Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2009)

[Media Boy UK]

LIVING HD may launch on September 4th.

Someone has posted an rumour on DS Forums that LIVING HD may launch on Virgin TV on the 4th of September.

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/s...8&postcount=40

[Andrewcrawford23]

Originally Posted by Media Boy

LIVING HD may launch on September 4th.

Someone has posted an rumour on DS Forums that LIVING HD may launch on Virgin TV on the 4th of September.

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/s...8&postcount=40

Sounds about right

[Media Boy UK]

List on post one has now been update.

Media Boy list update news: August Bank Holiday.

Due to August 31st being an non-Scottish Bank Holiday I have moved some of the dates about on when I will update post one.

New dates will be as followed:

August 24th update will now be posted on August 21st.
August 31st update will now be posted on August 26th.
September 7th will be update on that date.

NOTE: If something big happen on Virgin TV I will update on September 2nd as well.

[accessjunky]

Would it be looking too deep to think that Living HD is being launched on VM now in order to ensure it's carriage before sale of the channel to Sky?

[Felim_Doyle]

Personally IMHO it is a shame to see the VMTV channels sold off and I hope that it won't go ahead. If anything, I'd like to see VMTV expand their portfolio of channels.

I think it would be particularly bad if the channels went to Sky although it is probably not enough of a monopolies issue to be blocked by the authorities. I imagine Sky would tailor the content to fit in with their existing channels and we (non-Sky customers) would ultimately lose some choice.

I'm not sure what VM's financial reasons are for the sell-off but this must be the worst possible time for them to get a good price while we're still in recession. That is probably why the other potential UK / European bidders have gone quiet. Nobody has spare cash at the moment.

Let's hope the new guy has been brought in to salvage the situation rather than make VMTV ripe for sale and broker a deal.

[cllp1975]

We're all seeing the negatives here - it's quite possible that any deal brokered for the sale of the VMTV channel portfolio would contain many caviats to protect the main VM content delivery business - perhaps even a lifelong agreement to share content across the two platforms. This deal might not be as disastrous as everyone is thinking, it may even lead to the twin holy grails of Sky's HD channels and red button content - perhaps even a guarantee that there would never be another event like the great blackout of 2007-8! They'd be daft not to make that insurance policy as part of the sale.

It's very easy to be sniffy about the VM top brass - but remember, they're some of the country's top executives. If they DON'T think of things like this, heads would roll.

Compare it with, say, planning permission. When Amazon built their new super-warehouse just outside Swansea, caviats (in planning they're called "106 Clauses") were included which stated that Amazon had to finance a by-pass and a school. Such things are rife in business. Watch this space - it could be the best thing that ever happened to the Cable platform.

[vtallandy]

Originally Posted by cllp1975

We're all seeing the negatives here - it's quite possible that any deal brokered for the sale of the VMTV channel portfolio would contain many caviats to protect the main VM content delivery business - perhaps even a lifelong agreement to share content across the two platforms. This deal might not be as disastrous as everyone is thinking, it may even lead to the twin holy grails of Sky's HD channels and red button content - perhaps even a guarantee that there would never be another event like the great blackout of 2007-8! They'd be daft not to make that insurance policy as part of the sale.

It's very easy to be sniffy about the VM top brass - but remember, they're some of the country's top executives. If they DON'T think of things like this, heads would roll.

Compare it with, say, planning permission. When Amazon built their new super-warehouse just outside Swansea, caviats (in planning they're called "106 Clauses") were included which stated that Amazon had to finance a by-pass and a school. Such things are rife in business. Watch this space - it could be the best thing that ever happened to the Cable platform.

Well said - hopefully could be the best thing ever...

I for one am very pleased with the way things are happening at the moment (HD etc) and would never want to return to the dark time (Sky Blackout)
Keep up the good work Virgin !!!

[Felim_Doyle]

Originally Posted by cllp1975

We're all seeing the negatives here - it's quite possible that any deal brokered for the sale of the VMTV channel portfolio would contain many caviats to protect the main VM content delivery business - perhaps even a lifelong agreement to share content across the two platforms. This deal might not be as disastrous as everyone is thinking, it may even lead to the twin holy grails of Sky's HD channels and red button content - perhaps even a guarantee that there would never be another event like the great blackout of 2007-8! They'd be daft not to make that insurance policy as part of the sale.

It's very easy to be sniffy about the VM top brass - but remember, they're some of the country's top executives. If they DON'T think of things like this, heads would roll.

Compare it with, say, planning permission. When Amazon built their new super-warehouse just outside Swansea, caviats (in planning they're called "106 Clauses") were included which stated that Amazon had to finance a by-pass and a school. Such things are rife in business. Watch this space - it could be the best thing that ever happened to the Cable platform.

I think that Fibre Optic to your Set-Top-Box and Broadband Router, with all that comes with it, will be the best thing that ever happened to the Cable platform.

As for caveats and codicils in sales contracts, they are unlikely to be binding. It's difficult to get anyone to commit to your restrictions on their product or service. If you bought a used car would you sign an agreement saying you'd keep it the same colour or only drive it on dry days?

Not really the same thing as a council insisting that you build the road to a new housing estate, retail park or commercial premises.

[spiderplant]

Originally Posted by Felim_Doyle

I think that Fibre Optic to your Set-Top-Box and Broadband Router, with all that comes with it, will be the best thing that ever happened to the Cable platform.

Why? What would that give you that a 4Gbps coax cable doesn't?

[Andrewcrawford23]

Originally Posted by spiderplant

Why? What would that give you that a 4Gbps coax cable doesn't?

IF you dnt know why a fibre connection is better i think your in the wrong business only joking. Why fibre because techincally is infite capacity, and has a lot of otehr benefits that virign could use apart form broadband and tv. but i dnt see it happening for at least 10-20 years or until bt is starting to cause a threat

[spiderplant]

Originally Posted by Andrewcrawford23

IF you dnt know why a fibre connection is better i think your in the wrong business

Actually I used to work in fibre networking. At a world-beating 50Mbps.

Originally Posted by Andrewcrawford23

Why fibre because techincally is infite capacity,

Well it's certainly high, but you need to be able to source and consume the data at that speed. And that's the problem. There aren't the applications to use it.

Originally Posted by Andrewcrawford23

has a lot of otehr benefits that virign could use apart form broadband and tv

Such as?

Originally Posted by Andrewcrawford23

but i dnt see it happening for at least 10-20 years

On this we agree. No-one would lay cable in bulk these days, but there's plenty of life in the old dog yet.


ps. How's the search going?

[zantarous]

The sale the of the VM channels to Sky would be terrible, I wouldn't have thought that Sky would be interetsed in keeping the brands more like stripping away the IP's for their own channels. It really would sign the death note for cable and make it even more difficult for Virgin to play on a equal footing. Even selling it to Time Warner wouldn't be good, as long as Sky control a platform and channels Virgin need to do the same.

Also the rumour of Living launching on the 4th is just speculation by the poster on DS.

[Andrewcrawford23]

Originally Posted by spiderplant

Actually I used to work in fibre networking. At a world-beating 50Mbps.

Well it's certainly high, but you need to be able to source and consume the data at that speed. And that's the problem. There aren't the applications to use it.


Such as?


On this we agree. No-one would lay cable in bulk these days, but there's plenty of life in the old dog yet.


ps. How's the search going?

Someone found a link to a another news site that reported what the ceo said, but i am begining to tyhink it was the 50mb launch not a quarterly result

[Felim_Doyle]

Originally Posted by spiderplant

Why? What would that give you that a 4Gbps coax cable doesn't?

The bandwidth to supply every television and radio channel on the planet with room to spare for some not from this planet! Plus unspeakably fast broadband (not that I need more than my 10Mb right now).

Somewhere in a far, far, distant galaxy they're receiving 1950s episodes of 'I Love Lucy' for the first time! That should stop them coming!

[Media Boy UK]

Originally Posted by zantarous

Also the rumour of Living launching on the 4th is just speculation by the poster on DS.

Well I did say in post one that

4th. Virgin Media Television may launch Living HD on Virgin TV Virgin Channel 110 today.