When exactly are Virgin putting on more HD channels?

Originally Posted by moroboshi

A few points:

Firstly your list of HD channels available on VM is incorrect, as some, such as Sci-Fi, Discovery, E4, and Eurosport are only available to some VM areas, not all. Maybe that will change this year, maybe not. I'm not holding my breath.

Obviously this is a little subjective, but Living HD is total sewage. Sorry, but it just is. Any channel which devotes much of it's time to so called 'psychics' and 'ghost hunters' is a total joke. It's pathetic and VM should either radically change it's line-up, or bin it. That it's watched by an apparently reasonable amount of people does not make it a quality channel. Lots of people read 'The Daily Mail' and that's about as intellectually stimulating as toilet paper.

Sky One HD is obviously Sky's jewel in the crown and the biggest, most obvious hole in VM's line-up. They have many of the big US drama imports exclusively. VM need to fix this problem soon.

Personally I find VM's HD line-up to be pretty weak, and while the addition of Discovery HD, History HD, and Sky One HD would be nice, I think the larger problem is the lack of BBC One, Two, and Four in HD. BBC HD merely shows a scattershot selection of BBC programming, and I'd like to see the BBC fully embrace HD this year. Not VM's fault obviously, just a geneneral grumble about the poor state of HD in this country, even on Sky HD.

Yes it is very subjective isn't it. To say that living is sewage and suggest that there is something wrong with the people who watch it and then call Sky 1 a jewel is hilarious. Since Sky 1 returned to cable I have watched one film on it and that's all.

As for the areas not getting their full quota of HD, yes that is unfortunate, but why exaggerate and suggest it probably wont be sorted by year end?
You must know when VM have said it will be completed and with new areas being converted every week have you any evidence that their claim is wildly optimistic? My area hasn't been done yet so I would be interested to know what your evidence is. I'm Northants what area are you?

[spiderplant]

Originally Posted by mersey70

Has the new network/analogue switch off really freed up the capacity to allow 20-30 HD channels.

No. More than that.

Originally Posted by mersey70

I only ask as a number of +1 channels were dropped when the new channel line up began but it could be completely unrelated.

That may have been for contractual reasons. Also bear in mind the SD channels (apart from Cartoonito) were launched in non-NG areas too.

[mersey70]

Originally Posted by spiderplant

No. More than that.

That may have been for contractual reasons. Also bear in mind the SD channels (apart from Cartoonito) were launched in non-NG areas too.

Thanks for the reply, that is good news.

[musicbravo]

SKY are advertising for new poo stirrers. They are charged with the difficult task of getting people's backs up on neutral forums. All they ask is you make a daft threat to leave because you can, repeat age old questions about ethernet and USB ports and generally..... well I could go on. In doing this hopefully you leave VM quickly, join SKY and get back under your bridge, where the goats and sheep will be along shortly to follow you.

Apologies if all this sounds rude but I went out last night, now have a hangover and didn't really expect to see trolls this early in the day.

Right I'm off to the pub to see my beloved tricky trees.

May you all have happy times.

[Sirius]

Originally Posted by musicbravo

SKY are advertising for new poo stirrers. They are charged with the difficult task of getting people's backs up on neutral forums. All they ask is you make a daft threat to leave because you can, repeat age old questions about ethernet and USB ports and generally..... well I could go on. In doing this hopefully you leave VM quickly, join SKY and get back under your bridge, where the goats and sheep will be along shortly to follow you.

Apologies if all this sounds rude but I went out last night, now have a hangover and didn't really expect to see trolls this early in the day.

Right I'm off to the pub to see my beloved tricky trees.

May you all have happy times.

[moroboshi]

Originally Posted by ahardie

Yes it is very subjective isn't it. To say that living is sewage and suggest that there is something wrong with the people who watch it and then call Sky 1 a jewel is hilarious. Since Sky 1 returned to cable I have watched one film on it and that's all.

As for the areas not getting their full quota of HD, yes that is unfortunate, but why exaggerate and suggest it probably wont be sorted by year end?
You must know when VM have said it will be completed and with new areas being converted every week have you any evidence that their claim is wildly optimistic? My area hasn't been done yet so I would be interested to know what your evidence is. I'm Northants what area are you?

I'm no fan of Murdoch, I despise the man and all he stands for, so it pains me to praise Sky One. However praise it I must, as it's line up of Lost, 24, Fringe, and House is simply one of the best around. I'm sure it shows a whole truck load of tabloid slime as well, but I'm obviously never going to watch that.

Living TV seems to pride itself on serving the bizarre tastes of fans of the supernatural and other nonsense. If they presented these shows as fiction, then fine, but they don't. Selling fiction as facts is morally bankrupt to say the least. It's what I would expect from something with the Murdoch name on it, not Virgin.

As for all areas getting the new HD channels soon, maybe I'll be surprised and Virgin will keep their word. Think back though, think of the years of total incompetance and disinterest in HD. I think I have plenty of reasons to remain sceptical. Also fresh in my memory is the totally bungled 50mbit roll out. I had to endure 6 months of basically broken internet access, where my connection was simply off far more than it was on, and many (20+) engineer visits where they would be able to get me back online for a day or two at most until something broke at the headend again. Incompetance seems to be VM's speciality.

[Afcwimbledon2]

Originally Posted by moroboshi

A few points:

Firstly your list of HD channels available on VM is incorrect, as some, such as Sci-Fi, Discovery, E4, and Eurosport are only available to some VM areas, not all. Maybe that will change this year, maybe not. I'm not holding my breath.

Obviously this is a little subjective, but Living HD is total sewage. Sorry, but it just is. Any channel which devotes much of it's time to so called 'psychics' and 'ghost hunters' is a total joke. It's pathetic and VM should either radically change it's line-up, or bin it. That it's watched by an apparently reasonable amount of people does not make it a quality channel. Lots of people read 'The Daily Mail' and that's about as intellectually stimulating as toilet paper.

Sky One HD is obviously Sky's jewel in the crown and the biggest, most obvious hole in VM's line-up. They have many of the big US drama imports exclusively. VM need to fix this problem soon.

Personally I find VM's HD line-up to be pretty weak, and while the addition of Discovery HD, History HD, and Sky One HD would be nice, I think the larger problem is the lack of BBC One, Two, and Four in HD. BBC HD merely shows a scattershot selection of BBC programming, and I'd like to see the BBC fully embrace HD this year. Not VM's fault obviously, just a geneneral grumble about the poor state of HD in this country, even on Sky HD.

The Line up is pretty strong, and the VM line up list is correct.

Annoying as it is - the difference in technology used between the 3 original providers means that VM has to upgrade every single headend to provide the service.

Everyone WILL get all the HD line up by July.

Originally Posted by moroboshi

I'm no fan of Murdoch, I despise the man and all he stands for, so it pains me to praise Sky One. However praise it I must, as it's line up of Lost, 24, Fringe, and House is simply one of the best around. I'm sure it shows a whole truck load of tabloid slime as well, but I'm obviously never going to watch that.

Living TV seems to pride itself on serving the bizarre tastes of fans of the supernatural and other nonsense. If they presented these shows as fiction, then fine, but they don't. Selling fiction as facts is morally bankrupt to say the least. It's what I would expect from something with the Murdoch name on it, not Virgin.

As for all areas getting the new HD channels soon, maybe I'll be surprised and Virgin will keep their word. Think back though, think of the years of total incompetance and disinterest in HD. I think I have plenty of reasons to remain sceptical. Also fresh in my memory is the totally bungled 50mbit roll out. I had to endure 6 months of basically broken internet access, where my connection was simply off far more than it was on, and many (20+) engineer visits where they would be able to get me back online for a day or two at most until something broke at the headend again. Incompetance seems to be VM's speciality.

Personally I'm not a fan of either channel. They both have a few American imports and loads of tabloid rubbish. Also Sky 1 had programmes with Derek Acorah trying to contact Michael Jackson so I still fail to see why Living is excrement and Sky one is a jewel or why there is something wrong with people who watch Living but it is OK to watch Sky 1. The fact that you think a few American imports and loads of tabloid rubbish makes the channel a jewel suggests you are no more discerning a viewer than those you choose to look down your nose at.

Neither have you presented any evidence that the NGTV roll out will be overdue by many months in spite of all the evidence to the contrary.

[spiderplant]

Originally Posted by moroboshi

As for all areas getting the new HD channels soon, maybe I'll be surprised and Virgin will keep their word.

The rollout is going well and looks likely to finish in the first week of June.

Originally Posted by moroboshi

Also fresh in my memory is the totally bungled 50mbit roll out.

That one finished early too.

What problems did you have with it? You didn't post anything here (unlike your problems with 20Mbps)

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by moroboshi

I'm no fan of Murdoch, I despise the man and all he stands for, so it pains me to praise Sky One. However praise it I must, as it's line up of Lost, 24, Fringe, and House is simply one of the best around. I'm sure it shows a whole truck load of tabloid slime as well, but I'm obviously never going to watch that.

You can argue that Sky 1 is good, but in my experience, the shows you list (and the Simpsons sometimes) are the only shows that Sky has that are any good. And, TBH, Lost has been dragging since halfway through season 2 and the only reason I am still watching it is in the vain hope they might actually explain some of the storyline before it ends.

[peterjcat]

The Simpsons are in HD now and would be good to see that way on Sky1. It also would have been fun to watch 24 in HD, it's very drab and blurry on the SD version, but it looks like we'll miss out there. Now I'm hoping we get Sky1 HD in time for Terry Prachett's "Going Postal"!

Sky1 seems more like a general entertainment channel whereas Living I think is skewed slightly towards the female demographic. It could be a valuable addition to Sky's lineup for that reason. My wife watches Criminal Minds etc on it, and I hope nobody on here is insulting my wife!

Of course it's childish to say that any channel is crap, you have to realise that your opinion isn't the only one that counts.

[cogoni]

Originally Posted by musicbravo

In doing this hopefully you leave VM quickly, join SKY and get back under your bridge, where the goats and sheep will be along shortly to follow you.

Cool. Will do, and will you be there too, or do i have to seek an invitation?

---------- Post added at 21:16 ---------- Previous post was at 21:10 ----------

Originally Posted by peterjcat

Of course it's childish to say that any channel is crap, you have to realise that your opinion isn't the only one that counts.

But did i say it was? I speak my opinion i get called a troll, i critique and i get called a sky employee. Funny, how to critique an (in all honesty) a average company with terrible customer service (which now i know why, most of the employees come on here, keyboard and all, to type away those who "diss virgin") you get a flurry of cheap insults and lame remarks, just for stating your own opinion.
Hell even a bit of feed back, "Give me, a paying customer, more channels Virgin! (or else im leaving)" and with that the virgin customer service employees come out in force to tell you "f-off to Sky then, TROLL!".
Totally pitiful if you ask me. A few usb ports, a decent set top box and HD channels worth watching, is that so much to ask? Sky it is then.

[Digital Fanatic]

Originally Posted by cogoni

Cool. Will do, and will you be there too, or do i have to seek an invitation?

---------- Post added at 21:16 ---------- Previous post was at 21:10 ----------



But did i say it was? I speak my opinion i get called a troll, i critique and i get called a sky employee. Funny, how to critique an (in all honesty) a average company with terrible customer service (which now i know why, most of the employees come on here, keyboard and all, to type away those who "diss virgin") you get a flurry of cheap insults and lame remarks, just for stating your own opinion.
Hell even a bit of feed back, "Give me, a paying customer, more channels Virgin! (or else im leaving)" and with that the virgin customer service employees come out in force to tell you "f-off to Sky then, TROLL!".
Totally pitiful if you ask me. A few usb ports, a decent set top box and HD channels worth watching, is that so much to ask? Sky it is then.

Which VM staff have said that? I can't see any staff in this thread saying that?

Originally Posted by cogoni

Cool. Will do, and will you be there too, or do i have to seek an invitation?

---------- Post added at 21:16 ---------- Previous post was at 21:10 ----------



But did i say it was? I speak my opinion i get called a troll, i critique and i get called a sky employee. Funny, how to critique an (in all honesty) a average company with terrible customer service (which now i know why, most of the employees come on here, keyboard and all, to type away those who "diss virgin") you get a flurry of cheap insults and lame remarks, just for stating your own opinion.
Hell even a bit of feed back, "Give me, a paying customer, more channels Virgin! (or else im leaving)" and with that the virgin customer service employees come out in force to tell you "f-off to Sky then, TROLL!".
Totally pitiful if you ask me. A few usb ports, a decent set top box and HD channels worth watching, is that so much to ask? Sky it is then.

I'm not a cable employee Cognoni and I haven't criticised your posts. What I would say though is that although I would agree that it would be good if VM enabled the USB port, the ports on Sky boxes are not enabled either. The other thing is that there seems to be an inconsistency in your posts. You say on the one hand that HD is overrated but on the other hand that you will leave if you don't get more HD channels, just when VM are adding more. Could it be that is why other forum members are irritated and not because they are VM employees? Anyway if you think you will get better VFM with Sky then of course you should move.

[Andrewcrawford23]

Originally Posted by Digital Fanatic

Which VM staff have said that? I can't see any staff in this thread saying that?

generally i say something in the lien that if yout hink sky is so great then go but i aint even said a word and ic ant see any vm staff saying anything to them