210 25-09-2018 14:29

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
It's on the same TV through a Denon amp. The difference on adverts and promo's is huge.

SonicMaster 25-09-2018 17:13

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Interesting decision to replace Gold SD with Gold HD rather than having both available, as there are many other TV channels that they could do the same but haven't done, for example 4Seven, Paramount Network, Quest, CBBC, Cbeebies, BBC News, Nat Geo Wild, History, Crime + Investigation, all of the Sky Cinema channels, and all of the BT Sport channels.

They have incorrectly labelled FreeSports HD as Freesports HD in the EPG.

Unknownguy 25-09-2018 17:23

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
It's strange that other UKTV channels like Really and Home aren't in HD as most if not all content will have made in HD.
Does anyone know if Channel 5 channels like USA, 5star and 5spike will ever launch in HD?

OLD BOY 25-09-2018 17:47

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Unknownguy (Post 35964381)
It's strange that other UKTV channels like Really and Home aren't in HD as most if not all content will have made in HD.
Does anyone know if Channel 5 channels like USA, 5star and 5spike will ever launch in HD?

5USA is already in HD on Sky.

Mr K 25-09-2018 17:49

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Although i'm a fan of the UKTV channels don't see much point of Gold in HD, most of the programmes weren't made in HD.

muppetman11 25-09-2018 17:56

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by OLD BOY (Post 35964385)
5USA is already in HD on Sky.

It's not

Mad Max 25-09-2018 18:02

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Freesports wont appeal much to the football fan, Bull Riding!! lol, looks like there's quite a lot of rugby on there, womens hockey etc, doesn't appeal to me at all.

mot12 25-09-2018 18:28

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Mad Max (Post 35964393)
Freesports wont appeal much to the football fan, Bull Riding!! lol, looks like there's quite a lot of rugby on there, womens hockey etc, doesn't appeal to me at all.

Ladies in bikinis in HD kind of Bull Riding?

Who needs Sky Sports lol

I watched a bit of Ice Hockey and it kept me hooked for about 2 minutes the picture was good, it made a change from the abysmal SD Freesports picture. I wont be watching the channel much though.

cheekyangus 25-09-2018 18:37

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
FreeSports had some NHL ice hockey last season, no idea if they will this season. They have UK ice hockey league this year and I think UK basketball league coverage (they certainly did last season).

There is football, though it's more the likes of Benfica Vs Desportivo Aves full replay I saw when I put the channel on this morning to check the picture quality.

mot12 25-09-2018 18:42

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by cheekyangus (Post 35964400)
FreeSports had some NHL ice hockey last season, no idea if they will this season. They have UK ice hockey league this year and I think UK basketball league coverage (they certainly did last season).

There is football, though it's more the likes of Benfica Vs Desportivo Aves full replay I saw when I put the channel on this morning to check the picture quality.

A chance to check the HD quality of GOLDHD at 8. There wont be many opportunities.

OLD BOY 25-09-2018 18:50

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by muppetman11 (Post 35964389)
It's not

According to the TV & Satellite Week, 5 USA is on channels 141 and 169. I thought that indicated the SD and HD numbers, but I now see I made a mistake. Sorry!

muppetman11 25-09-2018 18:56

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by OLD BOY (Post 35964404)
According to the TV & Satellite Week, 5 USA is on channels 141 and 169. I thought that indicated the SD and HD numbers, but I now see I made a mistake. Sorry!

On my box 141 is 5 USA (SD) and 169 is BBC Alba :D

The 5 USA catch-up seems to be available in HD but there is no HD linear channel.

alwaysabear 25-09-2018 19:03

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr K (Post 35964386)
Although i'm a fan of the UKTV channels don't see much point of Gold in HD, most of the programmes weren't made in HD.

Agree . ITV made a lot of series using film in the sixties and seventies eg Persuaders ,so HD is possible for those series.

paul0363 25-09-2018 21:29

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Don't know if this has been mentioned or not! From the "Customer News" section on the V6 box (Home>Help&Settings>Help>Customer News>HD as Standard recordings &...):

" We want you to enjoy your favourite TV at its best, so we're swapping some of your standard definition channels for their high definition versions.

This means you'll lose some standard definition channels from your TV guide, but they'll be replaced with their better looking counterparts.

In some cases you might lose your standard definition recordings after 3 months if they were taken from a channel that is now "vacant".

You might also have to adjust your Series Link for these channels (if you use them) or switch to using Series Link+ to make sure you're getting episodes from all available channels.

Plus, don't forget that recorded HD programmes will take up more space on your TV Box."

BenMcr 25-09-2018 22:01

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by SonicMaster (Post 35964378)
Interesting decision to replace Gold SD with Gold HD rather than having both available, as there are many other TV channels that they could do the same but haven't done, for example 4Seven, Paramount Network, Quest, CBBC, Cbeebies, BBC News, Nat Geo Wild, History, Crime + Investigation, all of the Sky Cinema channels, and all of the BT Sport channels.

They have incorrectly labelled FreeSports HD as Freesports HD in the EPG.

Those all launched whilst there were still SD only V boxes on the network, so both versions were needed.

Those boxes are all either swapped or decommissioned now, and the remaining boxes with Scart outputs can downscale HD. So there is no need to have both an SD and HD version of Gold.

There are quite a few other HD only channels on Virgin Media now.

Bob 25-09-2018 22:22

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by paul0363 (Post 35964428)
Don't know if this has been mentioned or not! From the "Customer News" section on the V6 box (Home>Help&Settings>Help>Customer News>HD as Standard recordings &...):

" We want you to enjoy your favourite TV at its best, so we're swapping some of your standard definition channels for their high definition versions.

This means you'll lose some standard definition channels from your TV guide, but they'll be replaced with their better looking counterparts.

In some cases you might lose your standard definition recordings after 3 months if they were taken from a channel that is now "vacant".

You might also have to adjust your Series Link for these channels (if you use them) or switch to using Series Link+ to make sure you're getting episodes from all available channels.

Plus, don't forget that recorded HD programmes will take up more space on your TV Box."

I'm guessing they weren't specific about which ones?

SonicMaster 25-09-2018 22:27

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by BenMcr (Post 35964429)
Those all launched whilst there were still SD only V boxes on the network, so both versions were needed.

Those boxes are all either swapped or decommissioned now, and the remaining boxes with Scart outputs can downscale HD. So there is no need to have both an SD and HD version of Gold.

There are quite a few other HD only channels on Virgin Media now.

Hence my point that they could do the same, but have not so far.

Given what has been spotted in Customer News maybe we are about to see many other SD versions removed.

paul0363 25-09-2018 22:32

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob (Post 35964431)
I'm guessing they weren't specific about which ones?

No - what's posted is a word for word copy of what's in the Customer News section - there is no more info there :)

RichardCoulter 26-09-2018 03:05

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Just read that Box Nation has been removed from Sky, is it still broadcasting on VM (I don't subscribe to it)?

ozsat 26-09-2018 05:43

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
It is still on Sky
Quote:

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter (Post 35964442)
Just read that Box Nation has been removed from Sky, is it still broadcasting on VM (I don't subscribe to it)?


OLD BOY 26-09-2018 07:23

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Another music channel goes to the dogs with VH-1 becoming a lifestyle channel. I really liked this music channel when we first got it on cable - I think it is a real pity that its programming changed, and this is the last straw. I won't be watching VH-1 ever again now.

Just as well we have YouTube.

https://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2018...style-channel/

SonicMaster 26-09-2018 11:36

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by OLD BOY (Post 35964445)
Another music channel goes to the dogs with VH-1 becoming a lifestyle channel. I really liked this music channel when we first got it on cable - I think it is a real pity that its programming changed, and this is the last straw. I won't be watching VH-1 ever again now.

Just as well we have YouTube.

https://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2018...style-channel/

It's the right decision.

The music video channel genre has been in decline for a very long time and MTV has plenty of others.

VH1 UK will now align with the US channel and allow for greater content sharing and brand development.

They need to get VH1 UK a presence on social media by the time it re-launches.

Mad Max 26-09-2018 12:08

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by SonicMaster (Post 35964458)
It's the right decision.

The music video channel genre has been in decline for a very long time and MTV has plenty of others.

VH1 UK will now align with the US channel and allow for greater content sharing and brand development.

They need to get VH1 UK a presence on social media by the time it re-launches.

Maybe so, but to replace it with a crappy lifestyle channel? :td:

SonicMaster 26-09-2018 12:21

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Mad Max (Post 35964464)
Maybe so, but to replace it with a crappy lifestyle channel? :td:

You may think of it as a 'crappy lifestyle channel' but there is an audience for this kind of thing...

ITVBe, Really, TLC, Lifetime, E! etc are all in this space but Viacom are not as yet - so it makes perfect sense.

Chad 26-09-2018 12:35

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter (Post 35964442)
Just read that Box Nation has been removed from Sky, is it still broadcasting on VM (I don't subscribe to it)?

They've closed their HD channel on SKY. The standard definition version of the channel is still up and running. Part of a cost cutting exercise to keep the channel going ever since Frank Warren took his stable of fighters over to BT Sport.

cje85 26-09-2018 13:07

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Chad (Post 35964468)
They've closed their HD channel on SKY. The standard definition version of the channel is still up and running. Part of a cost cutting exercise to keep the channel going ever since Frank Warren took his stable of fighters over to BT Sport.

Box Nation HD only broadcast live PPV fights which now air on BT Sport Box Office instead.

BT and Box Nation have a partnership which includes sharing rights to certain events and Box Nation being offered as part of the BT Sport Pack.

https://www.boxnation.com/boxing-new...and-boxnation/

japitts 26-09-2018 18:16

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by paul0363 (Post 35964428)
Don't know if this has been mentioned or not! From the "Customer News" section on the V6 box (Home>Help&Settings>Help>Customer News>HD as Standard recordings &...):

" We want you to enjoy your favourite TV at its best, so we're swapping some of your standard definition channels for their high definition versions.

This means you'll lose some standard definition channels from your TV guide, but they'll be replaced with their better looking counterparts.

In some cases you might lose your standard definition recordings after 3 months if they were taken from a channel that is now "vacant".

You might also have to adjust your Series Link for these channels (if you use them) or switch to using Series Link+ to make sure you're getting episodes from all available channels.

Plus, don't forget that recorded HD programmes will take up more space on your TV Box."

Really not sure what I think about this. Yes of course 90% of the time I record in HD given the choice, but particularly if you have extended holiday it can be useful to have the option of dropping series-links to SD to increase storage space.

A couple of years ago I was abroad for 6weeks over christmas, and dropping everything except serial drama & natural-history stuff to SD made the difference between an overflowing box and "getting away with it".

BenMcr 26-09-2018 18:24

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by japitts (Post 35964502)
Really not sure what I think about this. Yes of course 90% of the time I record in HD given the choice, but particularly if you have extended holiday it can be useful to have the option of dropping series-links to SD to increase storage space.

A couple of years ago I was abroad for 6weeks over christmas, and dropping everything except serial drama & natural-history stuff to SD made the difference between an overflowing box and "getting away with it".

Remember that since then the HD channels have been moved to MPEG4 whilst the SD channels are still MPEG2.

So although there is a difference between the two, HD takes up a lot less disk space than it did and if you did the same again, you'd probably be fine with the six weeks in HD now.

OLD BOY 26-09-2018 18:30

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by BenMcr (Post 35964503)
Remember that the HD channels are now MPEG4 whilst the SD channels are still MPEG2.

So although there is a difference between the two, HD takes up a lot less disk space than it did.

True, but I still don't understand why the V6, with its ability to provide programmes in UHD, was only provided with a 1TB hard drive.

BenMcr 26-09-2018 18:39

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
I have no idea what the reasoning behind it was, so can't really comment on that.

But look at it this way - we used to have MPEG 2 SD and HD with the relevant file size differences

HD has moved to MPEG4 which brings it closer to the MPEG2 sizes of SD.

The UHD channels are HVEC which brings them close to the size of the HD channels when they were on MPEG2.

So it's not far off 'standing still' when it comes to recording space needs, but we will end up with better quality recordings for the same file size usage.

RobboEdin 26-09-2018 19:04

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
I would suggest the current capacity is around 400 hours HD or 100 hours UHD or mix thereof.
The V6 is not an archiving box but a box to provide convenient playback of recordings.
Certainly, for me, there’s more than enough space. I rarely go above 10% usage.

jfman 26-09-2018 20:00

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
The UHD channels are broadcasting at a higher bitrate than the MPEG 2 variants.

OLD BOY 26-09-2018 20:11

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by RobboEdin (Post 35964509)
I would suggest the current capacity is around 400 hours HD or 100 hours UHD or mix thereof.
The V6 is not an archiving box but a box to provide convenient playback of recordings.
Certainly, for me, there’s more than enough space. I rarely go above 10% usage.

It really depends how you use the box. I record everything I'm likely to watch and the watch it at my convenience. So it's not archiving, it's simplybto ensure that I don't miss those shows.

Currently, I have 2 V6s and a DVD recorder, and that is barely sufficient.

RobboEdin 26-09-2018 20:49

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
I appreciate that everyone’s different but how long would it take to watch 400 hours of recordings? Answer 7 weeks if you watch 8 hours a day and that’s without recording any more.
I suggest that 1TB is more than enough for timeslip watching. Anything more, I would suggest, is archiving material.

Frazz 26-09-2018 21:08

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Is the TiVo able to take an external hard drive like the Xbox or PS4

RobboEdin 26-09-2018 21:41

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Frazz (Post 35964525)
Is the TiVo able to take an external hard drive like the Xbox or PS4

No.

Mr K 26-09-2018 21:47

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by OLD BOY (Post 35964445)
Another music channel goes to the dogs with VH-1 becoming a lifestyle channel. I really liked this music channel when we first got it on cable - I think it is a real pity that its programming changed, and this is the last straw. I won't be watching VH-1 ever again now.

Just as well we have YouTube.

https://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2018...style-channel/

Cripes, I actually agree with you...

---------- Post added at 21:47 ---------- Previous post was at 21:45 ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by SonicMaster (Post 35964458)
It's the right decision.

The music video channel genre has been in decline for a very long time and MTV has plenty of others.

VH1 UK will now align with the US channel and allow for greater content sharing and brand development.

They need to get VH1 UK a presence on social media by the time it re-launches.

When people talk about 'brands' I just switch off.....

RichardCoulter 26-09-2018 23:13

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Chad (Post 35964468)
They've closed their HD channel on SKY. The standard definition version of the channel is still up and running. Part of a cost cutting exercise to keep the channel going ever since Frank Warren took his stable of fighters over to BT Sport.

I thought that Frank Warren set up and owned Box Nation?? Did anything ever happen with regards to the rumour that BT would eventually buy Box Nation after their deal to simulcast some fights on BT Sport?

Mad Max 26-09-2018 23:40

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by RobboEdin (Post 35964524)
I appreciate that everyone’s different but how long would it take to watch 400 hours of recordings? Answer 7 weeks if you watch 8 hours a day and that’s without recording any more.
I suggest that 1TB is more than enough for timeslip watching. Anything more, I would suggest, is archiving material.

Totally agree, people need to get out more!

1andrew1 27-09-2018 00:14

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter (Post 35964538)
I thought that Frank Warren set up and owned Box Nation?? Did anything ever happen with regards to the rumour that BT would eventually buy Box Nation after their deal to simulcast some fights on BT Sport?

He founded it.
Now majority-owned by the estate of Bill Ives of Rainham Steel fame. Frank Warren and George Warren remain as directors.

---------- Post added at 00:14 ---------- Previous post was at 00:10 ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobboEdin (Post 35964524)
I appreciate that everyone’s different but how long would it take to watch 400 hours of recordings? Answer 7 weeks if you watch 8 hours a day and that’s without recording any more.
I suggest that 1TB is more than enough for timeslip watching. Anything more, I would suggest, is archiving material.

Agreed.
Unless I'm missing something, anything close to 1TB of recordings sounds like recording hoarding to me.

Media Boy UK 27-09-2018 00:30

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by BenMcr (Post 35964429)
Those all launched whilst there were still SD only V boxes on the network, so both versions were needed.

Those boxes are all either swapped or decommissioned now, and the remaining boxes with Scart outputs can downscale HD. So there is no need to have both an SD and HD version of Gold.

There are quite a few other HD only channels on Virgin Media now.

Yet Virgin has not drop the SD version of the other UKTV Channels - W, Dave, Eden and Good Food.

BenMcr 27-09-2018 00:33

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Media Boy (Post 35964545)
Yet Virgin has not drop the SD version of the other UKTV Channels - W, Dave, Eden and Good Food.

Because those already existed before the SD only boxes were withdrawn and before the new UKTV deal.

Also Gold HD has only existed on Virgin Media after the official withdrawal of the SD only boxes, and is also in the same TV pack as the HD version. Dave SD is not current in the same TV pack as Dave HD, which is why those two are still around.

But eventually I don't see any technical reason why most SD channels aren't swapped out for the HD versions. The only reason SD would remain is either because there isn't an HD regional version (BBC, ITV etc), or because the content agreement requires it to be there.

RichardCoulter 27-09-2018 05:03

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
As i'm having to be careful with recording space, i'm going to start recording things from GOLD +1 as that's still SD. Even if SD only boxes were still around, the channel would still be available, albeit an hour later :D

Do we now have an odd situation where a pay channel like GOLD is in a lower pack than a channel like Dave that's available FTA?

BenMcr 27-09-2018 08:39

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter (Post 35964547)
Do we now have an odd situation where a pay channel like GOLD is in a lower pack than a channel like Dave that's available FTA?

Not really.

Dave HD and Gold HD are both is Mix and above.

Dave SD is in Player as that then aligns to it's FTA availability.

Ultimate.Conj 27-09-2018 09:19

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Also with the V6, there is the potential to double or treble storage by having 2 or 3 boxes.

The functionality of being able to watch recordings across boxes is brilliant.

Although I do agree with the hoarding of materials stated in earlier posts, the V6 isn't for really for archiving programmes, but being able to watch more,at your convenience.

I watch the recordings and then delete them.

OLD BOY 27-09-2018 09:41

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Ultimate.Conj (Post 35964560)
Also with the V6, there is the potential to double or treble storage by having 2 or 3 boxes.

The functionality of being able to watch recorded across boxes is brilliant.

Although I do agree with the hoarding of materials stated in earlier posts, the V6 isn't for really for archiving programmes, but being able to watch more,at your convenience.



I watch the recordings and then delete them.



As do I! That is not 'hoarding'.

Ultimate.Conj 27-09-2018 10:34

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by OLD BOY (Post 35964563)
[/B]
As do I! That is not 'hoarding'.

True, that is not hoarding OB

You have 2 x V6 and DVD recorder...what do you watch? How do you have time to watch it all? lol ;):D:D

I'm up to 75% on one box due to missus recording all of her rubbish haha

I haven't tried recording any UHD yet, so not able to comment on the space it takes.

Is there any news of other programmes coming to the UHD channel?

heavyside 27-09-2018 10:53

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Ultimate.Conj (Post 35964560)
The functionality of being able to watch recorded across boxes is brilliant.

I have to agree. With two V6 boxes I have 2tb of space and 12 tuners.

Raider999 27-09-2018 12:31

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by heavyside (Post 35964574)
I have to agree. With two V6 boxes I have 2tb of space and 12 tuners.

Correct, however you are also paying for the extra box which with a 2Tb (or larger) disk in 1 box you wouldn't have to - 6 tuners is usually more than enough even for me.

I wonder if Virgin dropped the idea of a 2Tb box when they realised people were prepared to pay the extra for a 2nd box - rather cunning really.

As for the idea that filling 2 boxes is hoarding - I am about to go away for 8 days, my required recordings for that period would more than fill 1 empty V6 box - hoarding? Not at all, just recording things I would otherwise miss.

RobboEdin 27-09-2018 12:54

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Raider999 (Post 35964592)
Correct, however you are also paying for the extra box which with a 2Tb (or larger) disk in 1 box you wouldn't have to - 6 tuners is usually more than enough even for me.

I wonder if Virgin dropped the idea of a 2Tb box when they realised people were prepared to pay the extra for a 2nd box - rather cunning really.

As for the idea that filling 2 boxes is hoarding - I am about to go away for 8 days, my required recordings for that period would more than fill 1 empty V6 box - hoarding? Not at all, just recording things I would otherwise miss.

Can I believe that last statement? You’re going to record 50 hours of programming each day of eight?
When are you going to find time to watch those 400 hours?

Mythica 27-09-2018 13:13

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by OLD BOY (Post 35964505)
True, but I still don't understand why the V6, with its ability to provide programmes in UHD, was only provided with a 1TB hard drive.

Because you can't please everyone and have to come to some sort of middle ground. 1TB will be enough for the vast majority of customers. Anything more just costs more money. I watch a lot of TV and record everything in HD and it's enough for me. The PS4 is the same, when the PS4 pro was released it had 1TB and some games with the updates come close to 100gb. I believe once 4k starts taking off more, if cloud storage isn't available, then VM will announce a V6 box with 2TB of storage.

alwaysabear 27-09-2018 13:20

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by RobboEdin (Post 35964596)
Can I believe that last statement? You’re going to record 50 hours of programming each day of eight?
When are you going to find time to watch those 400 hours?

That would be some feat of endurance, catching up all that TV, just mind blowing.:shocked:

OLD BOY 27-09-2018 15:28

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Mythica (Post 35964600)
Because you can't please everyone and have to come to some sort of middle ground. 1TB will be enough for the vast majority of customers.
Anything more just costs more money.
I watch a lot of TV and record everything in HD and it's enough for me. The PS4 is the same, when the PS4 pro was released it had 1TB and some games with the updates come close to 100gb. I believe once 4k starts taking off more, if cloud storage isn't available, then VM will announce a V6 box with 2TB of storage.

As the customer would be paying for it, why would it matter to Virgin Media if it cost more?

Mythica 27-09-2018 15:47

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by OLD BOY (Post 35964617)
As the customer would be paying for it, why would it matter to Virgin Media if it cost more?

Because more people might then moan at the extra price they might charge resulting in less boxes out there. 1 TB of storage is plenty enough for the vast majority of customers, taking that into account, what's the point in spending more money or passing that money onto the customer if very little are going to use it.

OLD BOY 27-09-2018 17:14

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Mythica (Post 35964621)
Because more people might then moan at the extra price they might charge resulting in less boxes out there. 1 TB of storage is plenty enough for the vast majority of customers, taking that into account, what's the point in spending more money or passing that money onto the customer if very little are going to use it.

I was suggesting that VM give people the choice, that's all!

Mythica 27-09-2018 17:25

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by OLD BOY (Post 35964634)
I was suggesting that VM give people the choice, that's all!

They probably will when they feel the need but where does it end? What about people who only need 500GB? Give someone 2TB and someone will want 3TB, you can't please everyone.


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