General : Coming Soon to Virgin TV (2015)

[Bananaman_007]

I fully expect ITV Encore to be added once the exclusive period with Sky runs out.

As for set top boxes, what is to say the next box will run the TIVO software? Don't LG have a different box that they use in Europe on the cable network? Surely standardising will save them money.

I also think that something will have to be done with regards to on demand content Virgin is being left in the dust by Sky, Now TV and even BT

[denphone]

Yes Virgin used to lead the pack with their on demand content but sadly now in regards to that they are stuck in the slow lane while the others have motored ahead.

[johnathome]

Originally Posted by denphone

Yes Virgin used to lead the pack with their on demand content but sadly now in regards to that they are stuck in the slow lane while the others have motored ahead.

Dare i say they dropped behind the offerings of iPlayer and 4od.

[vincerooney]

virgin media as i've said before appear to be aggressively attempting to save money. increased prices, no new services etc. upgrading their broadband network only but one could argue this is to attract a buyer by having a speedy infrastructure already. a bit like putting a bit of lipstick on and a tight dress before heading out to a club.

the tv area of virgin media doesnt make them much money and would only cost them money getting new channels etc so isnt an area to invest in. i'm becoming more and more convinced theyre trying to sell.

based on just those assumptions...but i have nothing else to do when im in my single bed in my mums boxroom at night so dont shout at me...

[Mad Max]

Originally Posted by vincerooney

virgin media as i've said before appear to be aggressively attempting to save money. increased prices, no new services etc. upgrading their broadband network only but one could argue this is to attract a buyer by having a speedy infrastructure already. a bit like putting a bit of lipstick on and a tight dress before heading out to a club.

the tv area of virgin media doesnt make them much money and would only cost them money getting new channels etc so isnt an area to invest in. i'm becoming more and more convinced theyre trying to sell.

based on just those assumptions...but i have nothing else to do when im in my single bed in my mums boxroom at night so dont shout at me...

Do you have trouble getting into those tight little numbers Vince......

[vincerooney]

Originally Posted by Mad Max

Do you have trouble getting into those tight little numbers Vince......

haha well! ive put on some holiday weight this year...

[tassiekev]

Originally Posted by vincerooney

virgin media as i've said before appear to be aggressively attempting to save money. increased prices, no new services etc. upgrading their broadband network only but one could argue this is to attract a buyer by having a speedy infrastructure already. a bit like putting a bit of lipstick on and a tight dress before heading out to a club.

the tv area of virgin media doesnt make them much money and would only cost them money getting new channels etc so isnt an area to invest in. i'm becoming more and more convinced theyre trying to sell.

based on just those assumptions...but i have nothing else to do when im in my single bed in my mums boxroom at night so dont shout at me...

You must be quite a sight when you go clubbing, Vince.

I have to agree that the situation doesn't look good. My contract is up in app 3 months and looking around, I can get BT 'phone, calls, BB & TV for £44 plus another £38 to Sky for the full TV package in HD with mountains of box sets, movies etc. Admittedly, the BB isn't as fast but then I don't need it to be - 30Mbps is enough for streaming etc. More TV for less money unless VM look really good in that lippie & tight dress!

I'd be amazed if BT don't set up a 'Sky Sports 5' type operation for Champions League which will be chargeable.

[Aguero9320]

Originally Posted by harry_hitch

If it's not on a dnp, can you share what any of the potential HD content might be?

QVC! Hahaha!

[Horizon]

Originally Posted by Bananaman_007

As for set top boxes, what is to say the next box will run the TIVO software? Don't LG have a different box that they use in Europe on the cable network? Surely standardising will save them money.

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.

---------- Post added at 21:10 ---------- Previous post was at 21:06 ----------

Originally Posted by denphone

Yes Virgin used to lead the pack with their on demand content but sadly now in regards to that they are stuck in the slow lane while the others have motored ahead.

LG have their own streaming service called myprime and I think it's case of when, not if, it's introduced onto VM's cable service. I would expect this service to replace much of VM's own on demand offering.

[vincerooney]

Originally Posted by tassiekev

You must be quite a sight when you go clubbing, Vince.

I have to agree that the situation doesn't look good. My contract is up in app 3 months and looking around, I can get BT 'phone, calls, BB & TV for £44 plus another £38 to Sky for the full TV package in HD with mountains of box sets, movies etc. Admittedly, the BB isn't as fast but then I don't need it to be - 30Mbps is enough for streaming etc. More TV for less money unless VM look really good in that lippie & tight dress!

I'd be amazed if BT don't set up a 'Sky Sports 5' type operation for Champions League which will be chargeable.

i think the same to be honest. company spending billions allowing cable company to offer coverage for free for a further year...

they wont even offer their own customers free champions league football next year. never mind us!

[Superblade7]

Originally Posted by vincerooney

virgin media as i've said before appear to be aggressively attempting to save money. increased prices, no new services etc. upgrading their broadband network only but one could argue this is to attract a buyer by having a speedy infrastructure already. a bit like putting a bit of lipstick on and a tight dress before heading out to a club.

the tv area of virgin media doesnt make them much money and would only cost them money getting new channels etc so isnt an area to invest in. i'm becoming more and more convinced theyre trying to sell.

based on just those assumptions...but i have nothing else to do when im in my single bed in my mums boxroom at night so dont shout at me...

I think you are right Vince. In my opinion I also think VM are now starting to suffer due to lack of content ownership. Sky own much of their content and can afford to advertise half price deals, Sky Atlantic, etc and BT can use BT Sport as a pull to get customers to sign up for their products. Both Sky and BT can also make money from distributing their content online through Now TV and the BT Sport app/website whereas in these days of growing streaming, VM have nothing to offer in terms of content. VM have also lost their big advantage of fibre BB too since the Infinity roll out began.

VM's whole marketing strategy is we've got the fastest broadband and you get 3 tuners on TiVo, free repairs and some other free crap included.

I would hazard a guess that, unless you are a heavy downloader and need the bandwidth, most consumers would be more than happy with a reliable 50Mb connection for general browsing, streaming, etc. Therefore VM need to realise that this continual speed doubling is getting to the stage where very few people will care what the headline speeds are because to the average consumer, they will notice little difference between 100Mb and 300Mb.

So whilst VM will always have a strong offering in the BB market, their TV service is suffering as not only do they lack some content but they are probably the most expensive provider if you choose to take premium content like Sky Sports / Movies.

And regardless of all the above, the number 1 deciding factor for most consumers is price. VM therefore have to be careful not to price themselves out of the market. I notice on the VM website that they've got some pretty decent discounts on their bundles for new customers so I think it will be an interesting few months ahead as Sky and BT are becoming more aggresive and both are / will soon be offering quad-play options too.

[Derekb108]

Originally Posted by denphone

Yes Virgin used to lead the pack with their on demand content but sadly now in regards to that they are stuck in the slow lane while the others have motored ahead.

Its probably harder to get ondemand contracts due to the exclusively of sky's deals. Sky's tendencies to make deals exclusively to their platforms and thus makes it harder for other platforms to make deals. And kills other ondemand platforms dead in the water.

[heavyside]

Originally Posted by denphone

Yes Virgin used to lead the pack with their on demand content but sadly now in regards to that they are stuck in the slow lane while the others have motored ahead.

Totally agree!

[Media Boy UK]

Lamhe to close today and &TV to launch on Easter Monday.

There is what V+ Boxes are reporting:

-Lamhe to close at 12pm on April 2nd.
-&TV to launch at 7pm on Easter Monday.

&TV will launch on Virgin Channel 811.

[RichardCoulter]

Originally Posted by Media Boy

Lamhe to close today and &TV to launch on Easter Monday.

There is what V+ Boxes are reporting:

-Lamhe to close at 12pm on April 2nd.
-&TV to launch at 7pm on Easter Monday.

&TV will launch on Virgin Channel 811.

Mine says channel off air from midday and then "Channel coming soon". This then alternates beyond 7pm on Easter Monday

Not that i'm bothered about a channel like this; but it does seem bizarre to pull a channel off air, leave a break and then restart.