Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

Where have you got the information from that it 'will be withdrawn shortly' (or were you just speculating)? This is important to those where their contract is due to come to an end.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

Good question, in my case it's no worries as I. Have our a year left. The more I read freely + now will be my next move , again if my TV dies . If not then all thoughts will be considered..

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

As far as i know there are no plans to withdraw the v6 at this time, there is more of a push towards the virgin media stream box though.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

You know what I mean though, the Next Big Thing will be along soon and we’ll all be injecting content straight into our neural cortex before we know it and so I won’t need to consider this “inevitability”.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

Looking at streaming via Virgin services , can't see why anyone would chose to use there offering. Sure someone will tell me why

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

Hello all, I have been a member on these forums for years with just a few posts, I have just changed my contract which was coming to an end, this post may help someone.

First of all the VM 150 phone button press connected me to Retentions in Manila.
I was on M500 Volt speed, Mega TV inc Sky Sports, Sky cinema, TNT sports, Netflix standard with ads and Anytime chatter landline, paying £119pm.

The gentleman I spoke to took some understanding but I think he looked after me in the end. I have agreed to a new 5.0 hub replacing my 3.0 with 1G broadband, (keep my V6) Netflix standard, Mega TV inc SS,Cinema, TNT sports, anytime chatter land line and I have agreed to pay £99pm plus the usual £4 annual increases for 2 years.

I know some people will have a better deal but I am happy with this, being of a certain age I do not have to worry about changing things as I like the simple life. So, I am saving £240per annum with a slightly better service and any problems I know that I can rely on you guys for some info. :)

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

although I use sky stream now I've noticed that more and more programs have gone missing, movies have been particularly hit. Lots of movies now have suddenly gone behind sky cinema or prime pay walls.
The comment I read recently about people going back to dvd seems to be valid.
I guess that having got a lot of consumers onto streaming with the promice that you can access them anytime has given the opportunity to extract more revenue.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

Most movies on Sky cinema now are either on HBOMAX Paramount+ or Disney+

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

Sony Pictures Pay 1 deal for new releases is going to Netflix globally in the next year or 2, Sky deal can't have long left to run.

You can see why only HBO Max basic with ads is included with Sky Ultimate TV with no option to upgrade to Standard With ads , only Standard and Premium

The Main exclusive Pay 1 movie will end up coming from Comcast Universal Pictures.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

Keep it cheap and simple, get everybody using it and then introduce conditions/reduce value for money/put the price up by stealth. The oldest business trick in the book.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

The option to upgrade to standard with ads is now there for £1 extra p/m.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

Re: Posts about the TiVo licensing fees.

As per a Virgin employee (Benmcr) each V6 TV package has an inbuilt amount for the TiVo licensing fee ie it is paid by the customer and not Virgin.

As far as I know, TV package costs on the 360 are the same (variable individual customer discounts will affect the actual price paid) as the V6.

This means that Virgin are effectively still charging 360 customers the TiVo fee and pocketing it!

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

Or as it costs money to develop and maintain the TV360 software, the money goes towards that.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

The improved integration of the FAST channels on the Virgin TV 360 is superior to before, with a proper EPG and the picture loading just like a regular broadcast channel. Much easier to just flick through, like any other channel.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

Guess you use this do many other here, me it's a no:rolleyes:

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

Did this only change after the FAST channels were removed from the V6? Do you mean that you no longer have to press a button to load the channel from a slate? A proper EPG is much better than what was offered before.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

Possibly. I don't know when they were removed from the V6. But it's a recent change. They behave just like a regular broadcast channel, so flicking through the EPG you now wouldn't know they were FAST channels except for not being able to record them.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

3rd June I think they were removed ftom the V6 EPG, not 100% sure as I never used them. For those that do, this is an improvement and will stop the box recording the previous slates thinking that they were programmes!

When flicking through the EPG, do the FAST channels now appear onscreen as quickly as traditional TV channels?

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

Yes they do. As I said, you now wouldn't know they were FAST channels except for not being able to record them.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

thats a nice deal Gus.

yep its excellent now!

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

Prior to TiVo there never was an extra fee, any development & maintenance was funded by the general subscriptions paid.

Also, if the costs to maintain/develop the 360 aren't any cheaper than the TiVo fee, there wouldn't have been any point in introducing it for such a relatively short time before it's discarded in favour of their streaming box.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

not sure if its been mentioned but it appears the Paramount purchase of WBD has been approved by US officials

https://www.vulture.com/article/doj-...bd-merger.html

Only EU and UK to go it seems

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

That's TV is being replaced on Freesat (164) with Rewind TV on Thursday 25th June, so maybe it is closing on all platforms.

If so, I wonder if we will see Rewind TV being added to Virgin as a replacement??

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

But does anyone care? Viewing figures must be way down in the basement.

Vince’s news is far more significant. Paramount+ will become a giant amongst streamers.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

I doubt getting added to Freesat has any bearing on whether it's added to Virgin, still isn't on Sky Stream either (closed platform) even though it's been streaming on Freely for 18 months.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

Fox has agreed a takeover of Roku in a deal worth $22bn (£16.4bn).

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

AIUI channels have to pay extra if they want to join Sky Stream, so a lot of the poorer channels haven't joined yet. I suspect that, as Stream customers grow in popularity, some will eventually leave Sky Q in favour of Sky Stream, or for a time, be made available on both.

Though I personally doubt it with regards to this particular channel, it could be that Sky have refused to let them onto Sky Stream, something they're not allowed to do with Sky Q.

---------- Post added at 21:21 ---------- Previous post was at 21:20 ----------

Those that want to watch it will care, regardless of the number.

---------- Post added at 21:24 ---------- Previous post was at 21:21 ----------

That's TV is on Virgin, but they are in financial difficulties. If it ends up that it closes altogether, my thoughts are that Virgin may add Rewind to replace That's TV as it's a similar channel.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

Richard Latto said Virgin is invite only and they haven't been invited (so far) hence no Rewind TV on VM

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

Thanks, but I believe that any channel can approach Virgin with a view to being added, subject to successful negotiations. Some time ago I approached them with regards to negotiating for the addition of a radio station, but they wanted too much money to make it viable.

Virgin are the most expensive platform per viewer, which is why many channels don't join or do and then decide to leave as it's not profitable, even with the potential increased ad revenue, after Virgin EPG & transmission fees are paid.

I suspect that Rewind are saying it's invite only to explain away why they aren't on the platform.

However, if Virgin specifically want any channel(s) on their platform that couldn't normally afford to join, there are ways around it. When the UKTV channels were removed, they wanted to fill the void with various new channels, such as Horse & Country. I believe that they offered to pay carriage fees equal to the costs of joining, something not normally done for channels on FTA platforms.

Maybe they will do this for Rewind??

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

Nat Geo +1 will close on Virgin Channel 383 on July 1st.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

always wondered why virgin media charge so much for channels to join their service. they dont have the financial power of sky (hence why they never bid for anything) so if its a money thing it clearly isnt working

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

Maybe they could change to the Freesat way of doing things to help to persuade some of the missing channels that are on Sky to join Virgin? Freesat changed their EPG fee to one that reflected the number of viewers that they get, so the popular channeks paid more & the more niche/minority channels paid less.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

There is zero reason why Virgin Media would be interested in a little niche channel like Rewind TV especially as VM wants to cut back its broadcast channels. With the move to IPTV and the likely reduction of multiplexes by Arqiva, we'll see the likes of Rewind TV disappearing as they won't be able to afford the higher costs of broadcasting.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

They may wish to start taking it to replace That's TV if it leaves the platform as it's a similar genre.

I don't think we're at the stage yet where Virgin want to cut back on channels on their traditional cable offering, particularly because the vast amount of their TV customers are on this system.

I'm sure that any new channel that comes along will be added to the V6/360 boxes if the broadcaster wants this & some will want to be added to streaming too.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

All broadcasters (Virgin Media, Sky, PSBs) are moving to IPTV, meaning fewer broadcast channels - which will cost more per channel even if Arqiva makes cost savings like halving the six multiplexers to just three as fixed costs of the transmitter network (the "towers") are largely static. The big boys like the PSBs can afford to pay Arqiva's carriage fees but higher fees will kill the little channels. And these little channels like Rewind TV and music cannot just pivot to FAST as they won't have the rights for streaming (broadcast rights rarely enable streaming rights as well) - and even then they'd have to persuade the likes of Samsung to do the hosting. The brutal reality is that these channels will just disappear as even being on YouTube is no answer if you don't have the digital streaming rights.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

While that’s true, if so few watch it, why would the provider wish to continue? Businesses need to be profitable to survive.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

It is ultimately a question of whether a channel is likely to add or at least retain TV customers, in which case Virgin Media will do a deal, in some cases paying the channel if it is thought to be attractive. On the other hand, if a channel isn't attractive then they will either not add it or will charge it a decent sum.

Don't forget that the free to air channels on Sky satellite, Freesat, or Freeview pay Sky / Freesat / Freeview a relatively small fee to be on their EPG, but also have to pay broadcast costs to the owner of the capacity they broadcast on whether a transponder or a multiplex for terrestrial, and there are additional costs to that, e.g uplink, etc.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

Nothing like stating the obvious...

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

Yes, it’s obvious. Embrace it.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

In a small number of cases Virgin Media is compelled to pay carriage fees for mandatory content, e.g. Discovery, Sky Sports. And the content owner insists that these are bundled, so VM must carry Animal Planet even though nobody watches it.

Below this top tier is the mid-tier like Gold and MTV where small payments may be made by either side. And then the lowest tier like the aforementioned Rewind TV must pay VM a lot, including at the central headend encoding, metadata, distribution and QA. When you add in an EPG slot and platform integration, it amounts to an unaffordable price which means the channel either isn't on VM or drops out if it is.

And in case you're wondering why a small channel might be on Freeview and/or Sky, the reason is that only VM does all the heavy processing like encoding I referred to and so charges more.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

Close to being approved in the EU with certain remedies - exiting the United International Pictures joint venture.
https://variety.com/2026/biz/global/...al-1236789292/

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

has it been confirmed if this would mean a merged paramount plus and hbo max. i have paramount plus but never had hbo max so would be intrigued to have the hbo max stuff added (im sure itll add to the monthly price mind!)

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

Having this all brought together under one owner is one thing, but whether they will all be available in one streamer is another. However, I do hope that comes about, although it will inevitably push up the price of Paramount+.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

The plan is for them to be merged
https://deadline.com/2026/03/david-e...ng-1236741083/

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

Thanks, TimeLord. Hopefully the other areas of content they inherit, such as Discovery, will also be included.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

CDiscovery has plenty of free to air content , so either no subscription is needed or free to air content is added to 5, some of Discovery pay channel content is duplicated on HBO Max already.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

I wonder what it will be named.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

My TiVo has picked up a load of Asian channel programming as it looks like all the Asian channels have been made available.

Anyone know why and when this ends as it's causing needless recording clashes?

Also the change to 360 nag messages have returned since yesterday.

My contract has now expired and, subject to negotiations, I am in no mans land where they have had to make a manual credit to keep it at the in contract price until a decision has been made that suits us both.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

Virgin do this annually now when it's South Asian Heritage Month.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

It's an annual event as indicated by TimeLord2018. Details will probably soon appear on the https://news.virginmediao2.co.uk/ pages, and within the https://www.virginmedia.com/the-edit pages

Last year the South Asian Heritage month ran between 18th July and 17th August.

https://news.virginmediao2.co.uk/vir...no-extra-cost/

Their temporary addition shouldn't be causing "needless" recording clashes unless you have previously set them up (and thus they can be removed by yourself) as those channel numbers are only ever used by channels within the Asian Mela Collection. which add Bollywood blockbusters and Hindi Entertainment to the channel packages.

Your contract won't have expired. They don't expire until you either manually give in your minimum 30 days notice or use OTS to switch providers. However it sounds like you have a minimum term discount(s) which has now expired, hence you will be due to pay full price unless you and VM negotiate and accept an agreeable new discounted offer. VM are not forced/legally bound to make you a manual credit until a decision has been made that suits you both.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

There is a banner on 360/Stream homepage saying that 'Asian Mela' is available at no extra cost until 31 July.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

Needless recording clashes? Explain how this happens.

I call this out for being dangly bits from a bullock Richard.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

Why are you recording Asian channels, Richard?

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

It's because the synopses contain words in my Wishlist, this usually isn't a problem as they are ignored because they're encrypted. Even giving them 3 thumbs down doesn't stop this, so i've been through and deleted them all & will have to keep doing this until 31 July.

---------- Post added at 20:56 ---------- Previous post was at 20:50 ----------

Both the contract & discounts expired at the same time and Virgin have agreed to a recurring credit to keep the price the same. As yet they aren't able to guarantee that I won't be forced onto the 360 due to retirement of the V6 within the next two years. If negotiations cannot resolve the situation, service/payment will immediately cease as I will be deemed to have served my notice.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

The superior TiVo software not fit for purpose? Lol

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

I suppose I could set it to not record Wishlists, but I want it to continue recording anything else that it picks up, so deleting the unwanted Asian stuff is the best thing to do for 4 weeksish.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

You cant tell it to ignore certain channels ?

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

Or amend the wishlist to block/add certain words and/or categories.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

No as far as i'm aware.

---------- Post added at 15:56 ---------- Previous post was at 15:53 ----------

I used to do this with children's programmes, but this no longer matters too much since they were put into a seperate pack.

I've since forgotten how to put a - before something I don't want, are you able to remind me please?

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

Highlight the word then press thumbs down

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

Thanks :)

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

For me, Wishlists and cross-channel series links were a massive loss in the upgrade to 360.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

Agreed, but there are swings and roundabouts. The TV 360 has been getting the new apps and multi-room with Stream boxes as the V6 goes into managed decline, and I find the voice control of the TV 360 to be quite useful.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

aaah, that probably explains things.
We probably have the 360 because I often catch the wife talking to the remote

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

I'd miss Suggestions too but, most importantly, QuickView. It will take about 30% longer to watch programmes.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

Huh :confused:
Please clarify how watching a programme will take 30% longer.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

On the V6 you can speed up the playback and listen to it is a distorted mode.

Worse than watching 4:3 material stretched out to fill a 16:9 screen.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

QuickView allows you to watch recorded material 30% quicker, so without it it will take 30% longer to watch a programme. I don't know how they do it, but it doesn't make people talk like a speeded up cartoon character!

Does anybody know if the VOD services have the option to speed up playback? I believe that the iPlayer might. If this is the case, it can't be a TiVo patented function, so could theoretically be added to the 360.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

LOL, so by 30% "longer" he actually means watch it as normal. :dunce:

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

A 30 minute programme takes 30 minutes to watch in normal mode and 21 minutes in QuickView mode.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

V6 has multi-room, and each additional box also has the 1Tb HDD rather than being a slave/streamer-only.

Agreed re new apps, TV360 always has been about online-first & recording-second. V6 got the same Sky Sports multi-screen on the quiet, to be fair.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

If you fast forward through the adverts, you can watch a half hour C5 programme in 15 minutes.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

BBC iPlayer is an outlier in providing variable playback with its self‑contained HTML5 app, and we won't see this playback for other apps due to technical issues and/or rights from content owners.

The technical issues include Horizon 4's player, used by all other apps, which does not provide this capability.

The rights issues are about content owners who don't want their streams altered, and even if they did it's a big job to do this for the tiny percentage of those who want it.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

Use subtitles. Lot quicker than 30% quicker. Over 2x speed.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

or ..... just watch it as intended ... at normal speed.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

I do both, worked out that a one hour programme on channels 3/4/5 takes 32 minutes and any other commercial channel it takes 28 minutes.

---------- Post added at 21:20 ---------- Previous post was at 21:19 ----------

Done this before now when running low on disc space :D

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

There's a rumour that That's TV is leaving Sky 'sometime in July' and the Virgin EPG is saying 'channel no longer available' from 6am 12/7/26.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

As far as suggestions are concerned, the 360 does that. It’s in the ‘You might like’ section on the home page.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

I could happily live with that, but wish they'd make an effort to deal with the other missing TiVo features.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

It's Liberty Global in charge if the boxes, and as the TV 360 is being phased out, there is zero chance of it being enhanced just for TiVo features. However, as this box shares the same Horizon 4 middleware as the Stream box, then any middleware enhancements come to both.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

This 'watching TV' malarkey is quite complicated isn't it :D

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

I'm surprised that they bothered with the 360 at all tbh. Wouldn't it have been easier (and probably as cheap) to pay the TiVo licensing fees for a little longer and then start pushing customers towards their streaming box?

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

Cheaper. Why pay a US company for each STB when you already have a decent (faster) more modern one which is already in use throughout Europe which you can develop/enhance in house.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

That would make sense long term, were it not for the fact that they're going to get rid of it in favour of a streaming box.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

.... which is a Horizon box.... If/when the time comes I'd guess they could disable the recording software rather than replace boxes

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

Closure of That's TV has now been brought forward, now on 10th July at 23:55, not seen that before.

Haven't paid their monthly EPG fee to Virgin, so they've brought it forward??

Planned closures are usually at 05:59.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

Liberty Global has its Horizon 4 team in Amsterdam, doing development work for LG's boxes in multiple European countries. The last thing LG needs is to keep paying licence fees to TiVo. So, the Virgin Media TiVo and V6 boxes are just being maintained pending replacement. Actually the TV 360 box is also on its way out and after a while it will only be Stream boxes remaining.

---------- Post added at 22:25 ---------- Previous post was at 22:00 ----------

Ah, except that it's no longer 'TV'. We've now also got IPTV, some of which is linear (FAST channels) and catch-up and on-demand delivered by multiple ways including apps, channels and Virgin Media's hosted content. Virgin Media now believes it's in the entertainment business, which comprises traditional TV and IPTV. Viewers now have a lot of options they never had. Of course, for nerds like me it's all fascinating.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

What are VM doing? My contract is up and I have been with them since 1998.
Got a good deal on the chat last time.
This time.... more expensive then Sky and a lot less channels too.
Might be time to jump ship

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

Forget chat, try ringing 020 3743 6947

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

shame that my mum likes the channel.

their twitter page is still posting daily schedules without any mention of it...poor staff

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

I believe it's still available on Sky & Freeview if she has access to either of these.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

If they are patented, they can’t.

---------- Post added at 17:44 ---------- Previous post was at 17:37 ----------

Well, some of us prefer the 360, Richard. This really shouldn’t bother you so much - it’s our choice.

You’ll have to face it sometime, technology moves on and old technologies die off. There comes a point where new technologies are incapable of being incorporated in older devices and you will be forced to get rid of it anyway because it doesn’t work any more. You just have to adapt.

You haven’t been forced to ditch your TiVo yet and maybe you never will. When the channels disappear (likely in 2035 at the latest) we will all have to move over to streaming anyway to watch the content we want.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

True, but not all of the missing features can be as other boxes have them eg undelete, QuickView etc. They could also take measures to get around this as they have done with Suggestions.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

That surprises me, spankymagicpian. I saved a lot of money with my new deal, which gives me just what I wanted. It might be worth speaking to them again, assuming you haven’t already signed up to the more expensive deal.

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

I phoned up for the second attempt and they offered me the same as I am getting now for £10 less than I am paying now thankfully.

I was tempted to go to Sky as the original offer was more expensive and I didn't want to go down the route of stream boxes (I know that Sky Q is possibly still available but for how long and I knew it would be a fight to get one)

Re: Virgin TV (2026)
 

The following F.A.S.T channels have been added to 360 and Stream (Flex) boxes
235 Robot Wars
236 Demand Drama
239 River Monsters
253 The Hotel Inspector