General : Coming Soon to Virgin Media TV (2016) Vol 2

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by jj20x

That always seems to be the way, VM launches a few extra channels and more pop up elsewhere. Their acquisitions team seems to be reactive rather than proactive.

I don't think that's entirely fair these days as VM is making an effort. Vice UK is a joint venture with Sky so will be on that platform first. In terms of FTA channels, VM will tend to be later as the TV channel has to negotiate with VM whereas Sky and Freeview are open platforms with set prices.

[denphone]

Well Andrew the doomsayers are still alive and well my old chap.

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by denphone

Well Andrew the doomsayers are still alive and well my old chap.

People also need to understand the economics. VM TV has what - about 3.7m customers. Whereas Sky and Freeview each has over 10m. Broadcast FTA on Sky and you may as well buy a Freesat EPG slot and pick up a couple of million more customers.
The TV channels were neglected for a while by VM but that is no longer the case.

What they do need to sort out are the essentials of:
- Network coverage: in hand
- New box: in hand
- 4G mobile: unknown
- wifi network via Superhub: status unknown, launched in some LGI countries

Then desirables would be:
- Remaining HD channels
- Amazon Prime
- Price freeze
- 4k carriage announcements

[denphone]

Indeed l echo the same thoughts Andrew and one thing l did hear is one of those desirable's is highly like to turn up sooner then we think according to several sources.

[Ultimate.Conj]

Remaining HD channels would be good, but I'm not sure how many of the more popular channels are we missing out on now? VM seem to have got the bigger channels covered.
I don't think any of my recordings are in SD...it was only the ones on Universal channel, but we've got HD variant now :-)

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by Ultimate.Conj

Remaining HD channels would be good, but I'm not sure how many of the more popular channels are we missing out on now? VM seem to have got the bigger channels covered.

Agreed, Universal HD was the biggie that VM sorted out with little fanfare.
Media Boy says that Disney Channel HD, History HD, Crime + Investigation HD are on VM Ireland but not VM UK. So I guess these will come in due course.

[Ultimate.Conj]

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

Agreed, Universal HD was the biggie that VM sorted out with little fanfare.
Media Boy says that Disney Channel HD, History HD, Crime + Investigation HD are on VM Ireland but not VM UK. So I guess these will come in due course.

Kids don't need HD channels, they don't pay for the subscriptions lol

History HD would be good, I'm surprised we don't have C+I HD already...I don't watch that channel though.

[dodo1]

Pany more new channels testing beside the the ones. you mention?

[telegramsam]

A price freeze is a must as far as I'm concerned because the cost is spirialing out of control fast. To the majority of us the "we're improving our services" just doesn't wash anymore. How can services be improving when On demand is at it's worst since Virgin took over from NTL.

[RichardCoulter]

They have been inundated with calls to cancel since the announcement of the price increase.

Doing this on top of the dysfunctional TiVo was the last straw for many people.

This was a kick in the teeth to many once loyal customers, so i'm glad that it's backfired on them.

[Frazz]

I thought the Tivo update was supposed to improve the running of the Tivo,mine is slower than ever since the update

[foxnewsfan]

Yep my TiVo too is so slow it's poor really

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

I don't think that's entirely fair these days as VM is making an effort. Vice UK is a joint venture with Sky so will be on that platform first. In terms of FTA channels, VM will tend to be later as the TV channel has to negotiate with VM whereas Sky and Freeview are open platforms with set prices.

"Making an effort" isn't quite the same as being proactive. It was a statement of fact, new channels will, inevitably, pop up as soon as VM add additional channels. VM don't appear to be very proactive, after all, we are still waiting for History HD. Hardly a new channel and, new kid on the block, BT has managed to carry the channel. Sure, VM have finally managed to add Universal HD to the lineup. Meanwhile though, BT has again managed to out negotiate VM by adding not only Universal HD but also E! HD. Sure though, good effort, must try harder!

Is Freeview an "open platform"? broadcasters have to negotiate a contract with either Arqiva or SDN for carriage on Freeview, just as they would have to negotiate a contract with VM for carriage on cable...

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by jj20x

"Making an effort" isn't quite the same as being proactive. It was a statement of fact, new channels will, inevitably, pop up as soon as VM add additional channels. VM don't appear to be very proactive, after all, we are still waiting for History HD. Hardly a new channel and, new kid on the block, BT has managed to carry the channel. Sure, VM have finally managed to add Universal HD to the lineup. Meanwhile though, BT has again managed to out negotiate VM by adding not only Universal HD but also E! HD. Sure though, good effort, must try harder!

Is Freeview an "open platform"? broadcasters have to negotiate a contract with either Arqiva or SDN for carriage on Freeview, just as they would have to negotiate a contract with VM for carriage on cable...

It's a statement of your opinion, not a statement of fact. VM did lag in this area but has recruited people to improve matters and it has succeeded in this area this year. We've seen examples of VM's proactivity in securing unique content (best UKTV coverage of any platform, exclusive on-demand shows like Kingdom, first TV platform to broadcast Ginx three years before Sky, Fim 4 HD available three years before Sky, exclusive commissioning in place with All3Media and a comedy company, Hayu on-demand app, Netflix before BT and TalkTalk, etc).

It's strange about E!. I guess BT needs the channel more than VM does and is prepared to pay for it. I highlighted the absence of History HD and Crime + Investigation HD in my earlier post. I suspect these might be the subject of a Europe-wide deal; they're on VM Ireland.

Freeview is an open platform because any channel can appear there providing there is sufficient capacity. EPG positions are also strictly regulated. By contrast, VM is the gatekeeper for its platform and channels have to negotiate with it and is not a given.

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

It's a statement of your opinion, not a statement of fact.

Incorrect! It's not my opinion that new channels will appear after VM add channels. I have no opinion on when and if new channels appear. It was a statement of fact, channels come and go all of the time. For example, Blaze will arrive shortly on Freeview. Again, it's not my opinion that Blaze will appear, it actually will appear.

It's strange about E!. I guess BT needs the channel more than VM does and is prepared to pay for it.

Aha! that would indeed be your opinion...

Freeview is an open platform because any channel can appear there providing there is sufficient capacity. EPG positions are also strictly regulated. By contrast, VM is the gatekeeper for its platform and channels have to negotiate with it and is not a given.

Incorrect| As I stated previously, the only way a channel can appear on Freeview is to negotiate a contract with one of the multiplex operators, generally Arqiva (for COM5-COM8) or to a lesser extent SDN, which is limited in that it only operates a single multiplex (COM4). There is no freedom of entry to Freeview, in your terms, Arqiva and SDN are the "gatekeepers" for their respective multiplexes and channels have to negotiate with one of these multiplex operators. The PSB multiplexes are totally closed platforms and don't make space available to independent broadcasters.