[Media Boy UK]

Originally Posted by cheekyangus

All platforms have EPG policies as you know, I'm not sure how VM's one works, I don't think they publicly publish details. Others I've seen (Freeview/Freesat) consult the adjacent channels and move outwards if the nearest channels aren't interested. VM also wouldn't want to irritate the other broadcasters on their books by allowing a rival to leapfrog them, particularly if they're a significant income generator.

VM are more likely to allow a broadcaster who has numerous channels to leapfrog (e.g. Sky) than a company with one channel.

E4 got vacated BBC3 Ch 106 in return for money, and they've held its old number vacant ever since as if they could reverse it at a moment's notice.

Most shuffles on VM tend to be within the numbers already in the broadcaster's portfolio. E.g. to accommodate Max, it is mostly going to be achieved by shuffling down with existing Sky channels, Ch163 and Ch206 are the only empty numbers being used (from memory), and they didn't use the recently closed FOX UK channel numbers much to many's surprise.

Whatever's involved it might be deemed not worth the hassle, A+E UK channels in the Main section have always languished in the 200s even when gaps have opened up in more favourable positions. Blaze and Crime+Investigation don't seem interested in moving despite being surrounded by +1s, it could be VM's EPG rules didn't make it worthwhile.