TiVo : Will Virginmedia ever match Sky's channel line up?

[Telly_]

I'm just wondering if Virginmedia will ever match Sky TV's channel line up?

I ask this because Sony Movies is free to view, the CBS channels are also free but none appear on Virignmedia. This channels are not in contracts with any other provider but yet they are not on VM.

So does (yes DOES not dose!!!) anyone here think Virginmedia are really committed to new channels and I am talking exclusively about general entertainment channels here CBS and Sony movies.

[BenMcr]

Virgin Media have both CBS Action and CBS Reality

[Telly_]

Originally Posted by BenMcr

Virgin Media have both CBS Action and CBS Reality

Ohh so its only the free channels CBS drama and Sony movies missing? do you have the reality +1

[Chad]

I'd say Virgin are 100% committed to delivering the most popular channels being broadcast in the UK. Both CBS Drama and Sony Movies are free to air and are available to over 10 million SKY customers yet the viewing figures for both channels are very weak according to Barb. Neither are in the top 100 popular channels.

I'd rather Virgin continue to invest in catch up and on demand content. I think Virgin offer a great selection of general entertainment at the touch of a button. Will SKY ever match Virgins' catch up and on demand selection?

[Telly_]

Originally Posted by Chad

I'd say Virgin are 100% committed to delivering the most popular channels being broadcast in the UK. Both CBS Drama and Sony Movies are free to air and are available to over 10 million SKY customers yet the viewing figures for both channels are very weak according to Barb. Neither are in the top 100 popular channels.

I'd rather Virgin continue to invest in catch up and on demand content. I think Virgin offer a great selection of general entertainment at the touch of a button. Will SKY ever match Virgins' catch up and on demand selection?

They have already haven't they?Sky Anytime plus has complete seasons of TV shows in HD, Sports in HD, Movies in HD. ITV Player for catchup. BBC iPlayer on the way.

7 days backwards EPG catch up on the way. If you look at a A-Z listing of VM VOD and Sky VOD Sky seems to have a little bit more content and many newer shows. A lot of VM customers seem to have zero knowledge of Sky anytime and how it is an ondemand service with lots of content. The Sky Anytime on VM is not the same as Sky Anytime+ on Sky.

[Stephen]

Sky in no way has anywhere near as much On Demand content as VM.

VM have their own massive selection of On Demand as well as Sky Anytime+ content, iplayer, 4OD, and itv player content.

[Chad]

Originally Posted by Telly Bear

They have already haven't they?Sky Anytime plus has complete seasons of TV shows in HD, Sports in HD, Movies in HD. ITV Player for catchup. BBC iPlayer on the way.

7 days backwards EPG catch up on the way. If you look at a A-Z listing of VM VOD and Sky VOD Sky seems to have a little bit more content and many newer shows. A lot of VM customers seem to have zero knowledge of Sky anytime and how it is an ondemand service with lots of content. The Sky Anytime on VM is not the same as Sky Anytime+ on Sky.

It appears both of us are really just guessing at who offers the most content on demand. Is there any independent website which confirms just how much content both offer? I've searched Google for about 20 minutes now without finding a proper comparison.

When it boils right down to it I'm glad both companies offer different products and services as it pushes both to innovate. It would not be good for consumers if both just offered the exact same services. At the end of the day customers will choose the provider based on what they are looking for from their TV provider. The reasons I've chosen Virgin won't be the same reasons why you've chosen SKY. At least neither of us are with BT Vision

[Telly_]

Originally Posted by Stephen

Sky in no way has anywhere near as much On Demand content as VM.

VM have their own massive selection of On Demand as well as Sky Anytime+ content, iplayer, 4OD, and itv player content.

Iknow when I had VM their wasn't really that much but I can tell you on Sky anytime+ their is(goes to anytime+ on sky box) bare in mind each channels has pages of content. I do honestly suspect Skyanytime+ will surprise many VM customer for speed and content.

Channels with ondemand content on Anytime+ on Sky.
ITV Player
Sky1
SkyLiving
SkyAtlantic
Watch
Gold
Dave
Comedy central
FX
CHallenge
MTV
Skyarts1
Skyarts2
Alibi
Bio
Discovery real time
Discovery home&health
Home
Good food
Skymovies(all channels)
Sky sports
Skysports f1
ESPN Classic
Skynews
Discovery
Animal planet
NatGeo
Natgeo wild
History
Military
Eden
Crime
Cartoon network
Boomerang
Nickleodeon
DisneyXD
Disney channel
Disney Junior
NickJr
Cartoonio

[Itshim]

Both my "children" have Sky and both would switch but for different "problems "

1) Its not in her street !
2)For him it has not got Sky Atlantic.
The reason both would like to switch is simple the recording capabilities of TiVo .
Nothing else
A lot of Skys content they both agree is rubbish .

[Perfect Choice]

Agreed, a show stopper for me considering Sky if I ever wanted to. Having 3 tuners to record concurrent programmes is absolutely essential in my household, Sky is simply not an option so a case of “will Sky will ever catch up with VM?” As regards that Anytime+ list, plenty of channels there which have OD content of VM so caught up already as far as I am concerned.

Where Sky do lead is total channels available including HD and I don’t ever expect VM to catch up that far, further progress yes but not to take on everything Sky has. But if you want access to every channel, then Sky will always have the edge if that is what is really key to you. However apart from the odd programme/series on Sky Atlantic, I cannot remember the last time I saw a something I couldn’t see on VM.

[heavyside]

An even more compelling reason that TiVo scores over Sky+ (if I'm not mistaken) is that when it becomes possible to network two TiVos in the same household that will in effect give users six tuners to play with. This may not be too far away. The big attraction for me, however, is the on-demand content available via the TiVo. In an ideal future all content will be on-demand to be viewed when I want and not when the broadcaster dictates. It's only really news and sporting events that need to be viewed as they happen.

[denphone]

Originally Posted by Telly Bear

Iknow when I had VM their wasn't really that much but I can tell you on Sky anytime+ their is(goes to anytime+ on sky box) bare in mind each channels has pages of content. I do honestly suspect Skyanytime+ will surprise many VM customer for speed and content.

Channels with ondemand content on Anytime+ on Sky.
ITV Player
Sky1
SkyLiving
SkyAtlantic
Watch
Gold
Dave
Comedy central
FX
CHallenge
MTV
Skyarts1
Skyarts2
Alibi
Bio
Discovery real time
Discovery home&health
Home
Good food
Skymovies(all channels)
Sky sports
Skysports f1
ESPN Classic
Skynews
Discovery
Animal planet
NatGeo
Natgeo wild
History
Military
Eden
Crime
Cartoon network
Boomerang
Nickleodeon
DisneyXD
Disney channel
Disney Junior
NickJr
Cartoonio

It's seriously getting boring now with all your TiVo and VM bashing, if you know the answers why ask? Good luck with your Sky sevices and I am honestly pleased for you. Please go to the Sky forums and justify your purchase with like minded people because to be honest the majority of people here are sick of reading your anti Virgin posts and your biased Sky posts.

[Telly_]

Originally Posted by denphone

It's seriously getting boring now with all your TiVo and VM bashing, if you know the answers why ask? Good luck with your Sky sevices and I am honestly pleased for you. Please go to the Sky forums and justify your purchase with like minded people because to be honest the majority of people here are sick of reading your anti Virgin posts and your biased Sky posts.

Thankyou for your kind comments, at last you admit defeat and I hope your master is not to displeased with you An to be fair I don't "bash" VM but I do state the rest are catching up.

---------- Post added at 10:58 ---------- Previous post was at 10:56 ----------

Originally Posted by heavyside

An even more compelling reason that TiVo scores over Sky+ (if I'm not mistaken) is that when it becomes possible to network two TiVos in the same household that will in effect give users six tuners to play with. This may not be too far away. The big attraction for me, however, is the on-demand content available via the TiVo. In an ideal future all content will be on-demand to be viewed when I want and not when the broadcaster dictates. It's only really news and sporting events that need to be viewed as they happen.

Sky will be networking Sky boxes in beta as early as July,So you'll be able to watch recordings from one box on another box in a different room. You'll also be able to access you planner on your mobile device/tablet so can down load your recordings for watching on the move.

[Alan Fry]

I hope Virgin has the sense to add further channels to go some way to matching Sky (more HD channels and Sky Atlantic etc.

Anyway I have recently deisided to drop the 2 V HD boxes and replace them with Sky+ HD boxes. So that I can get Sky Atlantic etc (The rest of my TV service, as well as Phone and Broadband however, still comes from Virgin Media)

[Stephen]

Originally Posted by Telly Bear

I know when I had VM their wasn't really that much but I can tell you on Sky anytime+ their is(goes to anytime+ on sky box) bare in mind each channels has pages of content. I do honestly suspect Skyanytime+ will surprise many VM customer for speed and content.

Channels with ondemand content on Anytime+ on Sky.
SNIP

Honestly? you mustn't have been looking very hard.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_TV#On_demand

Virgin TV ranks as the UK's largest provider of on-demand content, with over 3 million video on demand (VoD) customers and as of October 2011 over 6,500 hours of programming.

I imagine that by now its well over 7,000 hours.