Virgin Central: Mini Review

[HDFootyMan]

The good:

• Virgin weren’t joking – all available content is FREE!
  
• When people and tell you “this is nothing new”, ask them if, before today, you could watch episodes of Alias, The Closer, Nip/Tuck, Little Britain, The Office and Spooks for FREE, On-Demand via the red button. Remind them that until now, episodes of Alias were 99p per episode.
• Of course, being served from VOD servers means you can Fast forward, rewind, pause etc.
  
• Red button actually works on both my Pace box and V+
  
  
  

The bad:

• Shows which could be in widescreen, aren’t.
• No sign of HD content. At least, not yet. Come on Virgin, I want Alias's Jennifer Garner on Demand in my bedroom in High-Def!
  

And that’s it, really. Virgin Central does what it says on the tin and you can’t ask for much more then that especially when its free. There’s up to 3 episodes available for each show and content will be updated every 15 days.

Other shows expected to appear on the channel in the future include The OC, West Wing, Grey's Anatomy, Criminal Minds, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and CSI: Miami. Plus any more shows which Virgin buys the VOD rights to (not including content from HBO service - that will be a separate service).

[savvychels]

Cool - glad to hear it does what it says. Now if only my red button would work (not working on either V+ for anything or Samsung for V Central).

[lostandconfused]

i thought it was only free for the first 3 months, after that it will be £5 a month unless your on the XL package?

[HDFootyMan]

Originally Posted by lostandconfused

i thought it was only free for the first 3 months, after that it will be £5 a month unless your on the XL package?

Where did you hear that?

Nothing about pricing has been mentioned on the trailers, or even on Virgin's press release:
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix....628&highlight=

[Tod]

Originally Posted by lostandconfused

i thought it was only free for the first 3 months, after that it will be £5 a month unless your on the XL package?

They said there will be EXTRA content for the first 3 months, nothing about paying after 3 months

[v0id]

So this sounds like Virgin Central is just Teleport TV rebranded, with less choice :/

[AndyCambs]

Originally Posted by v0id

So this sounds like Virgin Central is just Teleport TV rebranded, with less choice :/

And the promise of HD content in the future:

The agreement sees Virgin Media strengthen its service even further, following recent content deals with Channel 4, HBO, Buena Vista and Alliance Atlantis. Initially, episodes from some the top Warner Bros series will be made available on Virgin Central, Virgin Media's new TVoD-enabled channel, launched today. The agreement also includes the provision of high definition versions of the programmes in the future.

http://pressoffice.virginmedia.com/p...679&highlight=

[Stephen]

Originally Posted by lostandconfused

i thought it was only free for the first 3 months, after that it will be £5 a month unless your on the XL package?

Nope that is the TV Choice VOD section. Virgin Central is totally free.

[mertle]

I have to admit I must have been one of the first to try this.

I was still up at nearly 3 am due to me having flu just could not sleep. So I thought may as well watch tv. Just decided to try 119 at around 3 am.

Holly behold it was running. It said something like only autherised personel only yet still worked. Will I get into trouble.

No code was needed although this morning I have needed my pin.

First thoughts very good even works on my other pace box which is hates you accessing VOD..

Actually mentioning VOD the content is now huge. well done virgin media.

[ecw199]

Can I can assume that as I have no VOD on my V+ box (due to flashing online light) then I won't be able to access Virgin central either

[AndyCambs]

Originally Posted by DarthYoda

Nope that is the TV Choice VOD section. Virgin Central is totally free.

Getting confused here, so what's the difference between TV Choice and Virgin Central? Are there different programmes?

[carmad]

I received a mailshot about Virgin Central this morning stating that as long as i continued with the XL package it would always be free.

Originally Posted by ecw199

Can I can assume that as I have no VOD on my V+ box (due to flashing online light) then I won't be able to access Virgin central either

That box isnt connected correctly and needs an engineer call out

Virgin Central in the form its in at this point = waste of time and effort and is just a gimmick. Once there is more content that isnt already on vod then we may be talking but I cant see the point when we have vod which is your choice tv anyway. Nothing new waste of time and just a marketing ploy

[mertle]

Originally Posted by ecw199

Can I can assume that as I have no VOD on my V+ box (due to flashing online light) then I won't be able to access Virgin central either

Your best bet hit the red thing and try it.

One of my boxes hates accessing VOD but works virgin Central no problems.

Infact when you can get VOD up and running as I found out with the second box which works in VOD. You can access the content via the on demand too.

[v0id]

Originally Posted by zinglebarb

Virgin Central in the form its in at this point = waste of time and effort and is just a gimmick. Once there is more content that isnt already on vod then we may be talking but I cant see the point when we have vod which is your choice tv anyway. Nothing new waste of time and just a marketing ploy

Exactly what I was trying to subtly say in my earlier post.
What's the point? There's more choice on VoD, and at least IT WORKS. I tried pressing red on VC to see what the fuss was about again, and.....a big fat nothing. No loading, just a blank interactive menu