Virgin Media lack of tv investment

[denphone]

In the last year we have seen a total lack of investment on Virgins tv platform, first of all they sold their channels to Sky this deal just gets worse and worse with each passing day and we are still waiting for further Sky hd channels and the Sky red button, to be still waiting 7 months on is nothing short of staggering incompetence and shambolicness, this and a total reluctance to add other new channels suggest to me that Virgin does not give a damn about its tv customers.

29 HD channels - fine
TiVo on the way - excellent
VHD boxes will slowly replace the standard STB - good thinking

Not to bad I would say!

[deathtrap3000]

Originally Posted by mlayzell

29 HD channels - fine
TiVo on the way - excellent
VHD boxes will slowly replace the standard STB - good thinking

Not to bad I would say!

It seems that all counts for nothing in some peoples books.

[denphone]

A lot of the hd channels which are Sky owned were decided by ofcoms intervention and not by Virgin investing in their in their own tv platform and on Tivo we were supposed to get that in December and we are highly unlikely to get it before the second quarter and we have to pay a substantional amount to get it plus a monthly charge as well, l will never go to Sky but they have invested massively in content and channels and Virgin are selling theirs to the the enemy.

[Jon T]

Virgin are still massively in debt and Sky aren't?

[Chad]

Originally Posted by mlayzell

29 HD channels - fine
TiVo on the way - excellent
VHD boxes will slowly replace the standard STB - good thinking

Not to bad I would say!

That's great if you've got a HD TV and love high tech PVR's. 2010 delivered some massive HD channels, great for me as I'm HD daft! What about customers who only have a basic set-top box and only watch SD channels? There are still Virgin customers who aren't HD ready yet. These guys have lost out big time in the past 12 months, especially after the sale of VMTV. Virgin really need to be looking after their TV customers at both the high end and low end of the TV spectrum.

[Jayster]

You also have to look at the broadband side of things before saying virgin are not investing.

[denphone]

I am not talking about the broadband just the tv side and Virgin need to listen to their customers and be more pro-active then just standing still.

If their customers are not happy, they can let VM know by the old method known as "Market Forces"......

[denphone]

I have been a loyal customer for 10 years and as a forum member have a opinion just like any other member of the forum.

Absolutely

Originally Posted by Jayster

You also have to look at the broadband side of things before saying virgin are not investing.

True, upload speeds are in the process of being increased, if they increase the download speeds to all of their customers say 20mbits to the lowest tier, you would have to be crazy not to chose VM!

In relation to TV services, yes you have to support SD customers but not at the loss of innovation though!

[royaltiger]

Originally Posted by Jayster

You also have to look at the broadband side of things before saying virgin are not investing.

That is where Virgin have concentrated most of their investment, the tv has always been 2nd place, I said this a couple of years back that tv side has lacked investment, as for hd channels you can accept sky keeping theirs exclusive but as for itv 2, 3, and 4 hd launching then becoming exclusive to sky, you have to wonder what they are doing that stops Virgin customers getting a lookin from launch date as well as other channels not owned by sky. Surely channels need to be watched by as many viewers as possible so it doesn't make sense to release new channels and make them exclusive on one platform so why it is happening totally confuses me.

[Joedm45]

Originally Posted by royaltiger

That is where Virgin have concentrated most of their investment, the tv has always been 2nd place, I said this a couple of years back that tv side has lacked investment, as for hd channels you can accept sky keeping theirs exclusive but as for itv 2, 3, and 4 hd launching then becoming exclusive to sky, you have to wonder what they are doing that stops Virgin customers getting a lookin from launch date as well as other channels not owned by sky. Surely channels need to be watched by as many viewers as possible so it doesn't make sense to release new channels and make them exclusive on one platform so why it is happening totally confuses me.

Don't forget that ITV get their money from advertising, as the ITV HD channels are simulcast and the SD versions are available on all digital sources then they are not losing anything financially by agreeing an exclusive deal with Sky.

In fact ITV are probably gaining a few quid by signing an exclusive deal with Sky anyway. Sky love saying they have x amount of HD channels more than the rest so they can get more HD customers.

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by denphone

In the last year we have seen a total lack of investment on Virgins tv platform, first of all they sold their channels to Sky this deal just gets worse and worse with each passing day and we are still waiting for further Sky hd channels and the Sky red button, to be still waiting 7 months on is nothing short of staggering incompetence and shambolicness, this and a total reluctance to add other new channels suggest to me that Virgin does not give a damn about its tv customers.

Do you not think it at least possible that Sky is delaying the introduction of these facilities?

As for not investing in TV. Well, in the last couple of years, VM have totally rebuilt their backend infrastructure for TV. This has made little difference yet, but enables VM to offer a lot more channels in future.

This would have cost VM hundreds of millions of pounds.