General : Coming Soon to Virgin Media TV (2016)

[pengedragon]

Originally Posted by theone2k10

It maybe as the new tv box is due this year at some point.

what new box, any info ?

[denphone]

Hopefully MB should have some more news soon...

[pengedragon]

ooh interesting, thanks

[theone2k10]

Originally Posted by denphone

Hopefully MB should have some more news soon...

MB knows as much as me at the moment i would imagine.

[pengedragon]

well you both know more than me

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by nialli

My concern regarding the launch of Sky Q and 4K content on the platform is that Sky will step down the bitrates of the HD movies and sports feeds we get. I'm pretty sure I didn't imagine it when we saw the picture quality of SD versions fall when we couldn't get the HD versions on Virgin Media, and I wouldn't put it passed Sky to do similar again.
Not that the HD we get from Sky on VM is anything to write home about - I compared two TiVo recordings I had of the movie Hugo, one recorded from Sky Movies, the other from 4HD, and I couldn't believe the difference, the 4HD one was massively superior whereas the Sky picture lacked sharpness and 'sparkle'.

---------- Post added at 13:11 ---------- Previous post was at 13:05 ----------



Not strictly true; it has almost 4m households with cable TV services which is a large audience for any subscription service. What VM lacks is unique content to negotiate with, but I for one would not be happy if my monthly price was to rise yet again for stuff I don't want.
I for one am quite happy to have VM sitting out the overpriced auctions for sport and other content.

Yes, but the trick will be to hold on to those 4m households. VM must at least keep up, but preferably keep ahead of the game in order to keep its customers.

There is an issue with competition for sports content, I agree, but there is plenty of other content that could be brought to our screens that is not available on other platforms.

The ITV Collections addition to On Demand is welcome, and if expanded, could compensate us for the absence of ITV Encore. More initiatives such as these would be appreciated by most.

The more expensive stuff, such as sport and films should be something for Liberty Global to resolve, IMO.

[Ultimate.Conj]

I was in Currys and PC World over the Xmas period having a look around and customers were leaving with 4K teles left, right and centre.

I don't have one, but it definitely looks like they are getting very popular. I wonder what factors VM look at before they decide to invest in 4K content or not?

[Frazz]

Originally Posted by Ultimate.Conj

I was in Currys and PC World over the Xmas period having a look around and customers were leaving with 4K teles left, right and centre.

I don't have one, but it definitely looks like they are getting very popular. I wonder what factors VM look at before they decide to invest in 4K content or not?

The customers leaving with the 4K televisions is more down to the clever marketing of the companies who are selling them than them being able to access 4K content through their TV provider or streaming it online.

They are being sold on what might be coming available in the future as opposed to what is available now.

I was in Curry's looking at the televisions and was approached by a member of staff who then proceeded to go through all the benefits of the 4K TV's but spent more time getting me to compare the difference in the picture between a HD TV and a 4K TV than being able to let me know where I would get the content from.

The cost of them has also come down so this makes them more affordable too

[Ultimate.Conj]

Originally Posted by Frazz

The customers leaving with the 4K televisions is more down to the clever marketing of the companies who are selling them than them being able to access 4K content through their TV provider or streaming it online.

They are being sold on what might be coming available in the future as opposed to what is available now.

I was in Curry's looking at the televisions and was approached by a member of staff who then proceeded to go through all the benefits of the 4K TV's but spent more time getting me to compare the difference in the picture between a HD TV and a 4K TV than being able to let me know where I would get the content from.

The cost of them has also come down so this makes them more affordable too

This is what I mean Frazz. If the TVs are becoming more affordable and if more VM customers have them, will this be a factor for VM to acquire more 4K content? Or will they just leave customers hanging around with a brand new 4K tv lol

[passingbat]

Originally Posted by Ultimate.Conj

This is what I mean Frazz. If the TVs are becoming more affordable and if more VM customers have them, will this be a factor for VM to acquire more 4K content? Or will they just leave customers hanging around with a brand new 4K tv lol

Netflix and Amazon 4k is natively on most 4k TV's. Sky or BT will not give VM any of their upcoming 4k content. What other 4k content are you thinking off?

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

No, they won't and that is exactly why VM need to get some content of their own, or sign up to contracts with providers who can provide such content.

However the problem with relying on others is that VM has nothing to bargain with.

Virgin is the second best TV platform for content. The other side of the coin is that BT has invested in its own content but still does not have the Sky basic channels or all the Sky sports channels. That being said, I don't think that this should stop VM adding to its on-demand content and it should really have FTA channels like Spike by now.

[Anypermitedroute]

Originally Posted by passingbat

Netflix and Amazon 4k is natively on most 4k TV's. Sky or BT will not give VM any of their upcoming 4k content. What other 4k content are you thinking off?

add to that, we still haven't got all of the HD channels where we have SD, let alone 4k

[Ultimate.Conj]

Originally Posted by passingbat

Netflix and Amazon 4k is natively on most 4k TV's. Sky or BT will not give VM any of their upcoming 4k content. What other 4k content are you thinking off?

If they are bringing out a 4K box, they must be thinking of something. They wouldn't bring out a new box just for people to watch Netflix would they??

If they cannot agree a deal for BT or Sky's 4K content, then I'm not sure where that leaves VM for the new generation of Pay-Tv subscribers who want to make use of the technology that they have. They definitely should have all HD channels that are available too. It's crazy that they don't.

[Media Boy UK]

Originally Posted by dodo1

Any news on any new channels coming to virgin media this year?

Happy new year everyone.

We have not seen anything new so far in 2016.

But we did hear that up to FIVE new channels may launch soon.

Bike Channel is also set to launch and Sony TV UK is set to be rebrand as Sony Channel from January 13th.

[passingbat]

Originally Posted by Ultimate.Conj

If they are bringing out a 4K box, they must be thinking of something. They wouldn't bring out a new box just for people to watch Netflix would they??

If they cannot agree a deal for BT or Sky's 4K content, then I'm not sure where that leaves VM for the new generation of Pay-Tv subscribers who want to make use of the technology that they have. They definitely should have all HD channels that are available too. It's crazy that they don't.

There next box has to be 4k just to be competitive with the other providers, so VM are not perceived as falling behind. Whether they have current 4k content is irrelevant to that decision.

The TV marketers have done a wonderful job selling 4k TVs to people who don't really need them. 4k content is very thin on the ground and the size of TV most people buy, for normal sized homes, will gain nothing picture quality wise over a 1080p set. How many normal sized homes buy 60" TVs? 60" is the minimum sized TV that will gain from 4k.

For enthusiasts, large 4k sets makes sense, especially when 4k bluray becomes widely available. And of course, also for well off people with big houses and room for large screens.

Content availability will doubtless improve in the coming years, but without a big screen, it is still pretty pointless. But given that a big chunk of the general public don't bother to check these things out, manufacturers will continue to milk the 4k TV cow, and VM will have to offer an unnecessary 4k box for fear of being perceived as out of date.