Sky or VM for TV???

[Tim Deegan]

At the moment I have 3 phone lines, 100mb broadband, and a couple of levels up from basic with my TV in the bedroom. In the living romm I have Sky+ HD with all chanels except the sports package.

I am considering switching over to VM completely, but my question is, for the same money (or less) what are the benefits or otherwise, and what chanels will I lose?

[Arthurgray50@blu]

I would switch to VM for the phone/ BB, as you can special deals with them, with the TV l would would stay with Sky. As Sky don't give deals (not to my knowledge, and l have been with them from the analogue days)

Sky and VM are quite different propositions. Which you choose should be decided by you and you alone and not someone else who will only be able to tell you that one is better than the other based on their own preferences or criteria.

So, is simple quantity of linear channels most important to you, or flexibility in how you consume content?

[Tim Deegan]

I am already with VM for the phone lines and BB, as well as TV in the bedroom. I'm just wondering if it is worth also switching the Sky in my living room to VM.

If I do, what wil I lose/gain?

Sky and VM are quite different propositions. Which you choose should be decided by you and you alone and not someone else who will only be able to tell you that one is better than the other based on their own preferences or criteria.

So, is simple quantity of linear channels most important to you, or flexibility in how you consume content?

[Tim Deegan]

Originally Posted by Chris

Sky and VM are quite different propositions. Which you choose should be decided by you and you alone and not someone else who will only be able to tell you that one is better than the other based on their own preferences or criteria.

So, is simple quantity of linear channels most important to you, or flexibility in how you consume content?

It's not the quantity of channels, because like most people I don't watch half of them. My wife likes channels like Gold, Watch, Alibi, etc.. My son watches the childrens channels, I watch many of the Discovery type channels, and we all watch the film channels.

So I suppose what I am asking is which of the above types of channels will I lose if I change to VM?

AFAIK all the well-known subscription channels are on both, although not as many of them are in HD on VM yet.

[Tim Deegan]

Originally Posted by Chris

AFAIK all the well-known subscription channels are on both, although not as many of them are in HD on VM yet.

Thanks for that Chris.

Do you know how they compare pricewise, considering that with VM it will be part of a package, but with Sky it isn't?

[djfunkdup]

the power of good old google



http://shop.virginmedia.com/digital-tv/channels.html


http://tv.sky.com/tv-guide

all the channels you listed are on virginmedia.i would imagine if you swapped over to virgin media,then the saving you would make by including your living room tv into your VM bundle.then that would out-weigh being with sky..

rem this is just my opinion.sorry i cant tell you how much this would be as you already have virgin media..

[Tim Deegan]

Originally Posted by djfunkdup

the power of good old google



http://shop.virginmedia.com/digital-tv/channels.html


http://tv.sky.com/tv-guide

all the channels you listed are on virginmedia.i would imagine if you swapped over to virgin media,then the saving you would make by including your living room tv into your VM bundle.then that would out-weigh being with sky..

rem this is just my opinion.sorry i cant tell you how much this would be as you already have virgin media..

Many thanks for that

[djfunkdup]

np your welcome

[Chad]

If you want linear channels Tim then it'll be SKY you are after. If however it's content you need Virgin.

SKY has more channels but the vast majority of the channels on SKY that aren't on Virgin aren't exactly popular. Virgin carry about 98% of the UK's most watched channels. But what makes Virgin special is the 7 day catch up content from BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5. On top of this Virgin offer the most extensive On Demand choice available in the UK, especially now that SKY Anytime has arrived. What it means is whilst there might not be anything on linear TV to watch, you have thousands and thousands of hours worth of content you can watch at the touch of a button. In fact I believe it's 6500 hours worth with more content coming soon from PBS, Dave, Watch , Eden, Yesterday and Alibi. That 6500 doesn't include the hundreds of hours worth of catch-up TV. If you were to stay awake 24/7 watching all of the On Demand content back to back, it would take you almost 271 days to get through it all! Also if you take the XL package, SKY Sports and SKY Movies almost all of the On Demand content is included in your package.

Personally I'd rather have Catch-up TV and On Demand ahead of SKY Atlantic, MGM HD, SKY Sports 3 HD any day of the week!

Don't let anyone try and trick you, Virgin Media is the number 1 when it comes to providing content in the UK.

[denphone]

Originally Posted by Chad

If you want linear channels Tim then it'll be SKY you are after. If however it's content you need Virgin.

SKY has more channels but the vast majority of the channels on SKY that aren't on Virgin aren't exactly popular. Virgin carry about 98% of the UK's most watched channels. But what makes Virgin special is the 7 day catch up content from BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5. On top of this Virgin offer the most extensive On Demand choice available in the UK, especially now that SKY Anytime has arrived. What it means is whilst there might not be anything on linear TV to watch, you have thousands and thousands of hours worth of content you can watch at the touch of a button.

Personally I'd rather have Catch-up TV and On Demand ahead of SKY Atlantic, MGM HD, SKY Sports 3 HD any day of the week!

Don't let anyone try and trick you, Virgin Media is the number 1 when it comes to providing content in the UK.

[passingbat]

Channels wise, overall, Sky beat VM, both in variety and the number or HD channels. Simple.

Whether that is the case for the channels your family watches, only you can decide.

But does box functionality make a difference to you? Tivo has got some great extras over Sky HD boxes. I'd NEVER want to use a box without Whishlists, as I find them not only useful, but save me loads of time in that I don't have to monitor EPGs and web sites for start dates of shows that won't be showing until sometime in 2012; wishlists do that automatically for me and auto-record.

Things like whihlists and many other tivo features may not be of use to you, but only you can evaluate that and balance it against the potentially extra channels that Sky has.

[Tim Deegan]

Does anyone know exactly how they compare for price?