Quote:
Originally Posted by muppetman11
Why do some get so offended about shopping/gaming/adult channels etc , just because there on the EPG doesn't mean people have to watch them  Sky has hundreds of these kind of channels , I simply just don't watch them however I'm sure some do. |
Quote:
Originally Posted by Digital Fanatic
Exactly... it's not like VM think people want Gems TV over Sky Atlantic, they are seperate things.  |
There are constraints on how many channels can be supported at any one time and so you don't want minority interest channels taking up valuable space.
Historically both network capacity and the memory capacity of the set-top-boxes dictated how many channels could be supported. On VM's cable network, dropping the analogue service freed up a lot of bandwidth but with SD and HD versions of some channels co-existing and the general trend towards bandwidth hungry HD channels, Red Button services and On Demand content, the available capacity is soon consumed.
A few years ago, Sky couldn't launch any more channels because some older set-top-boxes didn't have the memory capacity to store a larger EPG. I assume customers were ultimately required to replace their old equipment with Sky+ HD boxes if they wanted to receive additional channels. I'm not sure if that has happened with VM yet but there are certainly some old boxes out there still. My Pace Di4000-N V Box probably counts as a 'classic' but some are 'vintage' models. That could restrict the number of additional SD channels that can be supported, so every one is precious and they should be channels that the majority of customers want. As it is, the older boxes can only support a 1-day EPG instead of an 8-day guide and the
i-button tends to have limited, often abruptly truncated, programme descriptions.