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Perfect Choice · 18-01-2011, 09:53

What you do is state this in your press release and not leave the impression that you have access to all Sky basic channels. Badly worded press release at best I would say.

Pesonally I think VM have a right to negotiate and not complete lock out, but the agreement did not have a pre-defined commercial agreement for future channels. That is my guess on what happened. At least we have seen an email reply saying they are negotiating with Sky.

However looking at the above list of new Sky channels from Media Boy yesterday I think the first issue is access to content, not complementary channels like +1 or HD.

If you cannot reach agreement on the SD version of a channel, the +1 and HD versions are irrelevant. Taking Sky Atlantic as an example, VM really need to negotiate a deal for the SD version otherwise their customers are locked out of any channel specific content. I note posts indicating that it looks like most of the first programmes are items which have been on VOD in the past, but they are not there now e.g. I would like to look at repeat series of 24 as I missed a couple of these, plus Sky are already promoting the brand new series of Mad Men, which has been a popular programme for some (I’ve not watched it personally).

It is starting to feel like the time when access to Sky 1 was denied (a problem for all those fans of Lost at the time and could apply to Mad Men fans soon). Content access is key, any above that is a bonus. For myself, I would be happy enough to see XL package only access to content like Atlantic and even a £1 per month increase to cover (I believe I read elsewhere on Cable Forum that Atlantic will end up in the Sky variety pack after 6 months so Sky customers will have to pay an uplift?)

18-01-2011, 09:53	#455
Perfect Choice cf.geek Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Nottingham Services: Maxit TV, M phone, 200MB BB, V6 TIVO, Super Hub3 Posts: 701	Re: Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2011) Vol. I. What you do is state this in your press release and not leave the impression that you have access to all Sky basic channels. Badly worded press release at best I would say. Pesonally I think VM have a right to negotiate and not complete lock out, but the agreement did not have a pre-defined commercial agreement for future channels. That is my guess on what happened. At least we have seen an email reply saying they are negotiating with Sky. However looking at the above list of new Sky channels from Media Boy yesterday I think the first issue is access to content, not complementary channels like +1 or HD. If you cannot reach agreement on the SD version of a channel, the +1 and HD versions are irrelevant. Taking Sky Atlantic as an example, VM really need to negotiate a deal for the SD version otherwise their customers are locked out of any channel specific content. I note posts indicating that it looks like most of the first programmes are items which have been on VOD in the past, but they are not there now e.g. I would like to look at repeat series of 24 as I missed a couple of these, plus Sky are already promoting the brand new series of Mad Men, which has been a popular programme for some (I’ve not watched it personally). It is starting to feel like the time when access to Sky 1 was denied (a problem for all those fans of Lost at the time and could apply to Mad Men fans soon). Content access is key, any above that is a bonus. For myself, I would be happy enough to see XL package only access to content like Atlantic and even a £1 per month increase to cover (I believe I read elsewhere on Cable Forum that Atlantic will end up in the Sky variety pack after 6 months so Sky customers will have to pay an uplift?)