That's TV accused of milking TVL payers.
 

https://www.buzzfeed.com/markdistefa...qqOn#.gkE222bJ

Now we know why they show rubbish, don't care that they sometimes only have 30 viewers and can afford to buy up other failing local TV stations.

Seems to me to simply be a front to milk the BBC.

If you've not seen it already, read the Twitter thread by Elle Rudd, absolutely shocking.

https://twitter.com/ElleRudd_/status...44201921372160

Re: That's TV accused of milking TVL payers.
 

I've heard similar from staff at Oxford while they were there and after the were forced to leave for one reason or another.

Re: That's TV accused of milking TVL payers.
 

The local TV idea was a good one, but it has been very poorly executed. The Government should wind these channels up and start again in a more professional and sustainable way or give up completely.

I object to taxpayer's money being wasted in this way. You've only got to look at the local tv schedules to understand why nobody is watching them.

Re: That's TV accused of milking TVL payers.
 

Give up and start again , are you serious ?

Enough money has already been wasted , close them and leave them closed.

Re: That's TV accused of milking TVL payers.
 

I don't have a problem with closing them down. I just think there is a way you can make local commercial TV stations work, that's all. However, it should not be at taxpayer's expense, in my view, which probably means it won't happen!

Re: That's TV accused of milking TVL payers.
 

Total waste of time.

Re: That's TV accused of milking TVL payers.
 

Local TV has been a shocker. Poor quality programming from day dot. Waste of time, waste of money and waste of a EPG slot. Literally TV at it's worst in my humble opinion

Re: That's TV accused of milking TVL payers.
 

It is. But that doesn't mean that local TV cannot work.

Re: That's TV accused of milking TVL payers.
 

Preferred the testing stage when there was "BonanzaBonanza"
I see LTVmux does have a few extra channels, but would seem to be very under utilized

Re: That's TV accused of milking TVL payers.
 

It says a lot when you preferred the test transmissions Matt :D

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 

Now it looks like the That's TV channels are basically a front to obtain money from the TVL payer and that they aren't interested in programming or viewers, I wouldn't be surprised if any on VM disappear come carriage renewal time.

https://www.cableforum.uk/board/show...php?t=33706549

Having said that, I wonder if they actually pay for carriage on cable? As the Government were keen for them to succeed and insisted that they were given a decent slot on the EPG, maybe it's the same arrangement as for the PSB channels??

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 

Time to write to 'That's Life' - oh wait, Ester Rantzen was in on all this from the start. :o:

I don't think VM actually carried any of the That's channels - neither did Sky - although That's TV adverts often said otherwise.

Re: That's TV accused of milking TVL payers.
 

Bring back the test card. It's better value than a lot of the dross around these days including local TV that can really only give a couple of hours a day of relevant output.

Re: That's TV accused of milking TVL payers.
 

Channel M here in Manchester was how local TV should have been done. Plenty of local news with regular bulletins and proper local programming.

It was run by The Guardian (group) in conjunction with Salford Uni. It ran for a while but then ran out of cash in the end I think and they ceased due to the new local TV act coming in and it went rapidly downhill from there. Several other technical problems also contributed to it's demise.

I watched the news on a regular basis and some of the local shows as it was local unlike Granada Reports which was anything from Chester to Carlisle.

Had they started later, with the subsidy from the BBC, I have no doubt it would still be around.

Re: That's TV accused of milking TVL payers.
 

Was that ever on satellite?

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 

Ahh that explains the confusion then. If they weren't on cable I assume that they were required to pay carriage fees like most of the other channels.

What involvement did Esther Rantzen have?

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 

Not whilst they are allowed to force you to take numerous channels you don't want at a fee that no one seems to control

Re: That's TV accused of milking TVL payers.
 

what a waste of a thread tbh...…….:(

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 

I've now been informed that That's Norfolk, That's Cambridge and That's Swansea are carried on VM. However, none of the original That's TV channels were put onto VM and to further add to the confusion, the last two are still labelled by their previous names on the EPG!

You already have a thread set up on this subject. Please use that one

Re: That's TV accused of milking TVL payers.
 

:D

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 

STV2 license has been bought by That's TV, and on Freeview STV2 has changed to That's TV Scotland with an EPG message on an animated screen saying that it be launching in the autumn. I bring this up as STV2 is still listed on VM's EPG, albeit with a Channel No Longer Available message. So maybe that one can be added to your list there.

Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2018)
 

They are no doubt just there to fulfil existing contracts from the previous service provider.

That's themselves are not going to a penny for anything they can get away with.

That's Oxford even added VM to their promotions with a channel number - but it was never added to VM.

Re: That's TV accused of milking TVL payers.
 

I think it's worth highlighting how this outfit are fleecing the public. Without this the BBC wouldn't have had to make so many cuts. BBC4 is a shadow of its former self.

Re: That's TV accused of milking TVL payers.
 

No - local only

Re: That's TV accused of milking TVL payers.
 

I don't think that the amount of money the BBC is paying is responsible for the cuts made to BBC4, Richard.

Even if the amount of money was the same, which it isn't, there were other efficiences the BBC could have made to preserve services.

Re: That's TV accused of milking TVL payers.
 

I could have sworn that I had seen it on satellite, wiki says that it was, but was removed from satellite and VM in 2010.

From what I remember it was a log different to the outfits of today.

Re: That's TV accused of milking TVL payers.
 

Watching the looped 'That's Oxfordshire Headline News' this morning - I got bored.

It is a 15-minute loop.
All the outside material has a visable pulse distorting the video - has always done that as long as I remember.
Occasionally the outdoor taped item is missed and it goes straight from once link to another with a jump in the video where the news item should have been inserted.

Of the three main stories they are covering - two are items from Reading - which I beleive would be better placed on That's Berkshire.
The first is a major story of interest of a planned new village for West Oxfordshire - exactly what the channel is for.
The second is about the work at Reading Abbey - interesting but no local.
The third is about a solicitor company in Reading who has been there a long long time - and ????

That are now even less local that ITV's regional news - which struggles to find Oxford.

Re: That's TV accused of milking TVL payers.
 

The Government needs to step into stop this nonsense. This is an example of how public money is wasted. We really need to get a grip on all this!

Re: That's TV accused of milking TVL payers.
 

Hardly surprising if the article I posted is correct and the entire 'channel' is run by some work experience kid!