General : Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2023)

[Itshim]

wondering if I and perhaps Mr k are misreading what's happening looking at EPG SD channels are still available on Tuesday and Wednesday . Just hd moved around or is the EPG behind still ?

[epsilon]

Originally Posted by cheekyangus

Sky Arts SD is FTA on Freeview and Freesat so I'm not surprised it's sticking around for now.

In Scotland 113 has been empty since STV HD moved to 103. BBC3 has to be in Top 24 slots so I'm expecting it to take 113 in Scotland (and Wales maybe, depending on how their EPG lineup is).

Funnily enough, I had just made the same point about 113 on DS and maybe something could be done about the slot sharing arrangement for BBC Alba / ITV Be +1. STV SD was removed a long time ago though, so why wasn't BBC 3 moved earlier?

The Sky Arts situation is more about what isn't being disclosed on the discovery bar info. I get that Sky won't want the Mixit / M / Player version in HD but I can't see it staying in SD for users on levels in between. Sky Arts was originally in the Documentaries personal pick so the HD version could be made available to anyone with that. Probably better to put it in the Entertainment+ Tier though as the SD version is already available to basic level users. Same with Sky News HD, although there are no details at all of what will happen there. It will be interesting to see which subscription tiers the Sky channels fall into after the change.

---------- Post added at 14:17 ---------- Previous post was at 14:09 ----------

Originally Posted by Itshim

wondering if I and perhaps Mr k are misreading what's happening looking at EPG SD channels are still available on Tuesday and Wednesday . Just hd moved around or is the EPG behind still ?

A lot of SD channels with dual illumination (i.e. also available in HD) will be removed with the HD channels shuffled up to fill the gaps. I guess the HD channels will also have to change to the subscription packs used by the SD channels being removed or there will be a lot of phone calls from disgruntled customers.

[japitts]

Sky Entertainment in HD used to be one of the USPs with Maxit bundle, and not repicable via the Personal Picks.

It's not a surprising move all things taken, but this is a little bit of value being taken out of Maxit, also.

[TimeLord2018]

They should consider bundling Paramount+ into the Bigger Bundle or something.

[ncfc1902]

Originally Posted by epsilon

Provisional EPG slots for the Sky Sports UHD channels:


532 SkySportsMainEventUHD (a catchy name for that one )

533 Sky Sports UHD 1

534 Sky Sports UHD 2


Only added to 1 internal network at the moment, so don't try to tune in just yet.

Maybe Sky Sports SD will close and the the new UHD channels and Sky Sports Racing taking over slots from 511.

[epsilon]

Originally Posted by japitts

Sky Entertainment in HD used to be one of the USPs with Maxit bundle, and not repicable via the Personal Picks.

It's not a surprising move all things taken, but this is a little bit of value being taken out of Maxit, also.

I'm wondering how many customers will now decide to switch to entertainment+whatever rather than staying on Maxit. It is a game changer, especially for customers not interested in BT Sport.

---------- Post added at 16:21 ---------- Previous post was at 16:18 ----------

Originally Posted by TimeLord2018

They should consider bundling Paramount+ into the Bigger Bundle or something.

They might have to add streaming packages to keep customers on Maxit when it is no longer the exclusive home of Sky's HD channels.

---------- Post added at 16:22 ---------- Previous post was at 16:21 ----------

Originally Posted by ncfc1902

Maybe Sky Sports SD will close and the the new UHD channels and Sky Sports Racing taking over slots from 511.

That sounds... optimistic.

[Itshim]

Originally Posted by epsilon

Funnily enough, I had just made the same point about 113 on DS and maybe something could be done about the slot sharing arrangement for BBC Alba / ITV Be +1. STV SD was removed a long time ago though, so why wasn't BBC 3 moved earlier?

The Sky Arts situation is more about what isn't being disclosed on the discovery bar info. I get that Sky won't want the Mixit / M / Player version in HD but I can't see it staying in SD for users on levels in between. Sky Arts was originally in the Documentaries personal pick so the HD version could be made available to anyone with that. Probably better to put it in the Entertainment+ Tier though as the SD version is already available to basic level users. Same with Sky News HD, although there are no details at all of what will happen there. It will be interesting to see which subscription tiers the Sky channels fall into after the change.

---------- Post added at 14:17 ---------- Previous post was at 14:09 ----------


A lot of SD channels with dual illumination (i.e. also available in HD) will be removed with the HD channels shuffled up to fill the gaps. I guess the HD channels will also have to change to the subscription packs used by the SD channels being removed or there will be a lot of phone calls from disgruntled customers.

Ain't showing yet. Still both on epg

[epsilon]

Originally Posted by Itshim

Ain't showing yet. Still both on epg

Because the change isn't happening until Tuesday. I doubt that Virgin will be paying their listings provider to replace the regular EPG listings with "channel no longer available" when the details of the channels moving is plastered all across the discovery bar.

[Itshim]

Originally Posted by epsilon

Because the change isn't happening until Tuesday. I doubt that Virgin will be paying their listings provider to replace the regular EPG listings with "channel no longer available" when the details of the channels moving is plastered all across the discovery bar.

As normal then ,EPG is next ot useless.

[SonicMaster]

If all the SD versions of Sky's channels are replaced by the HD versions (except for Sky Arts and Sky News), along with the HD versions of the ITV and Channel 4 networks replacing the SD versions, both the Personal Picks and Maxit TV packages will be severely compromised, so maybe it's time to ditch the convoluted Personal Picks model entirely, and simplify the V6/360 offering to just Mixit TV and Maxit TV?

Based on what what we think will happen on Tuesday, the Personal Picks will look something like this...

Entertainment
Sky Showcase HD
Sky Witness HD
Sky Witness +1
Sky Max HD
Sky Comedy HD
GOLD HD
GOLD +1
Comedy Central HD
Comedy Central +1

+ Drama
Alibi HD
Alibi +1
Sky Sci-Fi HD
Sky Replay
TCM HD
TCM +1
Movies 24
Movies 24+

+ Documentaries
ID
ID +1
Crime+Investigation HD
Crime+Investigation +1
Eden HD
Eden +1
Discovery HD
Discovery +1
Animal Planet HD
Animal Planet +1
Discovery History
Discovery History +1
Discovery Science
Discovery Science +1
Discovery Turbo
National Geographic HD
National Geographic +1
National Geographic WILD
Sky HISTORY HD
Sky HISTORY +1
Sky HISTORY2 HD
Sky Documentaries HD
Sky Nature HD

+ Lifestyle
MTV HD
Comedy Central Extra
Sky Crime HD
Sky Crime +1
E! HD
E! +1
TLC HD
TLC +1
MTV Music
MTV Live HD
MTV Hits
MTV 90s
MTV 80s
The Box
4Music
Kiss
Magic
Kerrang

+ Sport Lite
Sky Sports News HD
Sky Sports Mix HD
Eurosport 1 HD
Eurosport 2 HD

[epsilon]

Originally Posted by Itshim

As normal then ,EPG is next ot useless.

Basically, yes. Although the channel no longer available listings are usually in place because the channel slot will still be available to display it. As the SD slots will be immediately reoccupied with HD channels (largely), after the channels have moved the "closure" listings would be replaced by listings for the active channel occupying the slot. There will probably be "Heads Up" popup / overlays for a while, informing viewers that the change has happened but doing it through the EPG is redundant when the slots are being reused.

---------- Post added at 17:25 ---------- Previous post was at 17:17 ----------

Originally Posted by SonicMaster

If all the SD versions of Sky's channels are replaced by the HD versions (except for Sky Arts and Sky News), along with the HD versions of the ITV and Channel 4 networks replacing the SD versions, both the Personal Picks and Maxit TV packages will be severely compromised, so maybe it's time to ditch the convoluted Personal Picks model entirely, and simplify the V6/360 offering to just Mixit TV and Maxit TV?

Based on what what we think will happen on Tuesday, the Personal Picks will look something like this...

I think that what happens to the subscription packs will be the most interesting part of Tuesday's changes. The Entertainment tier could be flooded with extra channels with the other sections becoming more specialised. Followed by an over the top price increase to justify the extra channels. Just one option, anything could happen.

[Rankrotten]

Interesting to see the upcoming addition of Sky Sports UHD 4k channels. Hopefully will be feature compatible with the Sky Q versions with HDR and surround audio. Was hoping for Sky Sports F1 UHD as a standalone channel.

[TimeLord2018]

Originally Posted by Rankrotten

Interesting to see the upcoming addition of Sky Sports UHD 4k channels. Hopefully will be feature compatible with the Sky Q versions with HDR and surround audio. Was hoping for Sky Sports F1 UHD as a standalone channel.

The channel names mentioned Sky Sports Main Event UHD , Sky Sports UHD 1 and Sky Sports UHD 2 are the ones that are on Sky , UHD 1 & 2 aren't on Sky EPG itself but via the red button.

[Dave42]

Originally Posted by Rankrotten

Interesting to see the upcoming addition of Sky Sports UHD 4k channels. Hopefully will be feature compatible with the Sky Q versions with HDR and surround audio. Was hoping for Sky Sports F1 UHD as a standalone channel.

i had totally given up on getting them but be so great to see them

[Rankrotten]

Originally Posted by TimeLord2018

The channel names mentioned Sky Sports Main Event UHD , Sky Sports UHD 1 and Sky Sports UHD 2 are the ones that are on Sky , UHD 1 & 2 aren't on Sky EPG itself but via the red button.

Might be easier to set a planned recording on the VM UHD channels than the Sky Q red button option.