General : Coming soon to Virgin TV 2014

[Media Boy UK]

Freeview News: Two more channels set to launch on Freeview.

Both Chart Show TV and CBS Reality has been given an 'New DTT channel licence' to broadcast on Freeview by Ofcom.

Channel still to launch on Freeview:

-Chart Show TV
-CBS Reality
-Sony Movie Channel
-Sony Movie Channel +1
-TBN Europe

---------- Post added at 12:22 ---------- Previous post was at 12:06 ----------

Confirmed: Sky Movies Superhero to launch on April 14th for two weeks.

Smallworld has confirmed that Sky Movies are set to rebrand Sky Movies Greats for two weeks as Sky Movies Superheros from April 14th to April 27th.

How can I find Sky Movies Greats?

-Sky Movies Greats Smallworld Channel 309 and Virgin Channel 410.
-Sky Movies Greats HD Smallworld Channel 337 and Virgin Channel 440.

http://www.smallworldcable.com/News/...es-Superheroes

[mike_gain]

Originally Posted by Chad

Very true. Virgin Media have TiVo and super-fast broadband. I can't see Virgin allowing their competitors to use TiVo or share their broadband network anytime soon. I wouldn't want them too either. Keeps innovation and competition healthy.

Sky have been using the backhaul part of Virgin's network since last year (for a price) so Virgin aren't totally hogging their infrastructure for their own customers and technically are sharing it with others....so long as the "others" meet the price.

Until Sky see advertising revenue from Atlantic as more important than it being exclusive to Sky customers then we aren't going to see it.

In my eyes Now TV is a suitable alternative as I can see Game of Thrones without a Sky subscription for less than it would cost to buy the DVDs next year and when Game of Thrones is finished I don't have a monthly subscription to maintain.

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by mike_gain

Sky have been using the backhaul part of Virgin's network since last year (for a price) so Virgin aren't totally hogging their infrastructure for their own customers and technically are sharing it with others....so long as the "others" meet the price.

Until Sky see advertising revenue from Atlantic as more important than it being exclusive to Sky customers then we aren't going to see it.

In my eyes Now TV is a suitable alternative as I can see Game of Thrones without a Sky subscription for less than it would cost to buy the DVDs next year and when Game of Thrones is finished I don't have a monthly subscription to maintain.

Can you see all the previous series of Game of Thrones and SAs other shows on Now TV?

---------- Post added at 12:47 ---------- Previous post was at 12:45 ----------

Originally Posted by Chad

Very true. Virgin Media have TiVo and super-fast broadband. I can't see Virgin allowing their competitors to use TiVo or share their broadband network anytime soon. I wouldn't want them too either. Keeps innovation and competition healthy.

I don't think this is a true comparison. We are talking about TV content, not hardware and infrastructure.

Your TIVO comparison would have been better made against the Sky + box, and Virgin viewers don't get that. I am also not clear whether VM has an exclusive contract with TIVO. Does anyone know if this is the case?

---------- Post added at 12:52 ---------- Previous post was at 12:47 ----------

Originally Posted by Dave42

sky could do that by doing deals for SA with other providers for a reasonable price they don't want anyone to have it that why they set unreal price they know no one would pay

They don't want others to have Sky Atlantic, we are agreed on that.

What I was suggesting was a deal with Sky whereby we get the non-first run HBO series on demand. This would preserve Sky's USP (SA would only be available on Sky satellite and Now TV and they would still have exclusive rights to first run HBO shows).

If they don't do this, it's only a matter of time before we get a similar arrangement with another provider on subscription. As that would deny Sky some extra income, that wouldn't really be a very intelligent way for Sky to manage their HBO deal.

[passingbat]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

I am also not clear whether VM has an exclusive contract with TIVO. Does anyone know if this is the case?

.

As far as I'm aware, the current Tivo is exclusive to VM in the UK.

[mike_gain]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

Can you see all the previous series of Game of Thrones and SAs other shows on Now TV?[COLOR="Silver"]

I believe Sky have made the 1st 3 series available on demand and that a similar arrangement has been made for Now TV. I haven't activated my entertainment pass yet so haven't been able to check.For series 4 each episode will be available for 30 days on Now TV.

I paid £24 for my Now TV box which has given me a month of films (which we've used to watch about 6 films) and 4 months of the entertainment pass, which should be enough to cover the 12 episodes of series 4. I could quite easily acquire series 4 via other means as I may or may not have done previously but for convenience the Now TV box does it for me.

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by mike_gain

I believe Sky have made the 1st 3 series available on demand and that a similar arrangement has been made for Now TV. I haven't activated my entertainment pass yet so haven't been able to check.For series 4 each episode will be available for 30 days on Now TV.

I paid £24 for my Now TV box which has given me a month of films (which we've used to watch about 6 films) and 4 months of the entertainment pass, which should be enough to cover the 12 episodes of series 4. I could quite easily acquire series 4 via other means as I may or may not have done previously but for convenience the Now TV box does it for me.

Yes, I thought it was something like that. I don't want to be driven to watch a whole series in a month; I want to watch it in my own time as I can with my recordings and with Netflix.

Now TV is not the box for me, then!

[passingbat]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

What I was suggesting was a deal with Sky whereby we get the non-first run HBO series on demand. This would preserve Sky's USP (SA would only be available on Sky satellite and Now TV and they would still have exclusive rights to first run HBO shows).

If they don't do this, it's only a matter of time before we get a similar arrangement with another provider on subscription. As that would deny Sky some extra income, that wouldn't really be a very intelligent way for Sky to manage their HBO deal.

I really hope I'm wrong but I just don't see this happening. Sky don't care that VM users haven't got HBO content. In fact they probably love it, as it drives people to Now TV.

Exclusive deals are a sad fact of life these days. It's why Vikings is only available on Amazon instant and not Netflix. Consumers hate it but greedy content providers love it. Fortunately, there are ways around it whereby you can still pay for the content (i.e. not steal it) and stick a metaphorical finger up at the outdated system at the same time.

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by passingbat

As far as I'm aware, the current Tivo is exclusive to VM in the UK.

Thanks, PB, although I'm a bit surprised as exclusivity would have cost them more. It's not like VM to pay extra to be exclusive!

[mike_gain]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

Yes, I thought it was something like that. I don't want to be driven to watch a whole series in a month; I want to watch it in my own time as I can with my recordings and with Netflix.

Now TV is not the box for me, then!

You don't have to watch a whole series in a month. Each episode is available for 30 days after its broadcast date. The first episode will expire just as the 5th becomes available. Fair enough there is still a constraint but 30 days to watch an episode of a show I am desperate to watch is long enough for us. We might sometimes wait a week to watch a recording of something but in general we watch things within about 3-4 days of broadcast.

[passingbat]

Originally Posted by mike_gain

I believe Sky have made the 1st 3 series available on demand and that a similar arrangement has been made for Now TV. I haven't activated my entertainment pass yet so haven't been able to check.For series 4 each episode will be available for 30 days on Now TV.

I paid £24 for my Now TV box which has given me a month of films (which we've used to watch about 6 films) and 4 months of the entertainment pass, which should be enough to cover the 12 episodes of series 4. I could quite easily acquire series 4 via other means as I may or may not have done previously but for convenience the Now TV box does it for me.

The trouble is, not all HBO shows' back seasons are available. According to MM, they add them for different shows at intermittent intervals.

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by mike_gain

You don't have to watch a whole series in a month. Each episode is available for 30 days after its broadcast date. The first episode will expire just as the 5th becomes available. Fair enough there is still a constraint but 30 days to watch an episode of a show I am desperate to watch is long enough for us. We might sometimes wait a week to watch a recording of something but in general we watch things within about 3-4 days of broadcast.

I'm still watching shows I recorded last summer, so being forced to watch stuff before I'm ready would be a step closer to the old system of being beholden to the programme schedulers. I want good flexibility, which Netflix gives me, so hopefully we will get an alternative via Amazon Instant before too long.

If we got a subscription deal with them, that would be the best solution. I understand from others on here that it's only the first run HBO dramas that are subject to an exclusivity deal that prevents this.

[passingbat]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

I'm still watching shows I recorded last summer, so being forced to watch stuff before I'm ready would be a step closer to the old system of being beholden to the programme schedulers. I want good flexibility, which Netflix gives me, so hopefully we will get an alternative via Amazon Instant before too long.

Bear in mind that titles do expire from Netflix and Amazon instant.

[nialli]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

Yes, I thought it was something like that. I don't want to be driven to watch a whole series in a month; I want to watch it in my own time as I can with my recordings and with Netflix.

Now TV is not the box for me, then!

OB - they have the previous four weeks' episodes available in On Demand on the Atlantic shows, so you don't have to watch them all within a single month. For GoT, there are ten episodes in season 4 so that's plenty of time to view. Also, when in OD you can pause, rewind etc, which you can't do with the broadcast stream.
I'll be watching both GoT and Mad Men on my Now TV box this April, then stop paying when the former finishes again (Mad Men's only 7 episodes this season)

[Lostlam]

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

The crowd has up to 76mb broadband, Virgin Media has uip to 120mb. Surely this is a key USP? Other less important USPs include Netflix integrated with a PVR, ability to get broadband without a landline and an extensive mobile phone offering, and the Ginx gaming channel. Virgin also has the widest channel range and best HD offering apart from Sky so would stand out from BT and TalkTalk on its channels alone.

Unless I am missing something, don't VM still throttle customers' BB?

[passingbat]

Originally Posted by Lostlam

Unless I am missing something, don't VM still throttle customers' BB?

http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/12...nt-update.html