V HD : Virgin losing thousands of TV customers.

[steveh]

I get the impression LG's senior management have been so caught up in mergers and acquisitions that they've taken their eye off the UK television business. They probably thought with having the TiVo that everything was fine - especially compared to the state of the technology of some of the other cable networks they own elsewhere - and anyway it doesn't make as big a profit as broadband.

However, the British TV sector has changed really fast and probably reached the tipping point in the move to Internet services before they anticipated it would. We're also still seeing the effects of the recession and people don't have the money in their pockets they might previously have had so are less willing to spend a large wedge on entertainment. Sky anticipated the Internet shift with Now TV and that also hits a sweeter price point but Virgin have no comparable offer. It hasn't helped with the TiVo performance and user interface issues - especially as people have increasingly seen how they compare against smart TV apps or Internet TV boxes / sticks - and the poor on-demand offering. Quality US comedy and drama are also increasingly found on Netflix, Sky Atlantic and even Amazon rather than channels Virgin carries, so if you're not a sports fan there's not much except the low-budget reality TV and lifestyle shows you can find anywhere.

In this forum you're more likely to find the early adopters so of course there will be more whingeing than among ordinary users, but those I know outside here are starting to question keeping cable TV too. After twenty years as a customer I'm probably going to ditch it myself after the Christmas holiday.

[Kabaal]

The only reason i still have TV from them is for BT Sport, if they didn't have that i'd have chucked that part of the package a long time ago.

If my FTTC cabinet ever eventually gets sorted out then i'll probably be looking at moving everything away from Virgin if it works out cheaper. All i care about nowadays is getting 30mbps+ and champions league football, for everything else i have freeview and kodi.

[johnathome]

[QUOTE=muppetman11;35807657]http://www.seenit.co.uk/why-are-virg...-reverse-this/[COLOR="Silver"]

What a great article, pretty much sums it up, especially the Tivo grumbles.

[pip08456]

Originally Posted by Kabaal

The only reason i still have TV from them is for BT Sport, if they didn't have that i'd have chucked that part of the package a long time ago.

If my FTTC cabinet ever eventually gets sorted out then i'll probably be looking at moving everything away from Virgin if it works out cheaper. All i care about nowadays is getting 30mbps+ and champions league football, for everything else i have freeview and kodi.

Does Sports Devil added to Kodi not give you that?

http://www.iwillfolo.com/install-sportsdevil-xbmc/

[Ignitionnet]

You guys had best get used to figures like this.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cord-cutting

Our market is way closer to the USA's and Canada's than it is most of the rest of Europe, so we're simply following their trend.

[toady]

Originally Posted by muppetman11

http://www.seenit.co.uk/why-are-virg...-reverse-this/

Great article, with the next round of price increases I will have to drop services to keep the price affordable, TV most likely be the first service to be downgraded,with Netflix and Amazon I won't miss a reduction in channels - don't watch sport

[RichardCoulter]

Originally Posted by muppetman11

http://www.seenit.co.uk/why-are-virg...-reverse-this/

---------- Post added at 09:37 ---------- Previous post was at 09:25 ----------


To be fair it seems it's only a matter of time before Sky's prices increase again.

http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/...Jeremy-Darroch

It's not just the prices that i've heard customers complain about, although it is "the last straw that broke the camels back" in some cases.

Originally Posted by steveh

I get the impression LG's senior management have been so caught up in mergers and acquisitions that they've taken their eye off the UK television business. They probably thought with having the TiVo that everything was fine - especially compared to the state of the technology of some of the other cable networks they own elsewhere - and anyway it doesn't make as big a profit as broadband.

However, the British TV sector has changed really fast and probably reached the tipping point in the move to Internet services before they anticipated it would. We're also still seeing the effects of the recession and people don't have the money in their pockets they might previously have had so are less willing to spend a large wedge on entertainment. Sky anticipated the Internet shift with Now TV and that also hits a sweeter price point but Virgin have no comparable offer. It hasn't helped with the TiVo performance and user interface issues - especially as people have increasingly seen how they compare against smart TV apps or Internet TV boxes / sticks - and the poor on-demand offering. Quality US comedy and drama are also increasingly found on Netflix, Sky Atlantic and even Amazon rather than channels Virgin carries, so if you're not a sports fan there's not much except the low-budget reality TV and lifestyle shows you can find anywhere.

In this forum you're more likely to find the early adopters so of course there will be more whingeing than among ordinary users, but those I know outside here are starting to question keeping cable TV too. After twenty years as a customer I'm probably going to ditch it myself after the Christmas holiday.

I suspect that you may well be right.

[Sugnid]

One gained TV customer here!

80p extra a month on top of the BB price to get the Big Kahuna TV package added. Will have all the same channels as I was getting on Sky (Entertainment - no sport or movies), plus additional channels (baby/kids ones for impending child to be born and BT Sport for me) that we weren't getting before. It will be a saving of £45 a month if we were to keep them separate.

So Mrs Sugnid is happy with the savings, she keeps her channels while I gain some Sport.

Back on a 12 month contract as well so can survey the situation this time next year.

[muppetman11]

And that is the key to it shop around , many show to much loyalty and pay through the nose.

[denphone]

Originally Posted by muppetman11

And that is the key to it shop around , many show to much loyalty and pay through the nose.

When our contract ended 6 months ago we phoned them up to get a better deal and thus we will be doing the same when this contract is up to get a better deal and one suspects we will get another decent deal as l am sure they won't want to lose loyal customers like us and others willy nilly.

[Sugnid]

Originally Posted by muppetman11

And that is the key to it shop around , many show to much loyalty and pay through the nose.

To be honest, it was only because of our child arriving soon that we decided to take a look at the finances - we've been pretty happy with using both providers.

But when you look at the bottom line of it all - just made financial sense to switch over for the time being. Will give me a chance to see how SkyQ fares over the next 12 months as well.

[theone2k10]

Originally Posted by muppetman11

And that is the key to it shop around , many show to much loyalty and pay through the nose.

Same with cutting the cord in a way using a vpn you can get Netflix for much cheaper than uk prices for example i pay £3.99p/m for hd + 2 screens as i used a Brazilian vpn, i believe the uk equivelent is £6.99p/m.

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter

In all the years that they have been going, I have never come across as many dissatisfied VM TV customers as I have recently.

They need to do something instead of just watching their TV customer base haemorrhage.

From the linked article in your OP.

Yet Virgin Media still has around the same number of television subscribers that it had five years previously

OED -

Lose or expend large amounts of (something valuable) in a seemingly uncontrollable way:
‘the business was haemorrhaging cash’

You may have been a little over-dramatic in your choice of phrasing...

[denphone]

Its called hyperbole and one or two have been doing that lately on this forum.

[sollp]

Sky are giving away there TV service at the moment, At the beginning of the year i was offered The Family pack for Free,(as i had left end of last year) for 6months then it would be half price for six months. By August i disconnected from Sky TV even though the package would have been half price. Then a month ago they kept phoning and initially offered the Family pack for 5yrs at a third of the price. I had only just sold the Sky STB so i was offered free installation, new box and the Family pack at half price for a year!!

Yes they maybe taking on new customers but the money isn't coming in it will come out in the wash in a couple of years time.