Cable Forum - General Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2014) Vol. 4

Quote:

Originally Posted by harry_hitch (Post 35749195)

Really, where did you see the reports for that? Or was it just some random customer service employees feeding a load of rubbish to placate angry customers.

You seem to be ignoring my comments about the e-mails sent to customers. It was explained to us that prices will be rising, and we were asked what people would think would provide the best value for the price rises. Atlantic was mentioned, along with many other offers. Why, if the negotiations are allegedly more realistic, would they be asking us now if we want Sky Atlantic as a trade off for big price increases?

Also, please explain how you think these negotiations go? Sky want a price everyone else is unwilling to pay. Please do answer this time, I am keen to hear what you think is actually discussed in these negotiations.

Please respond to my questions this time. I am beginning to think you can not answer them logically, and that you are just ignoring them hoping I will not ask them again.

With regards ITV Encore, it does ruin the whole Bravo idea. If Sky would not launch Bravo due to VM not taking it, why would they launch another channel without VM taking that one too?

Hi, Harry, sorry to get you so exercised about this, it is only a point of view. I have made clear on a number of occasions that I do not have inside information and that my logic on this is based on previous media reports. I do not take 'random customer service employees' as a source of information as they have been proved on many occasions to provide inaccurate responses to requests for information.

I am not trying to avoid your questions. I respect your point of view and I recognise that we all have our take on this. I was just stating mine. I am the first to agree that SA may well not come to our screens. I am simply trying to put an alternative point of view on what may be happening behind the scenes.

I note a lot of comment stating that 'SA will never come to VM'; 'there is no link between Sky Bravo, etc and SA'; 'Sky Bravo is no longer on the cards'; 'Sky will always want Sky Atlantic to be their USP', etc, and no-one is asking for sources to back these views up. So why am I being bombarded like this to justify my comments? It's not that we have not been here before.

The sources for my views have emanated from, yes, Broadcast Now, but also national newspapers and other websites. I am sorry that I am not sad enough to have kept all these references, although 1andrew1 recollects the Guardian article about Sky Bravo. Why are people choosing to ignore these media reports but hang on to unsourced or unnamed 'insider information'? They got it wrong over BT Sport, apart from one lone celebrity poster who has been much derided at various times, remember him? :D

To answer your specific questions, Harry:

E mail sent to customers

Virgin Media are seeking out customer views on an ongoing basis to ensure that their offering is in line with what customers want. If the deal with Sky has already been done (and I think it has been), this may enable them to frame their communications to customers appropriately (eg to tell us that adding SA to the offering and increasing the price is the result of popular demand).

The 'big price rise'

Clearly, this has already been announced and costed, so the customer survey surely couldn't be about whether or not to get SA. If they did so now as a result of that survey, we would be subject to further price rises. They can't spend the money generated twice over.

Negotiations

I am not privy to the negotiations, and in fact if these have been going on, the regular posters on here know nothing about them. Sky would have insisted on them being strictly confidential, and for good reason.

This is how the negotiations could have gone.

A better relationship now exists between Sky and VM - fact, both companies have acknowledged this. The internet deal between Virgin and Sky is some evidence of this increased co-operation. Whether there is a direct link there with SA, I don't know, but it would be foolish of Virgin not to try to capitalise on deals like this to encourage new deals in the future.

It appears that talks on the carriage of SA by VM were underway in September 2013 (Broadcast report) but the media also commented at the time that the Sky Bravo issue may have delayed these talks. Sky were desperate to get VM on board in order to make this channel viable. VM would have been mad not to link this with their desire to get SA at a reasonable price, and they would not have been too concerned about Sky Bravo since this is just 'more of the same' in the junk category. So VM, I believe, would have held out on this and made it clear they would not take Sky Bravo without Sky Atlantic.

Now in the meantime, the Now TV box was also about ready to be put out on the market. Sky may well have figured that if they could extract more money from Virgin viewers prepared to pay extra for SA, they would try that first. I believe they would have told VM to keep quiet about a deal until Sky had milked SA without VM for all it was worth before allowing us to have it. This has similar logic to it that BT employed regarding their sports channels.

So my message to everyone wanting Sky Atlantic is, don't give up hope. The deal may already have been done.

On the other hand...... :erm:

---------- Post added at 12:34 ---------- Previous post was at 12:31 ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anypermitedroute (Post 35749243)

My original point of ITV encore is sky have paid money to itv just to keep it exclusive so why on earth would they need VM to launch another channel.

Bravo was reported by this website some now 18 months ago and was naming a so called inside source; perhaps misguided info, no more reliable than others who are on here. Perhaps even broadcast now was even using this website. If you remove this whole story then old boy your argument is groundless.

On the grounds negotiations, VM and sky have managed to agree on sky sports 3 HD, 4HD , F1HD, Sky news HD and sky sport news HD, all without SA on the table so I can't believe this bravo hold up has anything to do with VM. Also for muti billion pound company like sky who kept many exclusive channels you would of thought they would simply add another to their collection of exclusive. Yep hard to not believe

I don't know where you form the opinion we are dead against SA appearing, I would love to have it but I'm not going to wait and see again because of you self imposed "let's see this autumn" nothing change since last year when you mentioned it and I see no change now

The launch of the Now TV box and the need to get as many people as possible to pay for it before the Christmas season would have delayed any announcement on Sky Atlantic if it was coming to Virgin.

Your other points have been answered elsewhere.

I accept that these are your views, old thing, I just don't have the same fatalistic approach to life as you do!