Cable Forum - General Coming Soon to Virgin Media TV (2017)

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Re: Coming Soon to Virgin Media TV (2017)

Quote:

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter (Post 35882712)

Apparantly, Sky are telling their customers that "BT & Virgin are letting Discovery go as well" according to their Twitter feed.

Link please or screenshot as can't see nothing like that on their twitter feed.
See planty of dirty tactics from Discovery and vm though.
Not saying SKY aren't saying that, just can't see it on their feed.
Also worth noting and this surprised me tbh SKY have actually told Discovery that Discover or Eurosport does not have to be in a SKY package to be on the SKY platform.
The plot thickens.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin Media TV (2017)

Quote:

Originally Posted by theone2k10 (Post 35882737)

It's what a customer claims she was told as opposed to Sky openly saying this.

Sky are technically correct in that the Discovery channels could stay on the Sky platform as Free To Air, Free To View or standalone subscription channels.

How viable this would be as a business model is another question...

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin Media TV (2017)

Quote:

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter (Post 35882738)

Discovery have form for this behaviour they did the same in Norway, Romania and Germany, they really aren't doing themselves any favours also it's quite pathetic of them to go to social media to get SKY customers to pressure SKY i hope SKY stick to their guns.
Talktalk have certainly stuck to their guns with Discovery.
VM and BT should stop being so cocky too as their turn will come soon enough to negotiate with Discovery.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin Media TV (2017)

Quote:

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter (Post 35882738)

Quest is FTA anyway via Freeview. It hasn't appeared on FTA satellite, but this may be due to the sports coverage overflow from Eurosport. Discovery was on cable long before it arrived on satellite via Sky. Not to mention that all the channels are Pan-European so have an audiance that extends far beyond the UK/Ireland.

Discovery have seperate agreements with Virgin & BT, & clearly state on their website that only Sky customers are affected:

http://www.keepdiscovery.co.uk/faq/

---------- Post added at 18:36 ---------- Previous post was at 18:17 ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter (Post 35882719)

I know that Sky are lying, however, i've been told that VM get their HD feeds by fibre and SD feeds via the satellite.

Can't remember if it was an SD or a HD channel that I was watching on VM last night, but the ticker advice for Sky customers appeared at the top (think it was Discovery Science).

I don't think that this has a HD variant, so perhaps this explains why the ticker is being shown to VM customers??

Could this mean that for technical reasons, as opposed to the Sky/Discovery dispute itself, that we will lose access to the SD Discovery channels from the 1st February??

Anything going through the Discovery channels UK output suite will appear on all customers TV's. They cannot add it seperately to the satellite uplink. HD channels are fibre fed & VM has access to several distribution satellites which the channels could also use. Also, as with the BT Sports channels, there is nothing to stop them using the Astra transponders privately for distribution & giving reception cards to Virgin, even as a short term solution.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin Media TV (2017)

Quote:

Originally Posted by theone2k10 (Post 35882742)

Is John Malone involved in Discovery, VM may find it easier to negotiate with them if he is?

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin Media TV (2017)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr Banana (Post 35882761)

Is John Malone involved in Discovery, VM may find it easier to negotiate with them if he is?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_C._Malone

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin Media TV (2017)

Quote:

Originally Posted by denphone (Post 35882763)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_C._Malone

Thanks Denphone - looks like he owns 29%

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin Media TV (2017)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr Banana (Post 35882765)

Thanks Denphone - looks like he owns 29%

Yes which is quite a considerable stake Mr B.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin Media TV (2017)

Quote:

Originally Posted by denphone (Post 35882766)

Yes which is quite a considerable stake Mr B.

Indeed it is but discoverys behavioyr could make things very difficult for malones companies in the future we all know what SKY are like and they will likely retaliate by making negotiations difficult for vm in 2019 and this could include fox, nat geo channels too.
Then say if Discovery pull the same crap to BT, BT could retaliate too when negotiations for BT sports come around.
End of the day it's going to get very messy and there will only be one loser and that is us the consumer.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin Media TV (2017)

Quote:

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter (Post 35882719)

Could this mean that for technical reasons, as opposed to the Sky/Discovery dispute itself, that we will lose access to the SD Discovery channels from the 1st February??

No, VM will not be losing any Discovery channels

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin Media TV (2017)

Quote:

Originally Posted by theone2k10 (Post 35882770)

Yes and now Malone owns Formula 1, who knows what bun fights there will be in the future with rights to show that?

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin Media TV (2017)

The board is set, the pieces are moving. We come to it at last... The great battle of our time.;)

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin Media TV (2017)

Quote:

Originally Posted by denphone (Post 35882792)

The board is set, the pieces are moving. We come to it at last... The great battle of our time.;)

The two main pieces are getting on a bit now Murdoch is 85 and Malone 75.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin Media TV (2017)

Quote:

Originally Posted by alwaysabear (Post 35882799)

The two main pieces are getting on a bit now Murdoch is 85 and Malone 75.

It was meant in jest AB but perhaps if you put two well known forum grandee's together :waving::waving: it could be handbags at ten paces.;):D

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin Media TV (2017)

A potential tactic for Discovery to take is to close down Quest and allow DMAX to go FTA. Furthermore, I would keep Discovery, Discovery Science, Animal Planet, TLC, ID and Eurosport 1 & 2 HD behind a pay wall and allow the re-launched DMAX, Discovery History, Discovery Turbo, Discovery Shed, Home & Health and Eurosport 1 & 2 SD to become available to Freeview and Freesat as well.