General : Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2013) Vol. 2.

[trevrpb]

Originally Posted by andy_m

....I reckon it's pretty odds on then that ESPN and ESPN hd will remain as part of xl for free on Virgin, but that we won't get Bt sport.

I'm not sure how you can come to that conclusion. This will all be thrashed out in the final agreement with BT. BT will obviously want to reach as wide an audience as possible. Any agreement made with Virgin will involve a cost, and it maybe that Virgin will no longer be able to have BT owned ESPN & ESPN HD as a 'freebie' on the XL package.
As BT need to get as much an audience as it can to cover their costs of their Premier League rights and the ESPN deal(s), it's 99.9% certain that BT Sports 1,2 and ESPN will be on Virgin and depending how much Virgin will have to pay to carry those channels, including HD variants if offered, will also determine how much Virgin will HAVE to charge its customers.

I love my football and I take the Sky Sports HD package, and I WILL also be taking any BT Sports package that becomes available. It would have to be an astronomical additional cost for me not to.

TrevP

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by Arthurgray50@blu

I have mentioned many times about what channels we should have on the VM, and yes l do complain about these +1 channels, which to me are a waste of time when you think we have TiVo which can receord many channels.

What l would like to see on the network is True Movie2, which is on most of the other cable networks.

Arthur, we have clarified on many occasions that the +1 channels are indeed useful. There have been occasions when there have been five channels broadcasting programmes that I want to see at 9pm, and I have made use of the +1 channels to enable me to do this.

I don't know why you complain about them. If you don't want to use them, don't use them, but please accept that even with a 1TB TIVO box, they still come in useful to some of us. What possible legitimate objection could you have?

---------- Post added at 20:36 ---------- Previous post was at 20:26 ----------

Originally Posted by johnasimmons

I think one of two things will happen:
1 - BT Sport will be a stand alone subscription (like BoxNation)
2 - VirginMedia won't get BT Sport
This is just my personel opinion

Indeed it is John, but you are completely wrong on point 2! Don't be so pessimistic!

[weegiegeek]

If VM were running at capacity, TV-wise, I'd agree with Arthur, but they're not. I don't see the point in complaining about more choice.

As for Tivo, Tivo's fine and well if you knew something was on. It wouldn't be the first time I've found out about something halfway through it airing on the standard channel, but I've been able to catch it on +1.

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by weegiegeek

If VM were running at capacity, TV-wise, I'd agree with Arthur, but they're not. I don't see the point in complaining about more choice.

As for Tivo, Tivo's fine and well if you knew something was on. It wouldn't be the first time I've found out about something halfway through it airing on the standard channel, but I've been able to catch it on +1.

I agree, I think Arthur is still under the impression that the +1 channels are preventing other channels from launching, which is not correct.

You make a good point about catching a live programme half way through. However, as I trawl through my TV & Satellite Week every Tuesday, I pretty well know what's on and I am rarely surprised by something that's on a linear channel that I want to see. I don't miss much!!

[muppetman11]

Originally Posted by nstokes

Thanks Chad. That shows to me that ESPN classic and America are staying on TV

Nope as far as I'm aware only one ESPN branded channel will remain and be operated by BT.

[Horizon]

....indeed and all US sports will transfer from ESPN America to ESPN. Pretty much back to NASN again before it became ESPN.

[andy_m]

Originally Posted by trevrpb

I'm not sure how you can come to that conclusion. This will all be thrashed out in the final agreement with BT. BT will obviously want to reach as wide an audience as possible. Any agreement made with Virgin will involve a cost, and it maybe that Virgin will no longer be able to have BT owned ESPN & ESPN HD as a 'freebie' on the XL package.
As BT need to get as much an audience as it can to cover their costs of their Premier League rights and the ESPN deal(s), it's 99.9% certain that BT Sports 1,2 and ESPN will be on Virgin and depending how much Virgin will have to pay to carry those channels, including HD variants if offered, will also determine how much Virgin will HAVE to charge its customers.

I love my football and I take the Sky Sports HD package, and I WILL also be taking any BT Sports package that becomes available. It would have to be an astronomical additional cost for me not to.

TrevP

Why do you think Bt's primary concern is making their money back straight away? I wouldn't be surprised if they're prepared for it to take longer than the current rights cycle. Offering the channel to Virgin just to add subscriber numbers would fly in the face of their clear efforts to increase subscribers on their own platform. Frankly I can't see why anybody thinks these channels will be available on Virgin - it just wouldn't make any sense for Bt. The fact that Virgin are advertising 18 month deals with free ESPN makes me think that these channels will remain in xl.

[Ben B]

What they ought to do is make them available on Freeview through the CI slot on your TV or card slot on your box much like they do now with Sky Sports and ESPN because then they can sell directly to customers that way and increase audience numbers massively and still offer it free to infinity customers through their aerial. They're likely to get more customers that way as more people have a TV with built in Freeview than there are Sky or BT TV customers. Plus if VM don't get the channels (unlikely) then they can get them that way

[HDFootyMan]

Originally Posted by andy_m

Why do you think Bt's primary concern is making their money back straight away? I wouldn't be surprised if they're prepared for it to take longer than the current rights cycle. Offering the channel to Virgin just to add subscriber numbers would fly in the face of their clear efforts to increase subscribers on their own platform. Frankly I can't see why anybody thinks these channels will be available on Virgin - it just wouldn't make any sense for Bt. The fact that Virgin are advertising 18 month deals with free ESPN makes me think that these channels will remain in xl.

Agreed. This is all about BT gaining customers from Sky, VM and TalkTalk. Providing BT Sports to VM under wholesale would counteract that strategy.

BT are in this for the long haul. Comparisons to ESPN and Setanta are irrelevant since neither of those companies owned a fibre-optic broadband network or offered triple-play services.

[johnasimmons]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

Indeed it is John, but you are completely wrong on point 2! Don't be so pessimistic!

Ok, if you are so sure then what is the source of your information?

[denphone]

Originally Posted by johnasimmons

Ok, if you are so sure then what is the source of your information?

But alas John where is your source on which you have based your pessimism on?.

[johnasimmons]

Originally Posted by denphone

But alas John where is your source on which you have based your pessimism on?.

Point taken - apologies to all

[denphone]

Originally Posted by johnasimmons

Point taken - apologies to all

You don't need to apoligise as l think all we want to know is when or if it is arriving and what price or package it will be.

[Media Boy UK]

Originally Posted by johnasimmons

I believe Sky has More4HD exclusively for 6 months from launch

Likely to be longer than that.

---------- Post added at 15:33 ---------- Previous post was at 15:31 ----------

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter

Re: The recent influx of new channels.

Been told today that that's it for the time being for the addition of any major channels that are currently broadcasting at the moment. We are unlikely to see any more in the immediate future.

ie we may still get new channels like BT Sports and some other minor channels may appear.

As of May 20th at 3.20pm - my insiders has confirmed that no new channels are set to launch on Virgin Media.

[ken1234]

i got BT Sport 1 and 2 free as I am with bt phone and bb after year I pay £3 mm with espn free all the time in hd