TiVo : Liberty Global - what will they bring to the table?

Originally Posted by tvtimes

Name them?

8 million potential viewers (assumes 2 people per home) Don't know all their names though?

[tvtimes]

Originally Posted by Top banana

8 million potential viewers (assumes 2 people per home) Don't know all their names though?

Clearly not otherwise we'd have btsport and Sky atlantic by now. Sky and BT obviously fewl they dont need Vms 8m subscribers.
When it comes to non isp channels then yeah sure.
When Vm had their tv arm had considerable leverage.

[spiderplant]

Originally Posted by tvtimes

Clearly not otherwise we'd have btsport by now.

Err... It doesn't launch until August.

Originally Posted by tvtimes

When Vm had their tv arm had considerable leverage.

Perhaps you could back that up with some examples?

[batchain]

Originally Posted by tvtimes

When Vm had their tv arm had considerable leverage.

You have this weird memory loss thing going on....


"- In January, despite a 15 per cent per cent increase in the viewing share of Virgin Media TV's channels over the last three years in Sky homes, Sky forced Virgin Media to accept an 85 per cent reduction in the price it pays for the channels

- Even when adjusted for the Sky basic channels' marginally higher share of total viewership and its larger subscriber base, Sky is demanding an annual price per subscriber some 1700 percent higher than it pays for the Virgin Media TV channels

This gaping disparity in channel valuation is the hallmark of Sky's systematic abuse of dominance and their longer term objective of suppressing existing and emerging competition from other companies. Throughout both sets of negotiations, Virgin Media have proposed relatively small adjustments to the status quo (mostly in Sky's favour). Sky, by contrast, have consistently tried to use their market power to fundamentally change in their favour the dynamics of the pay TV market."

[andy_m]

Virgin used their leverage, they were never going to be able to use it twice, and we did nicely out of it. I don't think that the latest deal means Atlantic is coming, but there is no doubt that the relationship between the two companies is improving, and that must be a good thing.

[Dave42]

Originally Posted by tvtimes

Clearly not otherwise we'd have btsport and Sky atlantic by now. Sky and BT obviously fewl they dont need Vms 8m subscribers.
When it comes to non isp channels then yeah sure.
When Vm had their tv arm had considerable leverage.

then why was it VM only got the sky HD channels when they sold the channels to sky

Yeah, Bravo & Living were hardly a massive draw, if a draw at all. Living was pathetic until Sky took over.

[denphone]

VM boss backs VoD and fibre.

Virgin Media chief executive Tom Mockridge has restated that high-speed broadband is at the heart of the business and revealed plans to ramp up VoD services.

“We are going to stay unambiguously in front on broadband,” said Mockridge, speaking extensively for the first time since his appointment in May in the wake of Liberty Global’s $23.3bn (£15bn) takeover of the cable company. “Our HFC [hybrid fibre cable] network is the heart of the business.”

In terms of programming and channels, the 58-year-old New Zealander believes that Virgin Media can “pick and choose” what it needs from third parties, rather than creating content itself.

He also hinted at tougher channel carriage negotiations for TV providers that want to be on the Virgin network, saying: “We are not going to be able to support every entrepreneurial venture.”

Mockridge is proud of VM’s pioneering deal to offer Netflix via its TiVo boxes, alongside Virgin’s other VoD offers. This is part of the content business that Mockridge is keen to develop further. “The Netflix deal is not transformative but it is another piece of having a comprehensive offer,” Mockridge explained.

Mockridge is also willing to spend when necessary. One of his first big programming negotiations was for BT Sport, reaching a deal that is understood to be worth £70m over the next three years.

http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/news/m...063639.article

[denphone]

Liberty Global’s Next Frontier Could Be Content.


http://stream.wsj.com/story/markets/SS-2-5/SS-2-389023/

[steveh]

Though they just sold their content division Chellomedia to AMC Networks (who it seems want to launch their channels in Europe rather than selling their programmes (like Breaking Bad) to other channels).

If you look back at the history of Liberty Global's chairman John Malone he's basically a dealmaker, buying companies when the price is right then selling bits off when others value them more then buying them back again later at a better price. Through first TCI and then Liberty Media and Liberty Global he's had his fingers directly or indirectly in every major US media company at one time or another.

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by denphone

Liberty Global’s Next Frontier Could Be Content.


http://stream.wsj.com/story/markets/SS-2-5/SS-2-389023/

But Tom Mockridge said differently in your quote:

'In terms of programming and channels, the 58-year-old New Zealander believes that Virgin Media can “pick and choose” what it needs from third parties, rather than creating content itself.'

So I think the position is a little confused!

I did like his reference to 'a comprehensive offer', though. I don't care where the programmes come from, be it Sky, Netflix or wherever - but I want that content!

[denphone]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

But Tom Mockridge said differently in your quote:

'In terms of programming and channels, the 58-year-old New Zealander believes that Virgin Media can “pick and choose” what it needs from third parties, rather than creating content itself.'

So I think the position is a little confused!

I did like his reference to 'a comprehensive offer', though. I don't care where the programmes come from, be it Sky, Netflix or wherever - but I want that content

Yes the more content available to customers the better.

[Horizon]

Originally Posted by steveh

Though they just sold their content division Chellomedia to AMC Networks (who it seems want to launch their channels in Europe rather than selling their programmes (like Breaking Bad) to other channels).

If you look back at the history of Liberty Global's chairman John Malone he's basically a dealmaker, buying companies when the price is right then selling bits off when others value them more then buying them back again later at a better price. Through first TCI and then Liberty Media and Liberty Global he's had his fingers directly or indirectly in every major US media company at one time or another.

Yep. And he's getting old, so his days of doing deals will be coming to an end soon, so he may be looking at one last big deal before retirement.

In a recent Telegraph article (link below) they were suggesting that the offloading of Chellomedia was to make the business less complicated so that someone like Vodafone can come along ang buy it.

Long term, whoever the owner is, I believe cable needs its own content otherwise it's simply a utility like gas and water.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/n...afone-bid.html

[theone2k10]

Originally Posted by Jameseh

Yeah, Bravo & Living were hardly a massive draw, if a draw at all. Living was pathetic until Sky took over.

Sky have treated living like crap , when vm had living you only had to wait a few months for new seasons of Supernatural , Nikita etc.
Sky took over Living now you wait for over a year.

[passingbat]

Originally Posted by theone2k10

Sky have treated living like crap , when vm had living you only had to wait a few months for new seasons of Supernatural , Nikita etc.
Sky took over Living now you wait for over a year.

And they dumped Teen Wolf, White Collar and Chuck part way through. Thankully, various Netflix regions have all of those.