Quote:
Originally Posted by vincerooney
virgin media as i've said before appear to be aggressively attempting to save money. increased prices, no new services etc. upgrading their broadband network only but one could argue this is to attract a buyer by having a speedy infrastructure already. a bit like putting a bit of lipstick on and a tight dress before heading out to a club.
the tv area of virgin media doesnt make them much money and would only cost them money getting new channels etc so isnt an area to invest in. i'm becoming more and more convinced theyre trying to sell.
based on just those assumptions...but i have nothing else to do when im in my single bed in my mums boxroom at night so dont shout at me...
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I think you are right Vince. In my opinion I also think VM are now starting to suffer due to lack of content ownership. Sky own much of their content and can afford to advertise half price deals, Sky Atlantic, etc and BT can use BT Sport as a pull to get customers to sign up for their products. Both Sky and BT can also make money from distributing their content online through Now TV and the BT Sport app/website whereas in these days of growing streaming, VM have nothing to offer in terms of content. VM have also lost their big advantage of fibre BB too since the Infinity roll out began.
VM's whole marketing strategy is we've got the fastest broadband and you get 3 tuners on TiVo, free repairs and some other free crap included.
I would hazard a guess that, unless you are a heavy downloader and need the bandwidth, most consumers would be more than happy with a reliable 50Mb connection for general browsing, streaming, etc. Therefore VM need to realise that this continual speed doubling is getting to the stage where very few people will care what the headline speeds are because to the average consumer, they will notice little difference between 100Mb and 300Mb.
So whilst VM will always have a strong offering in the BB market, their TV service is suffering as not only do they lack some content but they are probably the most expensive provider if you choose to take premium content like Sky Sports / Movies.
And regardless of all the above, the number 1 deciding factor for most consumers is price. VM therefore have to be careful not to price themselves out of the market. I notice on the VM website that they've got some pretty decent discounts on their bundles for new customers so I think it will be an interesting few months ahead as Sky and BT are becoming more aggresive and both are / will soon be offering quad-play options too.