Quote:
Originally Posted by gunner45
Virgin Media and Paramount have a carriage agreement, and it needs to be changed for channels to be upgraded to HD. 5USA and 5Star are relatively old ad-supported channels whose audiences and programming were built around SD distribution. And here's the problem: advertisers rarely pay a higher rate for a commercial spot on 5USA or 5Star simply because it is broadcast in HD instead of SD. The viewer numbers remain roughly the same, meaning Paramount sees very little return on investment for the extra HD carriage fees. That carriage agreement is thus unlikely to change.
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But, as these channels exist anyway and are available at no extra cost elsewhere, I don't understand why there hasn't been/won't be an agreement to carry the HD variants. I get what your saying, but lesser channels have been converted. I can understand it on satellite//Freeview as it would involve the expense of extra capacity, but Virgin own their own and have spare capacity. As a channel FTA elsewhere, Virgin is unlikely to be paying any carriage costs, in fact Channel 5 will be paying Virgin to carry them as it's not a must carry channel.
Maybe Virgin want extra payment for the extra capacity needed and Channel 5 don't think it's worth paying it for no return, but it would improve the Virgin TV offering as a USP.
Perhaps it's also a way to try and get customers to convert to their streaming box??