Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

Sky's strategy for Atlantic channel is to attract freeview non subscribers. Perhaps after this advertising campaign we may see the channel on Virgin.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/orga...antic-x-factor

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

I emailed the CEO's office again today with a general question about Sky Basics, they didn't say much but did say that they are currently in negotiations for Atlantic.

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

From what I have heard, Sky are asking a higher price than VM are prepared to pay for us to have the channel at launch. VM may be holding out for both SD and HD versions - dunno.
Having watched the opening episodes of Boardwalk Empire, it would be a shame to only get it in on Virgin in SD, but it would be better than having to watch it by other means.

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

This would appear to be the case but as I always say that is just my opinion. I just wanted it cleared up that Sky are not actually withholding the channel, merely that VM cannot agree to terms, possibly on costs.

Given this is a very high end channel it cannot be cheap to provide, and let's remember we don't pay extra for basic HD on XL. Sky's own customers will of course be paying extra for it in HD.

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

Seems to be the only way to get any information from VM;) Thanks for keeping us up to date.

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

I know we are never going to agree on this Mersey but there is absolutely no evidence that Sky want, at least at the present time, any rival platform access to have access to this channel. During the Sky basics dispute sky said all the time that they were willing to negotiate. Negotiations were taking place right up to the last minute. It is completely different this time. Of course VM are going to say they are trying to get the channel but Sky have been telling everybody, weeks before the channel starts broadcasting that rival platforms are not going to get the channel. That is pretty conclusive evidence to me.

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

And not conclusive to me.

I don't know what Neil Berkett's team could be negotiating if what you say is indeed correct. I have no reason to doubt his word.

He seems a pretty upfront sort of guy to me.

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

Both Cindy Rose and Neil Berkett reply to emails , this alone deserves respect don't forget these people are busy executives.

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

I couldn't agree more.

I like facts and information from the horses mouth, like I received today.

I have absolutely no reason to doubt Mr Berkett, other's can if they wish.

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

VM will of course tell there customers we are trying to get this channel. They don't want people who want this channel to leave. What we are not seeing from Sky is a company who thinks they are negotiating with anyone. Quite the opposite. They are quite up front about the fact that this channel is going to be an exclusive at least at launch. They have said to VM customers on twitter that they are not going to get the channel at launch. What companies say who are willing to let their channels appear on a platform is, you had better talk to your platform about this and get them to agree a deal with us.
Sky are being totally up front about it being only available on their platform. They of course want customers of other platforms to know it's exlusive to Sky for an obvious reason.
Also if you think that Sky is such an open platform company that they actually mean the opposite of what they are saying, how come VM subscribers are paying for the Sky sports package and £7 HD premium channel charge but not getting sports 3 & 4 HD? Why did VM have to sell their channels to Sky to get VM sports subscribers access to the red button content they were already paying for? Sky have plenty of form for this.

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

To be fair though the Guardian has reported that Sky were in talks with VM and BT about carrying Sky Atlantic.

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

Have Sky actually said that though muppetman. I looked back in your posts to see if you had posted a link to the article and I found you posted this on 06/01/11 "Sky Atlantic HD is a key part of our strategy to help further grow the content gap between what you can get with Sky, and what you can get elsewhere." Note that Sky always say HD after there programmes.

On googling this I found this press release from Sky from which that is a quote. That is pretty conclusive proof, if we needed any, that Sky don't just want the channel exclusives that they have already got but want to grow that gap. Sky Atlantic being a key part of that strategy. Case over.

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

Since I have Sky and not Virgin, my vote is probably somewhat obvious.




( Dont care .............. ;) )

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

Check this post's comments from Neil Berkett:
And also if you look at the (official) Sky Atlantic Twitter feed you'll see a few comments to substantiate that talks are taking place.
What Stuart Murphy has talked about was Sky Atlantic differentiating between pay TV and Freeview/Freesat, which is Sky's bigger rival (and the biggest digital platform of them all of course). Sky want people to pay for their channels and advertisers to have sufficient reach - Virgin Media is part of their strategy for Sky Atlantic I'm sure. The exclusivity is a short-term tactic to get as much as it can out of VM for carriage, maximise the benefit of the Sky Atlantic HD launch marketing, and maybe spoil a little VM's TiVo marketing.

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

I hope you are right Nialli. Personally I can see no other way of reading that statement in their own press release as saying their main reason for having the channel was to grow the amount of content that other platforms had no access to.

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

Personal opinion/observation: Tweets and other unofficial sources (which I have not seen) aside, the TV advert. shows a SkyAtlanticHD logo with the narrative stating that it's only available to Sky customers, all of which is ambiguous in a number of ways. Even if it is not available on VM, BT etc. at launch, I believe that it will be coming very soon afterwards, at least in SD to begin with.

An example of ambiguity from the late Ronnie Barker ...

A mother asks her little boy to "go across the road and see how old Mrs. Smith is". So, which is the young lad being tasked with?

• Ask Mrs. Smith how old she is
• Ask old Mrs. Smith how she is

I can't see a way to punctuate the mother's instruction to make it clearer.

If I subscribe to Sky channels such as sports, movies etc. on VM, am I a Sky subscriber? That's a phrase that Sky use all of the time in their advertising. So, does it include subscribers to Sky channels on platforms other than BSkyB?

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

Interesting post Felim but I don't think there is any ambiguity about the Sky press release. On your point about whether we are Sky customers or not I don't think Sky regards us as such. I think they treat us in a pretty shabby way if they do. For instance giving VM customers only part of the package that they give to other customers when it could be considered cable customers are paying top wack already.

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

Well obviously we're 'not Sky customers' as we don't pay fees directly to Sky but are we 'Sky subscribers' as we do subscribe to Sky channels?

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

I would have said we are customers of their content division. If for instance I buy a British Airways ticket through an travel agent aren't I still a BA customer. Still, no matter I think we know what each other is saying. :)

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

Totally agree with you.... I had this argument a while ago and got shouted down! lol

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

You know why DF you got shouted down :erm: you are staff and i think that there are people on here who think that it is open season on VM staff no matter what has been said:D:D:D

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

It doesn't matter how you try to look at it, we aren't SKY customers. Virgins website makes that pretty clear.

"Premium TV Services are provided to you by Virgin Media Entertainment, the trading name of Future Entertainment SARL which is a subsidiary of Virgin Media Inc. Premium channels provided by Virgin Media Entertainment are: Sky Movies Action & Adventure*, Sky Movies Classics, Sky Movies Comedy*, Sky Movies Crime & Thriller*, Sky Movies Drama & Romance*, Sky Movies Family*, Sky Movies Indie*, Sky Movies Modern Greats*, Sky Movies Sci-Fi & Horror*, Sky Movies Premiere*, Sky Movies Premiere +1, Sky Movies Showcase*, Sky Sports 1*, Sky Sports 2*, Sky Sports 3, Sky Sports 4."

If I go to a restaurant and buy a meal I am the restaurants customer. If my steak has gristle all the way through it I complain to the restaurant, not their food supplier. I'm in no way the customer of the food supplier. I haven't paid the food supplier directly to provide me with my meal.

If we are SKY customers they'd let us have access to SKY Player, SKY Mobile and SKY 3D.

Neither Virgin or SKY class us as SKY customers. It's only us ourselves that seem to see it that way.

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

Of course they shouldn't give us access to Sky player. We would have to be customers of their distribution platform to have that. We are customers of their content though.
What ever way you look at it customers who pay what they do for Sky sports and £7 per month most of which goes to sky should have access to Sky sports 3 & 4 HD. Also VM shouldn't have had to sell their channels to Sky to get red button access for Sky sports when customers are already paying good money for it.

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

Think it's safe to say Sky Atlantic won't come to VM in either SD or HD read this

http://www.joe.ie/entertainment/what...shade-008684-1

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

May I point out that a lot of stuff that was exclusive to Sky but not produced by them does eventually find it's way onto other channels.

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

We are consumers of their content, not customers of their content. The one who buys the product is the customer, the one who uses the product is the consumer.

The prices we pay are set by Virgin. The prices we pay for SKY HD have apparently been set by SKY, but in reality if Virgin thought SKY was being unreasonable and the prices where too high for us their customers they wouldn't have completed a deal to bring SKY premium HD to Virgin.

Whatever we have access to just now is down to agreements reached between Virgin and SKY with and without the help of Ofcom. Are SKY really withholding services or are Virgin not offering enough to have access to them? Everything in business has a price, Virgin just need to offer enough to make SKY's head turn.

Actually come to think of it, don't SKY customers pay more than us for SKY Sports plus HD? It may only be in the region of about 75p. If that is accurate, SKY's customers are getting bloody good value for their money. 5 SKY Sports HD channels, SKY Mobile, SKY Player. Maybe Virgin should be reducing their pricing a little to reflect the gap in the service they provide to us when compared to SKY.

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

For its director of programmes, Atlantic is seen as the biggest coup to ensure Freeview and Virgin Media customers or UPC customers in Ireland finally leave their service providers and sign up to Sky. "If this doesn't do it, we don't know what will." he adds.
Game Set+Match to sky

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

We are paying them money.. and for the first time ever I got an e-mail from Sky Preview Screenings [support@skyscreenings.com] promotion as follows:

Brighten up your January with the glamour and charm of the 1920's as you get the chance to dig out your glad rags and see the first episodes of lavish Prohibition-era tale, Boardwalk Empire, before anyone else in the UK.

I may be a glass 1/2 full person, but where did they get my addy from -- got past a good filter!

the subject title btw is....

Exciting Preview in cinemas for Sky Customers!

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

It's amazing what people can be made to say if quoted out of context.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/orga...antic-x-factor

"It's the last piece of the jigsaw. We want them, Freeview viewers, to reappraise Sky. If this doesn't do it, we don't know what will."

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

Ah thats OK then. It's OK for VM customers to pay full wack for Sky channels and not get a full service. Nice defence of consumer rights there. On pricing you do know that Ofcom has said that Sky are charging other platforms too much for reselling the channels. They have come to the same conclusion as you about Sky platform customers getting a good deal but strangely are blaming Sky whereas you seem to think it is VM's fault based on no facts at all. You seem determined to say that nothing is Sky's fault it is all their competitors fault.
The only defence for Sky, which isn't much good for us customers/consumers, is that any company would act like this if they were in Sky's dominant position. That just shows that we customers/consumers need protection from companies that have achieved this dominance.

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

The Ofcom decision regards Sky Sports 1 and 2. It contains nothing requiring Sky to sell every channel in their portfolio.

There was nothing stopping Virgin Media from purchasing content for themselves in this regard. If Virgin Media feel this is the case they are more than welcome to pursue Sky via the normal means.

Virgin Media evidently don't consider themselves too hard done by given that Sky charge for HD while Virgin are able to offer it for free.

Anyway we're going OT into a general Sky discussion which rarely ends constructively.

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

The thing that stops VM purchasing this content is money. They are heavily in debt and have been concentrating on upgrading a creaking tv network and upgrading broadband to compete with the likes of BT infinity. They are heavily in debt so where is this extra money you speak of? :)
They have just sold the channels they have to get a bit of ready cash. Even if they bid for content they would just be up against a company with far more money than them. It is a battle they couldn't win.
If you read my reply as a response to the poster I was quoting I think what I said about Ofcom is relevant. Sky is charging it's competitors too much for sports. He said Sky platform customers are getting a better deal. Quelle surprise.
Basically what I want Ignition is a fair deal for us customers and a level playing field across the tv platforms so that a tv provider who is such a dominant position as Sky doesn't force the vast majority of custors over to their platform and eventually achieve a monopoly. Not too much to ask is it?

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

Sky haven't done that so far, no reason to think they would now.

Sky have every right, given they are the ones investing in the content, to expect a return from it. If things were all that bad Sky would have no regulation at all and would be able to completely withhold all their content.

That Virgin Media are able to offer some HD for free, are paying down their debt and are quite robustly cash flow positive indicates the money is there if they choose to invest in content however the clear direction of the company has been towards being a carrier rather than provider of content.

It's pretty rich of Virgin Media to ask for access to anything given they refuse to offer either active or passive access to their network. Sky's content is their network really, they are a content business.

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

Sky have never started up a general entertainment channel with the intentiion of keeping it purely to customers of the Sky platform before. That is new. This is in addition to customers paying Sky for sports but Sky keeping some content from them which is a spiteful act IMO. To get any access to Sky's premium HD VM had to sell their channels to them. Now customers are paying £7 a month for premium HD but Sky is still holding back some HD. From a customer/consumer point of view, this is wrong.
Access to VM's network is another matter. I am argueing this purely from a customer/consumer rights position. It doesn't harm the customer considering that one of their competitors has such dominance. I think I read that Ofcom had investigated this and come to that very conclusion.
I don't accept the rosy picture you paint of VM's financial position and giving some HD for free is to compete with Sky. It is actually things like this that I like about competition. The longer VM don't charge for HD the more pressure will be on Sky to drop the charge.
How much cash have Sky got and how much are VM in debt? Trying to compete with Sky on content would be like me going up against Lord sugar at a sotheby's auction.
I am arguing all this from a consumer/customer pov. If the position reversed tomorrow and VM started to act like sky, which I have no reason to believe they wouldn't, I would immediately start posting in favour of Sky customers rights. That is the thing though it will never happen becayuse although to an extent the cable industry has started to get it's act together, we have long since passed the tipping point where anyone can compete with Sky on a level playing field.

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

Any chance of of vm competing we sky have long gone and now relying on a overpriced tech(tivo) to keep customers and try and get new ones instead of getting new hd channels will probably be there downfall,One of my friends as just gone back over to sky and when he mentioned tivo the sky sales person replied we arent concerned about it.We dont just invest in new tech but channels also and that what customers want.
Sky are not my favourite company but at least they know what customers want also he got a 1tb sky box for £100

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

:clap:

That's the reason i don't generally get involved in VM threads because someone will throw the "you work for VM so you are biased" remark in your face.

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

So isn't that a reason why we customer/consumers should be protected from the company that has almost total dominance?
Not sure where the getting the 1Tb box for £100 comes in to this thread. Virtually all companies do deals and the current price for existing customers is well over £200. I would guess though that if VM gave this new customer a better deal than existing customers you would be argueing that was a bad thing?

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

Agree with what yer saying,Just concerned that vm are pushing and expecting tivo to keep people happy and try and get new customers.Its the channels most people want and if they aint got em people are going to go elsewhere unfortuntly that being sky,Vm need to wake up fast!!!!!!!

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

It's nice to have a good balance of both though. TiVo and VM's VOD, HD, Channels etc are a big draw for customers.

There's not many popular channels on Sky that VM customers don't have access to now.

VM are well aware of Sky's tactics ;)

Sky has it's sights on Freeview viewers to be honest, any VM customers will be a bonus no doubt! :)

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

I disagree. Cable's major selling point has always been the broader range of services the platform can deliver (and in many cases the desire not to have a dish on the side of the house).

Virgin Media has an active TV subscriber in about 30% of all the serviceable households in the UK. Sky's penetration is about 40% (it has a lot more actual customers, but then it is accessible to all UK homes, not just the ones where they can lay a cable). If 'most' people were interested in channels, then we could reasonably expect Sky to be far further ahead of VM than it actually is.

In fact, 'most' people in the UK aren't interested in quantity at all. They don't have any kind of subscription TV and have upgraded to Freeview or Freesat because there's no longer any choice to stay with the basic analogue five.

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

Totally agree. In the recent Freeview advertising campaign, they highlighted that the top 100 popular programmes in the UK are all on Freeview. The mass population are happy with Freeview and have no interest in a pay TV service. For me if Scottish football was on BBC or STV, plus terrestrial TV showed more boxing, I probably wouldn't pay for TV either. I mainly watch "Freeview channels" plus a bit of sport. The Mrs. on the other hand would watch Living TV plus MTV and E Entertainment all day long!

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

I agree that 'quantity' of channels is not the over-riding issue - it is quality of programmes that is important. I for one am not too bothered that we lack access to Sky's hundreds of channels because they tend to be low budget, low quality channels. We do receive at present all the channels that really matter, although there may be a few on the fringes, such as CBS Drama, that it would be good to have as well.

However, I want access to all the best programming, whether brought to me by live channels or VOD. This is why it is so important that we get Sky Atlantic. It promises to have a lot of very good quality material on there from the States and I will go absolutely mad if Virgin Media do not recognise this and bring us at least the SD channel from launch.

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

I couldn't agree more. We definitely still watch the network channels or spinoffs (and their catch up) far more than any of the pay channels.

There are a few decent FTA channels on Sky but they would have to agree with VM to be carried on cable, they are nothing to do with Sky so maybe VM don't think they are worth considering, who knows. Lets be clear I think with the exception of some HD simulcasts (we get the SD versions though) and some Sky gaming channels we currently get all of Sky's wholly owned channels anyway but sadly that dosen't seem to be the case with Atlantic if it appeals to you.

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

I don't follow you their Old Boy. Virgin Media can recognise that until they go blue in the face but with Sky's stated intention to keep it as an exclusive it doesn't matter what VM or VM's customers think. We are not going to get it. In sd or hd. I know you want the channel Old Boy but you will have to find other ways of getting the content.

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

sky ONLY want 1 thing a monopoly sooner people see this the better

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

Yep and vm helped them out by selling them the channels :dozey:

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

This whole thread is waste of time if it's just about playing the blame game..

I frankly think that most of the content on TV is crap anyway and whatever Sky get their hands on will be repeated ad nauseum for the next 20-30 years somewhere where you can view it without paying for Sky.
Star Trek and Stargate being two examples.;)

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

it was only way vm would ever get sky premium HD and sky1 hd would you rather they kept the channels and never got them thats what lots people wanted access to sky premium HD

ps i very happy to have access to them

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

I agree with what your saying,But by the time sky1 has been ripped to pieces and all the usa imports and top shows go onto atlantic sky 1 want be worth squat.

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

It will be as worthwhile as Sky 3 LOL :-)

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

Sky Atlantic is massively over-valued by many on here imo

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

From what I've seen of the line-up, I would tend to agree ... unfortunately for some people, the value of their TV service is determined by how many channels they have, not whether they actually want to watch them. ;)

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

The problem for Virgin is customers want it , if they could hold out like they did with the Sky basic farce eventually Sky would come begging to increase ad revenue. You can see them eventually getting access but probably only SD to which Virgin should say both or forget it.

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

There's nothing on SKY Atlantic that's worth losing any sleep over.

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

I would agree my view is that eventually sky atlantic will find its way onto vm in sd only,its only free( and exclusive) to all sky customers i think for about six months then its part of one of their packs i think possibbly at this point (or sooner) we will see the sd version appear on vm provided sky do not want silly money for it.

Not really into the sort of programming on sky atlantic myself though as has been said in this thread already quantity of channels is a moot point its wether you would actually watch them or not, when and if they arrive that counts.:)

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

1st full week listings for Sky Atlantic is now out:

http://data.skyprogrammeinformation....=SATS&week=388

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

Mostly trash or stuff I've seen before , most was on VM On demand.

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

They are showing the show called ''TBA'' 42 times that look good ;)

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

Glad to see Chuck is NOT on the schedule, emailed Living and they had no idea if Chuck would return to that channel. I'm hoping it doesn't return on Atlantic or I will never no what happens as it was left in limbo!

:erm:

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

That is, of course, assuming they aren't restricted from having dishes on the side of the house, either by the local council (who in some areas may have rules), or by a landlord.
I find it funny that nearly everything is labelled HD, even where it wasn't originally HD. Fairly certain that the X-files wouldn't have been HD, for instance. Most of ER wouldn't have been either.

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

They will probably class it as "upscaled HD" :p:

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

Sky is not accessable to all uk homes as stated, i live in a flat and 80% of the flats have so chance of a dish not because the landlord refueses permission our housing association gave us that,but we have no sight of line for a dish.Must be many more in that situation countrywide.

Cable apart from freeview,is our only realistic TV choice the same as for the many who cannot get cable (in most cases having the sky/freeview solution) BT vision will not work in our area either and BT will not supply it, as ADSL only delivers 1.5 MB maximum where i live.

Personally though i agree with you on the quantity issue i would rather have fewer channels with better quality,in fact as far as tv goes the only thing i am really looking forward to is Red Button on sky sports.

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

There are other ways to watch it ;)

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

*cough* allegedly *cough*

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

sky_atlantic Sky Atlantic
@ @iamjohnnydee not right now - if we have any news we will post it here.
3 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply


amjohnnydee Johnny Dee
@ @sky_atlantic Any news on Virgin Media deal yet?
3 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply

messages from twitter hope it mean vm still trying to do deal on it

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

got some news for ya from the sofa
http://www.virginmediasofa.com/

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

So I doubt basic VM subscribers will ever see the series of Lost that Sky snaffled from free-to-air to "exclusive content" on their payable channels.

I suppose the same will happen to Chuck, SGU et al after the "winter break".

:( or :mad:

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

Actually we did, Sky repeated the whole series in a week when the deal was done with VM. I know that because I watched it all. It would still be nice to finally get Sky VOD anyway which is meant to be coming!

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

Well I see that Hawaii Five-O, which was previously due to appear on Bravo, is now being advertised as "Coming soon to Sky1". They couldn't put it on Sky Atlantic because it's in the Pacific, to be specific. ;)

---------- Post added at 21:52 ---------- Previous post was at 21:33 ----------

Oops! I see that the new series is actually called Hawaii Five-0 and not Hawaii Five-O as was its predecessor.

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

I think that VM shoul be called Virgin Promises, as like the airline, they never keep there promises.

If Sky have bought into VM, why is hard to get Atlantic onto the network:D

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

Sky haven't bought into VM. They've bought VM's channels (which were run by a separate company anyway).

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

Sky has been repeating Lost in the small hours at weekends. In HD, too.

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

not posted here in AGES but simply had to seeing that. not only reruns of ER that i havent seen in months and months but Star Trek as well? If thats where all the star treks are going i'm going to be gutted. ER would b nice but not overly fussed with that

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

I must admit when I first saw the Sky TV adverts for Atlantic I didnt take much notice , just another US channel filled with poor TV with the odd gem perhaps. I could live with that.

What has now grabbed my attention though was the reference to HBO , I believe that HBO have produced some of the best TV ever made in the shape of programmes like The Sopranos ,The Wire etc. Their programmes have over the past few years been spread across a variety of PPV and mainstream channels which has meant that the likes of Sky have not been able to keep such classic TV away from the masses.

With Atlantic however, Sky is claiming that this channel is to be the home of HBO in the UK , they seem now to have their exclusive control of HBO content.

I know many on here will say ' so what ' but this could be a real coup for Sky. From a personal point of view I was planning on giving TIVO a go , replacing my 3 V+ HD boxes (At some considerable cost I believe) and sticking with VM but now I have to admit I will have to review that , I will hang fire now and see if Sky start to move more content onto Atlantic , I am pretty sure this is just the opener , Sky will have more plans in the future so I certainly do not want to recommit to VM until things become clearer.

In some ways you have to admire Sky you know , they are masters at this sort of thing , vicious in many ways but they seem to have the knack of sticking the boot into VM and its customers and nobody seems able to touch em. :rolleyes:

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

Hi can some one clear this up for me has virgin lost bravo syfy virgin1 i used to enjoy watching bravo and virgin1 bravo is still showing on the menu guide when will this be removed i belive virgin have made a mistake selling these chanels to sky
thanks

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

Virgin1 and Bravo were bought by Sky, and closed down

Syfy is still being shown on Virgin Media.

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

Bravo isn't on the TV guide. It was removed on 14th.

Can you say why you think it was a mistake? :)

---------- Post added at 11:55 ---------- Previous post was at 11:46 ----------

Sky are throwing a lot of money at the advertising for this channel. There was a poster at every bus stop I went past yesterday. :shocked:

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

miffed that i wont be able to see Mad Men if VM dont get Atlantic

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

Sky have already made there mind up its an exclusive to Sky channel , the only way this would change is if Virgin offered stupid money which I hope they don't.

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

Poster say "Boardwalk Empire, directed by Martin Scorsese", but Marty only directed the pilot. Somewhat misleading, methinks.

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

Personally I don't care if this comes to VM or not, the content is really poor (ER, Star Trek, the x files to name a few) and besides HBO make some of the worse programs known to man.

It will probably come to VM eventually though

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

Can't say I've liked much HBO has done but maybe I'm the odd one out LOL :D

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

There is so much hype about this channel, But when you think of it, it is basically all the programmes that were on Bravo etc.

I for one cannot stand the American crap that we see on our screens, l know someone who tapes all the american stuff, and watches endless american comedy shows, which to me is a bore, as you can tell it is tape laughter, not like the English stuff.:(

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

Don't mind some of the US crime and drama shows but agree American comedy sucks.

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

Modern Family and The Middle on Sky 1 are hilarious

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

I'm tend to be the other way around I like some American comedy's but the dramas are so annoying and repetitive and the sci-fi annoys me to no end haha

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

Bear in mind that most "Virgin" branded companies are just franchises using the name under licence for which Sir Richard gets a directorship as part of the deal. My understanding is that Virgin Media came about when NTL, Telewest and Virgin Mobile merged. As Virgin Mobile were already licensing the name they chose to use it for the combined business. There is little or no organisational connection between Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Media or Virgin Mobile.

<OT>
I have yet to experience flying with Virgin Atlantic, unless you count the Vickers Viscount service they ran to Dublin about twenty years ago. That was fun. You got a Virgin goody bag (those nice gift bags with fancy rope handles) that contained an oversized bap, a snack or two and a drink (Virgin Cola IIRC). Slightly better than what Sir Richard's mentor, the late Sir Freddie Laker, gave you on SkyTrain where the motto was something like "we invite you to bring your own sandwiches" (I've never flown with them either).

I'd be surprised if Virgin Atlantic's service is as bad as you suggest. I hear a lot of bad things about Ryanair and disparaging comments about their cabin crews but, as a fairly frequent flyer with them myself, I have had little to complain about. On most flights, I gets more than I pays for. I just have an issue about how they charge for credit card transactions.
</OT>

Ahhh! Don't say such things! Perish the thought! :(

---------- Post added at 13:26 ---------- Previous post was at 13:23 ----------

You might like to re-phrase that. I thought that you were married with kids! :D

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

That's the old Hollywood trick though.. Get someone (who has been at least vaguely involved in a big film or TV series) and hype up their involvement in your TV series or film.

I've lost count of the amount of times I've seen a film poster saying a film is by the people behind so-and-so film, and when I've looked it up, I've found only the vaguest link.

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

Yes, it's usually "From the Executive Producer of ......."

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

Media Boy EXCLUSIVE: Virgin Media will not launch Sky Atlantic next month.

My insider has been told that Virgin Media have been unable to secure a deal with Sky for Atlantic HD at launch, But talks are still ongoing to get Sky Atlantic at an later date.

However they are continuing to look at adding more VoD content and HD channels over the next few months. Especially the missing basic HD channels.

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

I'm sure Virgin will get a better deal for waiting. The advertisers will put pressure on. I don't want Virgin to pay silly money for one channel. Keep negotiating hard for us.

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

Does your statement above and the positioning of Sky Atlantic HD on Sky channel 108 mean that there is to be no SD version of Sky Atlantic on any platform?

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

I guess we won't get the SD version either.

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

I'll say it again.All the exclusive stuff on Sky Atlantic WILL find it's way onto other channels eventually,especially when a series gets cancelled because it doesn't get a big enough audience in the US.

Just have some patience and it will all come your way eventually.;)

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

Oh so very true, there are countless examples of this over the years.

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

Accept but the issue is popular series where it is no good you will see them eventually when that is a year or more after it is seen on Sky. Remember the whole issue of Lost on Sky 1, I don't watch Mad Men myself but it is popular, so an example of where VM are on the back foot IMHO.

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

so sounds like "waiting for god" :D

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

I would agree with that mind you i am not that keen on american programming and am in the do not care camp on sky atlantic but hope it does evetually arrive for those that want it on vm.:)

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

Well I too had expected that Sky Atlantic would come to VM within the year but my question was, as Sky are placing Sky Atlantic HD on channel 108, will there be no SD version of Sky Atlantic on any platform, including Sky?

However, all of the Sky on-line and TV advertising that I've seen seems to specifically only make mention of Sky Atlantic HD. If there is not going to be an SD version on Sky's own platform then I don't see it being made available to other platforms any time soon.

Re: Sky Atlantic on Virgin Media
 

I'm sure there is going to be an sd version. Sky always refer to their channels by the HD version.