SKY VS Virgin Media

[alferret]

Oh I agree, although Vonage isnt the same as a fixed line the vonage box allows any phone to be connected to it either Tone or Pulse, its just the data rate that the Sky box does its call back at thats the problem. (anyway enough of my comments time I got back to the pop )

[Gareth]

Today's (Monday) Grauniad has a section on who's winning - if anyone - between Sky and Virgin Media.

Branson v Murdoch - who is winning?

In the midst of a battle it's often hard to tell who is even gaining advantage, let alone actually winning. The government's decision to refer Sky's 17% ITV shareholding to regulators over concerns that it might bring with it undue influence must have brightened Richard Branson's day. But then there was the skirmish over the price Sky wanted Virgin Media to pay for some of its channels - notably Sky One, Sky News and Sky Sports News - which spiralled out of control with the result that those channels are now not available to Virgin Media subscribers. A plague on both your houses, you might say.

But for Virgin this is starting to look like a most spectacular own goal. Just as it is attempting to leave behind the company's painful history of terrible service, the loss of the Sky channels has created another great customer service nightmare so redolent of times past. Service centres are reportedly overwhelmed with customers wanting to discuss their contracts. And for every customer that can't get through or has to wait ages for an answer, anything achieved by the rebrand will have been undone.

Whatever the merits of the arguments, and for all that it is costing Sky millions in lost revenues, Virgin's decision to take on Sky in this way and at this point suggests that big egos have got the better of careful strategy - or at least that's how some in the City are already seeing it.

http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcas...031508,00.html (requires free registration)

[andygrif]

Which I think is pretty much you and I, and a couple of notable others, have been saying all along.

Nice to see it in an impartial paper too...rather than the slightly embarrasing bit in the business section of the Sunday Times yesterday, which was more like an advertorial for Sky than anything else.

Originally Posted by Gareth

Today's (Monday) Grauniad has a section on who's winning - if anyone - between Sky and Virgin Media.


http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcas...031508,00.html (requires free registration)

Could you check the link, please, Gareth - I have tried linking and I get -
"We haven't been able to serve the page you asked for.
If you typed in a URL, please make sure you have typed it correctly. In particular, make sure that the URL you typed is all in lower case. "

And I can't find the story on the business or technology pages.

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by alferret

Oh I agree, although Vonage isnt the same as a fixed line the vonage box allows any phone to be connected to it either Tone or Pulse, its just the data rate that the Sky box does its call back at thats the problem. (anyway enough of my comments time I got back to the pop )

Actually, being pedantic, it's probably the fact that the compression most VOIP services uses prevents use of modems (such as that built into the Sky + box) working. Modems use a far wider variety of frequencies than speech, and these compression systems tend to drop any frequencies not used by speech.

[Gareth]

Originally Posted by foreverwar

Could you check the link, please, Gareth - I have tried linking and I get -
"We haven't been able to serve the page you asked for.
If you typed in a URL, please make sure you have typed it correctly. In particular, make sure that the URL you typed is all in lower case. "

And I can't find the story on the business or technology pages.

Oops, yeah, doesn't seem to work any more... sowwy.

I just found the article again and it now has this url:

http://media.guardian.co.uk/mediagua...031474,00.html

Otherwise, you can search for it using the phrase "Branson v Murdoch - who is winning?" and it's in an article called "Media FAQ" dated 12th March.

Sorry for the inconvenience

Thank you, kind sir - that link works.

[ruthie]

Just to let you all know that someone finally came and fixed the cable cabinet outside our house today YEAY!!!!!

(still miss my 24's though...has anyone any idea if VM might get it back somehow?)

[Media Boy UK]

I found this today from 1989

[Teejay69]

TBH I didn't notice the missing content.
The only thing SKY bleat about is Lost. I think that's a perfect description of the plot

[Shaun]

Originally Posted by Matt D

OK, so a Sky box can't use VoIP, but it *can* use a Virgin Media landline, just as it can use a BT landline.

Originally Posted by Stuart C

Actually, being pedantic, it's probably the fact that the compression most VOIP services uses prevents use of modems (such as that built into the Sky + box) working.

But if you pay Vonage for a second "fax" line it should work fine - it's £2.99 a month and can be added to your Vonage device in seconds (they all have a second port).

Originally Posted by TV Boy

From Todays Sunday Times

For the three services you need a BT line but that's now that you said:

Originally Posted by TV Boy

The woman on the phone was talking to me for about 10mins or so. She offers me TWO MONTHS free on Family pack and Sky Sports.

Originally Posted by TV Boy

When I ask the woman 'Can I keep my Virgin Media phone'? She says 'Sorry you will have to join BT.'

You weren't after the three (or not from your comment above) so The Times is right, you do need a BT line for "See, Speak, Surf" but not for just TV.

[D0gleg]

Originally Posted by TV Boy

I found this today from 1989

Arggghhhh!!!!

I can't stop my feet from tapping now.

What have you done

[mertle]

Originally Posted by D0gleg

Arggghhhh!!!!

I can't stop my feet from tapping now.

What have you done

he he.

bloomin heck that old astra promo brought back memories of that channel which kept telling about astra.

I had my dish trained from the living room to the astra satalitle. Could move it around to pick up others. It was brilliant but if you got it not just right that freckling would appear.

Today you could never get away with slapping a dish on a wooden block to watch satalite through a double glased window. Bah technology .

I used to love moving to watch 3sat & german football via other satalites. One thing was if you bought your reciever mine was amstrad VHS satelite built in tuner. The trouble you had to get an official genuine sky card without a box. You had to find the local dealer prove/plead to them that all you need is a card. I wonder if its any easier as when cable came out we was one of the very first to be cabled in the country it was then diamond communications.

Even now I get sky hounding me to come back and its well over 10 years.

[ruthie]

A London radio station (LBC) interviewed a media journalist from the Guardian on this subject this morning. At the end of the interview he said he would be very very surprised if VM didn't get the Sky channels back in the end, under some kind of face-saving deal.

I don't care what kind of deal, I hope he's right!

[nood]

After Sky put this ransom on their channels, then stopped their service via Virgin Media, then produced TV and billboard ads telling us things like "Virgin dropped 24, switch to Sky and get Jack back" I've dumped them.
I don't like companies that play dirty tricks and I won't give them any more of my money. Virgin Media is being installed at the end of the month.

If only I could influence a few thousand people to do the same.