Sky or VM for TV???

[Chad]

Originally Posted by gcampbell

"the 43 channels ahead of Sky Atlantic are all on Virgin media"

or to put it another way, the 43 channels ahead of Sky Atlantic are available to 4 million (6 million inc freeview) more viewers than are available to Sky Atlantic.

Very true, but still a fact based on the info supplied by BARB.

Let's look at it this way. SKY have 10,200,000 TV customers. Based on the latest BARB figures only 726,000 customers watch SKY Atlantic on a daily basis. This means only 7.12% of SKY's own customers tune in each day to the channel.

Virgin currently have 3,800,000 TV customers however it's not clear how many are actually on the M package i.e. don't receive SKY basic channels. If Virgin were to apply the same viewing % to their customer base, only 270,560 Virgin customers would potentially tune into SKY Atlantic on average.

Even with 14 million potential viewers, if the channel came to Virgin, SKY Atlantic would still fall behind other cable / satellite only channels such as:

Sky 1 - 3,586,000 - Average Daily Reach

SKY Sports News - 2,281,000 - Average Daily Reach

SKY Living - 1,738,000 - Average Daily Reach

Comedy Central - 1,495,000 - Average Daily Reach

Watch - 1,387,000 - Average Daily Reach

G.O.L.D. - 1,341,000 - Average Daily Reach

Disney Channel - 1,031,000 - Average Daily Reach

---------- Post added at 20:55 ---------- Previous post was at 20:52 ----------

Originally Posted by muppetman11

Maybe thats what differs then , some people don't like being told they can't watch a channel because its viewing figures aren't great.

The beauty of competition means they know exactly what provider they can go too, to get access to the content they want. Nobody has forced anyone to take our their current TV deal with their current provider. Everyone who posts in these forums, unless they live with parents or guardians, have made the choice to be with their current provider.

---------- Post added at 20:58 ---------- Previous post was at 20:55 ----------

Originally Posted by Hugh

The Force is strong within you, young padawan...

Seriously, though - back on topic, please.

I seriously didn't see this post, before I posted my above ranting.

Sorry

[LexDiamond]

Originally Posted by muppetman11

As a VM TV customer I emailed Cindy Rose about VM carrying ESPNA in HD , credit to her she emailed me back stating it was expensive to carry and had limited appeal , so in my opinion I was being told , hence my decision to switch as I find ESPNA SD poor on some live events.

I agree completely. Beyond the XL TV vs Entertainment Extra, I think VM seriously lack in the premium channels market as HD and Sky premium seem to go hand in hand.

[devilincarnate]

Originally Posted by Hugh

The Force is strong within you, young padawan...

Seriously, though - back on topic, please.

Sorry Hugh but I have never been on topic

[gcampbell]

Originally Posted by Chad

Very true, but still a fact based on the info supplied by BARB.

Let's look at it this way. SKY have 10,200,000 TV customers. Based on the latest BARB figures only 726,000 customers watch SKY Atlantic on a daily basis. This means only 7.12% of SKY's own customers tune in each day to the channel.

Virgin currently have 3,800,000 TV customers however it's not clear how many are actually on the M package i.e. don't receive SKY basic channels. If Virgin were to apply the same viewing % to their customer base, only 270,560 Virgin customers would potentially tune into SKY Atlantic on average.

Even with 14 million potential viewers, if the channel came to Virgin, SKY Atlantic would still fall behind other cable / satellite only channels such as:

Sky 1 - 3,586,000 - Average Daily Reach

SKY Sports News - 2,281,000 - Average Daily Reach

SKY Living - 1,738,000 - Average Daily Reach

Comedy Central - 1,495,000 - Average Daily Reach

Watch - 1,387,000 - Average Daily Reach

G.O.L.D. - 1,341,000 - Average Daily Reach

Disney Channel - 1,031,000 - Average Daily Reach

---------- Post added at 20:55 ---------- Previous post was at 20:52 ----------



The beauty of competition means they know exactly what provider they can go too, to get access to the content they want. Nobody has forced anyone to take our their current TV deal with their current provider. Everyone who posts in these forums, unless they live with parents or guardians, have made the choice to be with their current provider.

---------- Post added at 20:58 ---------- Previous post was at 20:55 ----------



I seriously didn't see this post, before I posted my above ranting.

Sorry

It would most likely be of more use to see the annual averages of the viewing figures - Sky Atlantic's weekly figures would have been higher when Game of Thrones was on, which has been by far the channel's highest rated show.

[muppetman11]

Originally Posted by gcampbell

It would most likely be of more use to see the annual averages of the viewing figures - Sky Atlantic's weekly figures would have been higher when Game of Thrones was on, which has been by far the channel's highest rated show.

People get to obsessed on viewing figures , ESPNA HD is one of the most watched channels in our house and the viewing figures are appalling , there are many channels already on VM which have abysmal viewing figures. It really depends on your interests .

Originally Posted by gcampbell

It would most likely be of more use to see the annual averages of the viewing figures - Sky Atlantic's weekly figures would have been higher when Game of Thrones was on, which has been by far the channel's highest rated show.

Game of Thrones did well in ratings but so far there has been just one season of 10 episodes. That is not going to make any significant difference to the %age share over 52 weeks.

[New to cable]

Originally Posted by muppetman11

People get to obsessed on viewing figures , ESPNA HD is one of the most watched channels in our house and the viewing figures are appalling , there are many channels already on VM which have abysmal viewing figures. It really depends on your interests .

This is on of the things I admire Sky for, They provide all the channels they can get even though they know some will never get high viewing figures.

Its important for them to try to catter for everyone, not just the top10 most popular channels. Where as other providers simply decide its not worth the time/money/effort cattering for all of there customer base.

[gcampbell]

Exactly, Sky go out of their way to get content to suit all tastes - would that VM were the same, they only seem to care about getting documentary channels, and the reason for this is they are cheap!

I pray for the day I can get Sky because I'm sick of being left with Virgin Media simply because they're better than nothing.

[Chad]

Originally Posted by gcampbell

Exactly, Sky go out of their way to get content to suit all tastes - would that VM were the same, they only seem to care about getting documentary channels, and the reason for this is they are cheap!

I pray for the day I can get Sky because I'm sick of being left with Virgin Media simply because they're better than nothing.

Virgin go out their way to offer content to suit all tastes via their On Demand service. That's why Virgin have the best On Demand offering in the UK.

Virgin don't only care about documentary channels. Virgin offer 160 channels via the XL package. The vast majority of them aren't documentary channels. In fact Virgin have a great track record of delivering HD channels over the past 24 months.

I hope you get SKY soon, you don't seem happy.

[muppetman11]

Originally Posted by Chad

Virgin go out their way to offer content to suit all tastes via their On Demand service. That's why Virgin have the best On Demand offering in the UK.

Virgin don't only care about documentary channels. Virgin offer 160 channels via the XL package. The vast majority of them aren't documentary channels. In fact Virgin have a great track record of delivering HD channels over the past 24 months.

I hope you get SKY soon, you don't seem happy.

Don't BT Vision and Sky do OD ?

[nn012]

Apologies if this has already been posted - VM are currently offering 'Sky Switchers' TV XL with a free TiVo, a free multiroom V HD box with no monthly fee and free installation for £27.50 +£13.90 line rental. http://virginmedia.com/sky3

[Chad]

Originally Posted by muppetman11

Don't BT Vision and Sky do OD ?

Yeah but neither offer the line-up of content in terms of Catch-Up and On Demand that Virgin do. Also Virgin is the only On Demand service provider who doesn't require you to subscribe to either an internet connection or phoneline to access their demand material. Also once the Youtube app is up and running via TiVo Virgin customers, who have TiVo, will be able to access 100,000's hours worth of content. For many it'll be the first time they've been able to watch Youtube videos through their livingroom TV, and for many non-internet users their first time using Youtube.

[Alan Fry]

virgin do the best broadband and vod, but their "liner" channels are second rate

Originally Posted by Alan Fry

virgin do the best broadband and vod, but their "liner" channels are second rate

This debate is as old as the hills on forums,Skys main product is its TV serivce without which it would not have much,but VMs is its Broadband/vod.

As it is now VM have most of the watched tv channels and a good selection of HD in the TVXL pack,and also sky sports red button (on sky sports) which suits most people,plus ESPN included in XLTV, Sky and VM have two very different buisiness models to be honest i think VM do pretty well now.

[muppetman11]

Originally Posted by Chad

Yeah but neither offer the line-up of content in terms of Catch-Up and On Demand that Virgin do. Also Virgin is the only On Demand service provider who doesn't require you to subscribe to either an internet connection or phoneline to access their demand material. Also once the Youtube app is up and running via TiVo Virgin customers, who have TiVo, will be able to access 100,000's hours worth of content. For many it'll be the first time they've been able to watch Youtube videos through their livingroom TV, and for many non-internet users their first time using Youtube.

It wasn't that long ago on here people were telling us Catchup VOD wasn't as necessary now with the introduction of TIVO with its excellent suggestion and wishlist services. I will agree that VM offer the best VOD delivery method currently as the other two rely currently on ADSL , however I have used all three services and realistically don't see much difference , in fact I believe BT Vision was one of the best for OD content , its main disadvantage is its lack of pay TV channels with the exception of Sky Sports and ESPN.