General : Virgin Media & UKTV+ITV Channels

[denphone]

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter

Any disputes with Sky wouldn't affect the full suite of channels, all FTA/FTV channels would be unaffected.

---------- Post added at 12:55 ---------- Previous post was at 12:51 ----------



Yes there is, various posts on social media to VM and on personal accounts say that people no longer trust VM to continue to carry channels.

As a result of the way that the spats between UKTV & ITV were made public, some people are blaming VM for the loss of Vintage TV.

Social media is a unreliable barometer of public opinion and always has been...

---------- Post added at 13:03 ---------- Previous post was at 13:02 ----------

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

Fair point, but the number of people venting their spleens on social media represent a very tiny fraction of VM's subscribers.

The silent majority were not that bothered, frankly.

99.9% l would say OB.

[RichardCoulter]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

Fair point, but the number of people venting their spleens on social media represent a very tiny fraction of VM's subscribers.

The silent majority were not that bothered, frankly.

It's not so much the current subscribers that are the problem, it's the potential new customers that have now been put off from using VM TV. Of course, this will be impossible to measure, but it wouldn't surprise me to see new sign ups slowing down. If people don't take TV, they are less likely to go for triple play and get BB & telephony too.

There have been cases where those who had just signed up used their cooling off rights to cancel when the UKTV channels were withdrawn and the question about continued carriage of ITV arose. These people have now lost trust in the brand and it's unlikely that they will ever return. It's also a well known fact in business that, if a customer has a good experience, they tell one or two. If they have a bad experience they tell many, many more.

Add to this that we tend to trust family & friends more than anyone else and it's a marketing disaster.

https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/artic...celebs/1447024

On average we tend to trust friends & family five more times than even a celebrity endorsement. This is how companies like Utility Warehouse operate, they spend nothing on advertising.

---------- Post added at 13:25 ---------- Previous post was at 13:18 ----------

Originally Posted by denphone

Social media is a unreliable barometer of public opinion and always has been...

---------- Post added at 13:03 ---------- Previous post was at 13:02 ----------



99.9% l would say OB.

If people have something bad to say about a company, they are much more likely to express their feelings (both on and off social media) than they would if they had something good to say, in much the same way as they would verbally.

Seeing a post from a friend (for the reasons given above) has much more of an impact on individuals. Social media is now extremely important (especially to young people), more so than newspapers, TV etc.

It's why people who complain on Twitter get almost immediate results and why it's alleged that Russia has used social media to influence democratic elections in other countries.

Even a 1% drop would be bad news for companies who are increasingly operating with lower and lower profit margins.

[Mythica]

Originally Posted by Hugh

Well, when I mentioned this to family and friends that have VM TV packages, most of them hadn't noticed it, and the ones that did weren't particularly bothered - so it didn't seem to damage VM in their eyes, currently or for a long time in the future.

Same here. I think for the most part those it affected most are people that post on forums such as these which will be the minority of people.

[dodgem22]

Taking my family and friends as an example I would say it was a 70/30 spit. 70% not bothered and 30% were. I myself was bothered, my mum was bothered as were some others. My sister who has VM wasnt as she didnt really watch them and she binges on Netflix. We all like different things and I think it is a good thing that the channels are back.

However most of my family and friends have Sky so of course they were not bothered.

It may have been a minority kicking up a fuss including myself but social media is powerful and mud sticks and I do think VM has taken some damage to their reputation over this a lot of people remember when the Sky channels were lost and that has been dragged back up again. I am not taking sides I think UKTV And VM were equally to blame and it was handled badly by both sides.

[Gavin-D]

Anyone know when the UKTV channels will reappear here? https://virgintvgo.virginmedia.com/en/tv/tv-guide.html

[denphone]

Originally Posted by Gavin-D

Anyone know when the UKTV channels will reappear here? https://virgintvgo.virginmedia.com/en/tv/tv-guide.html

l would hazard a guess that it won't be long before they will be on there.

[ozsat]

I think you need to check you facts.
ITV can be removed from Sky and in fact were not on Sky for a long time.
Sky can not refuse to carry them if fees are paid and ITV can withdrawn them.

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter

Their is absolutely no possibility that ITV could be removed from satellite by Sky.

---------- Post added at 15:40 ---------- Previous post was at 15:35 ----------

So you would just pay up and be quiet?

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter

As a closed platform this wouldnt be possible on VM, which is why I think that it was a bad move for VM to allow the increased possibility of channel cessation to be drawn to the attention of the public.

[vincerooney]

Originally Posted by Gavin-D

Anyone know when the UKTV channels will reappear here? https://virgintvgo.virginmedia.com/en/tv/tv-guide.html

Very good question. I thought they'd already shown up there!

They stated everything would show up Monday if not over the weekend and on demand apparently will show up between now and wednesday (along with GOLD HD) but not heard anything about tv to go just assumed it was already live.

have you asked them on social media? They're usually quite quick to reply on there

[BenMcr]

Originally Posted by MatthewEastaugh

Looks like Dave SD and Gold SD will be disappearing, leaving only the HD versions. Which will be odd for those on Player, who seem to be getting Dave Ja Vu but not the non timeshift channel as a result..

https://twitter.com/virginmedia/stat...266934784?s=19

Both Dave SD and Dave HD are staying now. So that means Player TV customers still have both Dave and Dave Ja Vu:
http://www.virginmedia.com/shop/tv/tvupdate.html

But it's still possible Gold SD will go in favour of Gold HD as they're both in Mix and above.

[SonicMaster]

If this updated page is correct, some of UKTV's other channels will be dropping down to the Mix pack:

Eden
Eden +1
Good Food
Good Food +1

W HD, Alibi HD, Eden HD and Good Food HD remain Full House only.

[cheekyangus]

Originally Posted by SonicMaster

If this updated page is correct, some of UKTV's other channels will be dropping down to the Mix pack:

Eden
Eden +1
Good Food
Good Food +1

W HD, Alibi HD, Eden HD and Good Food HD remain Full House only.

Those four were in the lower M+ pack before they forced a move of all M+ TV customers up to Mix recently. So I've had them all for a long time.

[007stuart]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

Fair point, but the number of people venting their spleens on social media represent a very tiny fraction of VM's subscribers.

The silent majority were not that bothered, frankly.

Quite right, that's the problem with social media. The phrase "empty vessels makes the most noise" comes to mind.

[Gavin-D]

Just had an Email from VM telling me the channels are back

"We’re delighted to tell you that all the UKTV channels are now coming back to Virgin TV. We’re sorry you’ve not been able to watch your favourite shows for the past couple of weeks, but the great news is, your TV package is now bigger and better than before.


We're not only bringing back all the UKTV channels you love, like Dave HD and Gold, coming soon in HD, but we are also increasing our on-demand programming by more than five times. That’s hundreds more hours of Box Sets for our Full House customers.

More than before

All the channels we added in place of the UKTV channels, including FreeSports and the Paramount Network, will be staying on. So, you’ve got loads more included in your package.
Thanks for bearing with us during this frustrating time.

Now, back to the drama, comedy, history, crime, food, true-life stories and all the other shows you love.

Kind regards,

David Bouchier,

Chief Digital Entertainment Officer,

Virgin Media"

[Mr K]

Originally Posted by Gavin-D

Just had an Email from VM telling me the channels are back

"We’re delighted to tell you that all the UKTV channels are now coming back to Virgin TV. We’re sorry you’ve not been able to watch your favourite shows for the past couple of weeks, but the great news is, your TV package is now bigger and better than before.


We're not only bringing back all the UKTV channels you love, like Dave HD and Gold, coming soon in HD, but we are also increasing our on-demand programming by more than five times. That’s hundreds more hours of Box Sets for our Full House customers.

More than before

All the channels we added in place of the UKTV channels, including FreeSports and the Paramount Network, will be staying on. So, you’ve got loads more included in your package.
Thanks for bearing with us during this frustrating time.

Now, back to the drama, comedy, history, crime, food, true-life stories and all the other shows you love.

Kind regards,

David Bouchier,

Chief Digital Entertainment Officer,

Virgin Media"

Is this a follow up to the David Boucher (Chief Clown) 'Sorry, we've lost the channels because of our own greed and incompetence' email ? Personally I got neither.

What we will all get very shortly is a letter along the lines of 'we've simplified your bill with an increase. But we have given you UKTV as a bonus ! '

Even Dick Turpin wore a mask......

[denphone]

Originally Posted by Mr K

Is this a follow up to the David Boucher (Chief Clown) 'Sorry, we've lost the channels because of our own greed and incompetence' email ? Personally I got neither.

What we will all get very shortly is a letter along the lines of 'we've simplified your bill with an increase. But we have given you UKTV as a bonus ! '

Even Dick Turpin wore a mask......

Mr K you are rather cynical sometimes...