Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

Good on ye for posting this up, it might be cr*p from CS...but at least i`m going to my bed dreaming of lovely telly come July. :hugs:

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

Would there be any point in me asking for you to elaborate?

Thanks

Duke

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

I will not give out any more information until Virgin do (Deal still to be signed.)

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

Why would the AD stream be Sky only? VM provide that facility where a broadcaster has it available already.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

I have only seen it on the main terrestrial channels on cable never noticed it on any others.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

News multiscreen has appeared in Derby

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

Yes we have it in LU too.... hardly worth the wait... tiny screen and appauling picture quality.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

FX has indeed gone widescreen today, FX promo and Babylon 5 in widescreen. I think this must be the first time that B5 has been shown in widescreen on TV not counting VOD.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

Discovery hd on the way.

http://pressoffice.virginmedia.com/p...942&highlight=

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

Blimey it's all happening.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

Well done Virgin, Looks like the encription issues may have been stoppping Virgin, adding these channels, now the encription has been sorted, we are starting to get quality HD

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

I think with the analogue switch off freeing up more space, or VM doing upgrades for more space, which I don't see as the analogue switch would have created more space.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

WOW 2 new HD channels announced and more to come.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

Just out of interest how many more channels can VM add with the analogue switch off? Will they still be bandwidth constrained due to using mpeg4?

Oh, and yes, it is nice to see another HD channel being added.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

great news about Discovery HD :)

Wish we had news about ITVHD tho, thats the biggest desire for me after EurosportHD.

p.s which months is spring?

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

Question is how long can virgin give the hd channels for free as part of the xl package? Surely they have to start charging for them sooner or later to cover costs?

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

virgin probably aren't paying much of a premium for them, also they are increasing the cost of the subscription by £4 i believe.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

According too google March April and May.Just need history hd and nat geo wild hd then they would be on par with skys doc channels.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

Yes that is a good question. It could be that is why they are taking so long to negotiate deals, with nothing announced until the ink is drying on the paper. It might be that they will never charge for HD, with the exception of the Sky channels, if they ever manage to get them.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

Can u confirm if Dicovery hd was the channel or was it another?

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

It was not Discovery HD.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

Think it might have been good food hd.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

so there may be another press release soon? hope it is either scifi hd or nat geo wild hd

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

March, April, May.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

In the press statement they did say there would be more launches announced. So it sounds as if things are moving faster now so sooner rather than later sounds like the order of the day.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

I still think it's History HD.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

Sorry Bray, your many posts too late. ;)

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

well the press release today says....

personally I can only see a charge if the Sky HD channels come on board and would guess that would be a seperate charge to the other HD channels.

In other words, you only pay the extra if you take Sky HD premium channels on top of the XL pack... Sky1 HD and Sky Arts HD etc could be another matter though.. we'll have to wait and see what happens... looking good HD wise though :)

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

Getting better shame I only watch ESPN HD, but good work by VM tho, keep em coming.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

Breaking News

Discovery HD coming to VM!!!!! Also more HD content on demand

Source: VM Twitter feed and VM news

http://pressoffice.virginmedia.com/p...942&highlight=

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

lol!!!! :)

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

I should really learn to look a few pages back before posting. What a muppet I am lol

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

Ha yeah, it broke already!

Really happy with Discovery HD, that was the one I was hoping for.

Good work VM! :monkey:

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

When are the new cards avalible to customers in Dudley/Wolverhampton area ?

thanks in advance

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

I have no news yet - when I do I will post it on this thread.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

Cheers Media Boy :)

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

What about the extra charge come april is that not a sneaky way to make people pay for the hd or am I over thinking it haha

Still discovery hd is a good addition.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

Prices go up every year... but remember you are paying no more for the extra HD channels than someone without the V+HD box on XLTV, so in effect getting them as a "free" extra.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

BIG TV NEWS: Channel 4 lost they Friends.

Broadcast is reporting that Channel 4 is to wave goodbye to US comedy Friends after 15 years, freeing up slots on both C4 and E4 for new shows - with Comedy Central picking up the rights.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

quick question about Disco HD. Is this channel owned or part owned by News Corp i.e Sky ?

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

Discovery is own by Discovery Communications

News Corp own part of the following channels - Info from Wikipedia:

-Own FX and 39% of BSkyB

BSkyB owned.
-Nickelodeon UK (and related channels) (40%) (with MTV Networks Europe)
-AETN UK (50%) (with A&E Television Networks)
-Comedy Central & Comedy Central Extra (UK) (25%) (with MTV Networks Europe)
-MUTV Limited (33.3%)
-Chelsea Digital Media (35%) - owner of Chelsea TV.
-Attheraces Holdings Limited (47.5%)
-ITV plc (17.9% soon to be 7.5%)
-Freeview (25%)
-MGM HD Channel (98%) (with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

great news about Friends going, E4 was just full of it every day, maybe they might start creating some new shows or buy some new american shows that don't get shown over here. With E4HD it would be great to add new american HD shows instead of fullscreen crappy quality friends.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

4hd has According To Jim (Belushi) and Back To You (Kelsey Grammar). Both are on during the daytime (not sure why as they're both funny and could stand up (sic) to an evening slot). Both HD and DD5.1.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

The problem is, E4 is getting rid of its best show. Friends is still watched by thousands of people every day, they're losing a large audience with this decision.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

true but alot of their audiences have seen all the eps many times and are bored of them. Also the series 1-10 boxset is only around £35 now and have been very popular so the number of friends viewers will drop even further.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

Great News well done Virgin.

Im never leaving Virgin now :)

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

Aren't they also on TV Choice?

I still like Friends, it was and is a good series. :)

---------- Post added at 16:16 ---------- Previous post was at 16:14 ----------


They are certainly making good progress with HD now.... Sky's USP is slowly being eroded away.. more HD on the way too!

:)

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

Virgin Media's analogue television - update.

I have been told that Analogue TV on Virgin Media has been given more life and will now cease by the end of Summer 2010.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

Bloody hell they should of turned this off already, to free up space. Why the delay?

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

I am guessing that is because upgrade work has fallen behind?

There goes all the speculation that all these HD channels were turning up because analogue was being turned off.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

I the ''Up to 30 HD Channel'' thing will not happen.

But I do know that Eurosport HD (April), Discovery HD (Spring) and an other HD Channel will launch soon.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

I have heard from just chatting to someone at Virgin that Discovery HD is coming in May and that there is a new Non V+ HD Box coming out.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

That would be the way to do it, I think -- a few quid extra for each of Sky HD Sports and Movies, but leave Sky1 HD and Sky Arts HD in the XL pack for free. People are already paying extra for the Sky packages so it won't be so hard to pay the extra extra. And VM still gets to add HD versions of existing XL channels without a price increase. Here's hoping.

(Actually, while we're hoping we may as well hope for free HD. I seriously think that the idea of HD being a premium/luxury is going to seem more and more outrageous as more people get big TVs and get sick of paying extra just for content that's not unwatchably low-res.)

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

What do you mean will not happen?.:confused:

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

I was talking about this:

We are runing about 5-6weeks ahead of last years thread it took us until 26-03-2009 to start page 44 out of 293.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

Phew thought for a minute after discovery and the unnamed channel that would be it.;)bring on discovery hd and treasure quest.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

Yippeeeee!

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/...2010/02/19.gif

You may of guessed that I'm very happy at the news of Discovery HD plus VOD coming our way. :)

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

When are the new cards avalible to customers in Northants area?

Many thanks in advance

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

Sky may stipulate that Virgin must charge their customers extra for Sky basics in HD (if they ever do a deal). I can't see Sky doing a deal with Virgin if it means Virgin customers get Sky1 HD included in XL while Sky customers are paying £10 extra for basics in HD.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

Good news on Discovery HD. I think Virgin are trying to encourage people to upgrade to XL. They'll be hoping many people will upgrade and this is how they'll gain extra revenue. This is why I think it unlikely you'll see any HD channels (other than the Freeview ones) on the M to L packages.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

No news yet - when I do get any news I will post on this thread.

---------- Post added at 20:40 ---------- Previous post was at 20:35 ----------

More new channels to come?

An Virgin insider has told me that Virgin will release the name of a new channel each week.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

Interesting. Starting from when?

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

And finishing when? :D

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

I think it has started:

Eurosport HD last week and Discovery HD today.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

Hadn't thought of that. Any idea how many weeks it'll go on for?

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

Nope.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

This is getting quite exciting, more HD = less revenue for sky = Sky HD on virgin? One can only hope :D

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

Doesn't that all depend on how well they advertise their hd offerings? Everytime you open the paper or look on the tv you see an advert for SkyHD and you never see them for Virgin so how are they taking revenue from sky?

We only know about the channels 'cause were sad geeks :p: and I doubt the average Virgin customer even knows that they offer HD, so basically hurry up and advertise it virgin.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

I think it's better that they save money and get more channels before advertising because if they advertise for every new channel it may get a bit expensive :)

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

True but what about those cable only adverts you used to get years ago, couldn't they do that to let their excising customers know about HD?

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

There been a bit of talk about trying to get mroe advertising about hd maybe that why media boy source is saying new one each week??? nto sure guessing about that

---------- Post added at 21:42 ---------- Previous post was at 21:41 ----------

mmmm i say it mroe they want peopel on the xl not that they need ot them to cover the cost, although they will need more on xl ot probally add mroe after this bout

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

It will happen one way or another, cs told me they expect this to be sorted by May also including the interactive button. The guy on the phone said Virgin got back the Sky channels through be pateince & it looks likely to pay off again :)

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

I have been told to say Virgin Media MAY release the name of a new channel each week.

More are coming but I do not know when Virgin will tell us.

(I misread it - sorry)

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

Ofcom rule in march so that is when it will most likely happen might takea extra month ot put the rules into place but sky can appeal but they have to accept theprices for now until court case

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

Samsung box received 3.7 update overnight and V+ received 4.0 update after reboot this morning but still no sign of BBC Radio 4 LW or BBC News Multiscreen yet

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

The only extra HD channels I'd expect on M & L in the next couple of years if/when Virgin get them are ITV HD, Five HD, E4 HD and if they do it possibly Virgin1 HD.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

They do regulaty update the news section of My Virgin media and they have put it in the customer magazine... press releases etc...

I'm sure tv adverts will start once the portfolio of HD increases :)

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

I think your area is next to join NGTV - Virgin is working in Mid-England (And some North England areas) right now.

Here is the list of Headend that I know of who has join NGTV (As of 11/02/10).

Barnsley
Derby
Leeds
Leicester
Luton
Nottingham
Watford

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

Is Bradford included under Leeds?

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

Do you have BBC Radio London on Channel 937?

That mean your area has join NGTV.

Q: HOW DO I KNOW IF MY AREA HAS JOIN NGTV?
A: Ex-ntl will find BBC Radio 4 LW on Virgin Channel 911 (You will also see BBC Radio London on Channel 937).
And Ex-Telewest will find BBC Radio Wales on Channel 931.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

No because we haven't received any new smart cards whereas Leeds have.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

Well I have BBC Radio London, so evidently this update does apply to Bradford.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

What about Ex C&W ppl like me?

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

C&W (Cable TV) was took over by ntl so you are Ex-ntl - Just like Eurobell is now part of Ex-Telewest.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

I sent this message to virgin on their twitter:

"@virginmedia When will Virgin be moving to MPEG4 as we are using mpeg2 which doesn't give great quality and costs you lots in Bandwidth?"

their response:

"There's no information I can give you at the moment but we appreciate the feedback :) ST"

I'm not sure what ST means? maybe sincere thanks??

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

As far as I was aware there is no difference in quality between a properly encoded MPEG2 program and an MPEG4 program

The only difference is size

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

I've no idea what My Virgin Media is and I don't get the customer magazine but it's nice to see that they actively promote them and here's hoping that they can become a real alternative to Sky :D

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

www.virginmedia.com/myvirginmedia

It's the bit where you access everything to do with your account.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

Not true at all, mpeg2 gives you blocks in scenes with lots of objects on the screen like footballers, scenes with lots of animals etc. You should read up about mpeg4. The size could obviously be reduced yes, but the quality could also be improved, BBCHD didn't look great at 17.8mbps MPEG2, now virgin have reduced it to 16.5mbps MPEG2 and its really looking poor now, it needs to be around 20mbps but with mpeg4 this could be reduced alot and still give us higher quality than we currently have.

You could also increase the quality and reduce the size of the SD channels which are blocky as HELL, you could also give us 720x576i for each channel with the bandwidth saved instead of giving us crappy 544x576i for some channels.

As far as i'm aware virgin have given customers boxes with MPEG2+MPEG4 support for the past few years, there can't be that many that would require a new mpeg4 supporting box, this cost of upgrading boxes would be ofset by the reduced bandwidth costs and viewers would have a much better picture.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

Wrong.

So far the only box that has been MPEG4 enabled is the Samsung V+ box.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

There is no inherent quality difference between MPEG2 and MPEG4 only compression ratio.
If you want to see MPEG2 and MPEG4 struggle try watching a gardening program, all those leaves kill the compression!

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

I must be blind or something my picture quality is brillaint on our samsung HDTV, I don't understand how people can go on about the quality seems fine to me.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

If you know what to look for you will see it, if you don't I suggest you don't find out any more as once you notice it you will forever see it.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

It's not great on my Toshiba 42". Try increasing the bitrate to 20mbps+ at your HQ and take a screenshot and compare it to 16.5mbps, the difference will be significant. Get them to make it 14mbps MPEG4 and your jaw will drop to the ground at how good it would look.

Reducing the bitrate from 17.8mbps to 16.5mbps made the problem or substandard quality even worse.

Sky use 16-18mbps mpeg4 for Sky Sport HD, thats what quality really looks like!

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

ITV1 HD on its way to Virgin Media?

http://virgintvmediaboy.blogspot.com...gin-media.html

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

i think we all know it will be launched this year, virgin would lose alot of customers if they didn't. The virgin employee said it would be in time for the world cup a few pages back. I wouldn't mind knowing a more accurate date though.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

Am I missing something, that link to your blog MB seems to end mid sentence, or is the posting supposed to say "Nothing has been announced yet?"

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

Unless ITV HD is next weeks annoucement (so VM employees have been told) I don't know how much faith we can put in that quote.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

It's just a reposting of this post.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2010)
 

The Olympics on ITV :confused: