General : Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2015)

[tassiekev]

What I saw whist admiring my crystal b*****ks earlier today:

Carved from a solid piece of crystal (naturally) was the Humax HDR4000 Youview PVR.

It had 4 tuners with the capability to record 4 Freeview HD channels at once or 2 Freeview channels and 2 IPTV channels. Hard drive options were 1tb or 2tb, there were 2 HDMI outputs as well as scart & SPDIF ports.

The usual apps were there: iPlayer, ITVPlayer, All4, 5OD etc as well as Netflix, Amazon Instant, NowTV-HD Entertainment, NowTV-HD Movies & NowTV-HD Sport.........

and then I woke up.

What will happen to Tivo now?

[Taf]

SPIKE

As of 03/04/2015 there has been no confirmation of carriage on Virgin Media, although reports in October confirmed Viacom was seeking distribution arrangements on all major digital TV platforms.

http://www.a516digital.com/2015/02/faq-spike-tv-uk.html

[Itshim]

Originally Posted by theone2k10

f i think as i have a few friends in USA who have various services.

I do. As well as using my code for netflix in the UK or linking with my home set.

[theone2k10]

Originally Posted by Itshim

I do. As well as using my code for netflix in the UK or linking with my home set.

Best of both worlds mate

---------- Post added at 22:58 ---------- Previous post was at 22:57 ----------

Originally Posted by Taf

SPIKE



http://www.a516digital.com/2015/02/faq-spike-tv-uk.html

I wouldn't be surprised if VM are asking stupid ammounts of money for channels to be on their platform, then again too some people only Sky are greedy Virgin media poop golden eggs and can do no wrong

Not aimed at anyone on here btw lol.

[Mad Max]

This defo deserves......

[MacmillaN]

I am hoping SpikeTv gets announced soon for VM, it is basically on every other platform aside from VM, Channel 5 could just re-brand one of their other channels in order to provide it to VM or do what they have done on another platform and rebrand VIVA. Surely VM are aware at how this looks towards their own customers. Can totally understand reasons for SKY Atlantic not being on the platform. But this seems a strange move considering the above!

[Anypermitedroute]

Considering that we still don't have trutv which is available in every other format I am not surprised spike isn't available yet. I am less anxious because if I really need to I can watch on built in freeview but I am questioning myself what the point of having TiVO and 3 tuners if I not got the channels to record

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by theone2k10

I wouldn't be surprised if VM are asking stupid ammounts of money for channels to be on their platform, then again too some people only Sky are greedy Virgin media poop golden eggs and can do no wrong

Not aimed at anyone on here btw lol.

I think when it comes to channels appearing on VM, people need to appreciate that because it's not an open platform, there will always be commercial negoptiations. Sky and Freeview are open platforms so unless the channel wants to be in a Sky pack, there is nothing to negotiate as prices are regulated and there is a market for EPG positions.
With Virgin everything is open for negotiation. One negotiating tactic is to for both parties to hold out as late as possible in the hope of getting the best deal. It depends on which party is most desperate to agree to the other's price.
I'm not pretending this is an ideal situation but I think when you understand how the VM platform works v the others, you appreciate why things are always so frustratingly last minute!

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by Horizon

Indeed, but the deal that VM did with TIVO was signed before LG came along, and, as far as I know, it has several years still to run.

LG have their own middleware (EPG software) called Horizon and its based on a standard that LG, Comcast and others call RDK which I believe is 4k capable.

LG made quite clear that they wanted to achieve scale and efficiencies when they bought VM, but I don't know how they square that with having two different technologies.

There are no current proposals to discontinue the provision of TIVOs to Virgin Media customers.

http://advanced-television.com/2015/...o-partnership/

UK cable MSO Virgin Media has extended its existing five-year partnership with next generation television specialist TiVo for a further three years. As part of the new agreement, Virgin Media has committed to the development of next-generation solutions from TiVo.

PS - Sorry, just seen later posts that make the same point!

---------- Post added at 10:41 ---------- Previous post was at 10:37 ----------

Originally Posted by vincerooney

which again seems odd if theyre trying to bring virgin media fully into the liberty global family which not have everything the same?? same tv box etc. makes me again think they're keeping the two businesses apart, renewing the basic contracts for tivo, upgrading the network to make everything look attractive for a perspective buyer...

We don't really want the Horizon box, though, do we Vince? It may have more tuners, but perversely it has less recording capacity.

I'll stick with the TIVO quite happily!

---------- Post added at 10:44 ---------- Previous post was at 10:41 ----------

Originally Posted by DaMac

Having a great broadband network isn't worth zilch if say Netflix has a major outage, err like it did overnight (prime time in North America)

Unfortunately, DaMac, any system is subject to outages sometimes.

We've had them on Virgin Media. A solar surge can knock out satellites. No system is safe, I'm afraid.

[denphone]

The Horizon box is overrated in my humble opinion compared to the TiVo which quite correctly is not perfect but it still beats most of the competition hands down.

[vincerooney]

Originally Posted by Anypermitedroute

Considering that we still don't have trutv which is available in every other format I am not surprised spike isn't available yet. I am less anxious because if I really need to I can watch on built in freeview but I am questioning myself what the point of having TiVO and 3 tuners if I not got the channels to record

refusing to pay the price for freeview channels....would sadly suggest that spike wont be here anytime soon! bonkers strategy!

[denphone]

Who says they are refusing to pay the price for certain channels as its not as simple as putting channels on a open platform and never will be due to a good many factors and not just price.

[theone2k10]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

There are no current proposals to discontinue the provision of TIVOs to Virgin Media customers.

http://advanced-television.com/2015/...o-partnership/

UK cable MSO Virgin Media has extended its existing five-year partnership with next generation television specialist TiVo for a further three years. As part of the new agreement, Virgin Media has committed to the development of next-generation solutions from TiVo.

PS - Sorry, just seen later posts that make the same point!

---------- Post added at 10:41 ---------- Previous post was at 10:37 ----------

We don't really want the Horizon box, though, do we Vince? It may have more tuners, but perversely it has less recording capacity.

I'll stick with the TIVO quite happily!

---------- Post added at 10:44 ---------- Previous post was at 10:41 ----------

Unfortunately, DaMac, any system is subject to outages sometimes.

We've had them on Virgin Media. A solar surge can knock out satellites. No system is safe, I'm afraid.

Spot on Old Boy no company is perfect as i've mentioned before plusnet had a major outage a few months ago, infact i can't think of any provider that hasn't had a major outage at least once in their lifespan lol.

[muppetman11]

Originally Posted by denphone

Who says they are refusing to pay the price for certain channels as its not as simple as putting channels on a open platform and never will be due to a good many factors and not just price.

Virgin Media is very much a closed platform , channels have to agree commercial terms with VM to be carried on their EPG which is in stark contrast to Sky which is an open platform owing to Sky's dominance in the pay TV market which means anyone can start a channel and be added onto the EPG.

This is how BT Sport launched on Sky without the need for a wholesale agreement.

[telegramsam]

Originally Posted by denphone

Who says they are refusing to pay the price for certain channels as its not as simple as putting channels on a open platform and never will be due to a good many factors and not just price.

Agree with you denphone. Some people are assuming it`s Virgin who are at fault for channels not being available to their customers when it might not necessarily be the case. I for one wouldn`t want Virgin paying over the odds for channels and then putting prices of packages up to cover it.