Virgin Media Info

[Shaun]

Originally Posted by Chris Howell

Well, no ****.

My point stands - take Virgin Media out of the picture, and that leaves Sky as the only supplier of HD content.

They're still going to be the only supplier - Sky aren't going to give their HD channels to Ntl for a long time I'm afraid. Why would they give their unique selling point away like that?

But the game is changing right now, OD is billed as the future of the industry, and cable is ahead of the game right now in that arena, but I doubt it will always be that way, especially as new products from BT, Tiscali and Sky are all imminent.

Sky might just unlock the half of a HDD they're reserving on my Sky+ box when they bring theirs out. This coupled with their BB offerings makes me think VOD for Sky isn't that far away! Saying that Ntl's is a shambles - it's not the deal clincher it should be!

---------- Post added at 00:17 ---------- Previous post was at 00:15 ----------

Originally Posted by lost and confused

there has been a lot of speculation of the dates. but, im willing to bet my savings that it will be feb 14th

The STB's are being updated later in the year so the main differnce (your on screen menu's) won't be noticed for several months!

[cybernetic_tiger]

So have no-one noticed that the new site does not state the dreeded UP TO on the broadband speeds ... :-P

[Tod]

Originally Posted by andygrif

I'd disagree - most people stay with them as they are indifferent to the alternatives or think it would be too much hassle to change (the same reason why British Gas still have the majority of gas customers in the UK, dispite being the most expensive and offering dreadful customer service too).

Maybe it's customer loyalty to the brand because they have had no problems and are happy with what they have got - why is it assumed people always want the "cheap" option - untrue.

Originally Posted by andygrif

I think you're failing to separete the media from the delivery platform; the main channels that ntl carry are identical to the ones that Sky carry, and the majority of them are not owned by News Corp. Whatever your views on Murdoch (and I do understand that Murdoch-bashing is a fashionable past-time) you cannot deny that Sky has created a platform that is quite a long way ahead of the game compared to its competitors, which is why they have more customers.

Sky has done more damage than good. We used to get cricket, rugby and football on terrestrial television - even the national teams you have to pay to see now, not to mention the splitting up of world darts because of Sky.
How is Skys platform "a long way ahead of the game?" - I don't see it as being any better than cable.

Originally Posted by andygrif

You don't credit the general public with much inteligence do you? People will only pay the price they think something is worth to them. No-one is forcing them to take out an HD subscription.

If you have a HD TV, and Sky is the only provider of HD content, then you will pay more to get it. OK there would be a limit, but Sky would charge a lot closer to that limit with no competition.
Our government are scared of News International, they can and have swayed elections, and this is something we should all be worried about. Their purchasing of ITV was well below the belt. I wish Branson luck with what is going to be his hardest challenge yet, because you can bet your life News International will not be reporting him as such the hero as they have before now. You can bet they will have some scam story to demolish the poor guy is he starts to succeed.

[lostandconfused]

Originally Posted by Shaun

The STB's are being updated later in the year so the main differnce (your on screen menu's) won't be noticed for several months!

ntl:telewest will officially become virgin media on 14th feb 2007. rebranding will be done before the launch

[Shaun]

Not according to the site above - the software is being updated untill June/July.

[Stephen]

Originally Posted by Shaun

Not according to the site above - the software is being updated untill June/July.

Yes they will start in Feb and it will take till June to roll out to all areas.

They did the same with other software releases, eg CR3 They staggered the release over different areas over a period of time.

[Nikesh]

Originally Posted by lostandconfused

ntl:telewest will officially become virgin media on 14th feb 2007. rebranding will be done before the launch

Cool

[andygrif]

Originally Posted by Tod

Maybe it's customer loyalty to the brand because they have had no problems and are happy with what they have got - why is it assumed people always want the "cheap" option - untrue.

Well to use the same example, why would someone pay 30% more for their gas? I've been doing it, but I've finally got around to changing to an alternative supplier.

When it comes to brand loyalty, you might be right if you were talking about a product, such as baked beans or crisps, but generally not in terms of service providers. This is especially true when it comes to a service that could be perceived to be identical, such as energy providers or multichannel TV. (Note the use of the word perceived).

Originally Posted by Tod

Sky has done more damage than good. We used to get cricket, rugby and football on terrestrial television - even the national teams you have to pay to see now, not to mention the splitting up of world darts because of Sky.

You fail to mention the sports bodies that accepted the offers from the broadcasters. You also fail to mention Setanta, the Irish broadcaster, who now have the rights to some major golf tournaments.

Whilst I agree with the concept that there should be mainstream sport on the mainstream channels, this simply was never going to be practical in the multichannel world. I don't agree that this has done damage, if there were no subscription sports channels you TV license fee would be a hell of a lot more than it currently is, and as a someone who doesn't really watch much sport, I object to funding it via my license fee to the degree you're talking about.

The other positive effect of Sky Sports is that you can now watch more sport than you could ever hope for in the good old days you're on about; Minority sports are now catered for more than ever, lower-league football teams find their matches on TV and of course you can always go to the pub to watch it all for free. So there is a positive effect from Sky's entry into that market.

Originally Posted by Tod

How is Skys platform "a long way ahead of the game?" - I don't see it as being any better than cable.

Have you used to two systems? I had ntl digital fairly early after it was released, then we moved and I dumped them (back to the more hassle than it was worth argument from above, to do it before moving house) and got a Sky+ box. It's all personal I guess, but the accuracy, efficiency, style, speed and usability IMHO are streets ahead of ntl.

Originally Posted by Tod

If you have a HD TV, and Sky is the only provider of HD content, then you will pay more to get it. OK there would be a limit, but Sky would charge a lot closer to that limit with no competition.

But your beloved cable company pretty much set the agenda for HD pricing in this country - Telewest were the first to market, Sky had no HD offering when TV Drive was launched. So why did Telewest charge what they did? Becuase the research they did (and presumably Sky did too) told them that this was the price that most interested customers would be prepared to pay. There is no conspiracy theory of the evil Mr Murdoch sitting in a darkened room telling his mignons to financially cripple every HDTV owner - that's a crazy theory.

Originally Posted by Tod

Our government are scared of News International, they can and have swayed elections, and this is something we should all be worried about. Their purchasing of ITV was well below the belt.

There's no doubt that News Internation is a powerful media outlet, not just here, but around the world. We also have some of the most strict media regulation in this country, which is controlled by the government - so why is Murdoch not allowed to buy a terrestrial mainstream channel, if what you say is true?

And for the record, Murdoch has NOT bourght ITV, he has bought a minority stake in ITV - which ntl itself tried to buy by offering a well below market price for. Why would they want to do that do you think?

Originally Posted by Tod

I wish Branson luck with what is going to be his hardest challenge yet, because you can bet your life News International will not be reporting him as such the hero as they have before now. You can bet they will have some scam story to demolish the poor guy is he starts to succeed.

I wish Branson luck too, although I'm not sure how hands-on he's likely to be. I think this country deserves a decent cable TV offering, I think they're about ten years too late, which makes his job much harder, but I also think the potential of cable has never been realised completely, due to a sucession of inferior senior management at ntl and Telewest.

Maybe now is the start of something good.... but me as the synical one in the corner suggests that a clever rebrand and figurehead is not going to change the years of rot that much. We'll see.

[Stephen]

Have attached a copy of the letter customers are recieving in the mail. I can't attached the pdf of the booklet as its too big.

Mine came today, my reply to richard would be get a working product ( s ) and you will get the customers, not the other way around

Originally Posted by arcamalpha2004

Mine came today, my reply to richard would be get a working product ( s ) and you will get the customers, not the other way around

And mine would be "Get on with kicking $ky's butt"

[Stephen]

Our office has started with a small bit of rebranding today. There were guys putting up a big Virgin Media logo on the back doors. Its actually happening

[quadplay]

Originally Posted by DarthYoda

Have attached a copy of the letter customers are recieving in the mail. I can't attached the pdf of the booklet as its too big.

And here's the unedited version, found on another forum... I hope the original poster won't mind me reproducing it.

Dear customer,

Hello. Richard here. The one with the beard. I've got a spiffing new
wheeze that I wanted to tell you about.

You know how sometimes people take the good parts of crashed and
destroyed cars, and weld them together into a new one? Well right now,
we're bringing ntl, Telewest, Virgin.net & Virgin Mobile together to
form a brand new entertainment company.

The whole mess will all be sprayed red, and called Virgin Media. Hey,
that's my name! It'll look just as good as a real car, as long as you
don't actually drive it. And since you might have things in the
glovebox of the old companies that we've cut and shut together, we
thought we should let you know before anyone else.

The future is bright. Wait, isn't that someone else's slogan? Well
it's mine now. And guess what? We'll be the first people to bring you
Digital TV, Broadband, Phone and Mobile, all from the same company. As
long as you don't count ntl, who did it years ago. And nobody wanted
it back then either! But that's not important right now. What's
exciting is all the new things we'll bring you. Like Digital TV.
You've probably got this already. But not with a Virgin logo on it.
And you can turn it off whenever you want. Which we think will be most
of the time. Cool!

There's also Broadband that lets you download as much as you want. You
might have this already, and if you do then you'll know that this part
isn't true. Download too much and we'll make your connection run
slower than our trains. But don't tell the ASA. Ha ha!

We also offer simple phone packages that charge you far more than
anyone else. It fits around your life and gives you the unrivalled
convenience of not having to worry about whether you want it or not,
because we force you to pay for it anyway. And for when you're on the
move, I'd love to lend you my old pay-as-you-go mobile. Whoo! Quad
play! Excellent!!!

We're here to bring you the service you deserve. Hey, I said that with
a straight face! But I'm not pretending it's going to happen
overnight. It's not going to happen at all really, because nothing is
changing, we're just sticking a new logo on everything. And that's the
important thing. We're working with some of the cheapest suppliers in
the business to do it.

For a glimpse of what's ahead, have a look at the nice pictures in the
enclosed leaflet. We hope they'll distract you from that nasty "PRICE
INCREASES" letter you got a few weeks ago. And if you want to know
more, come to my website. You could win a chance to party with me.
Whimmy Wham Wham Whazzle!

There's just one more thing we want you to know.

We're aiming to make the whole Virgin Media experience just as good as
the service our Virgin Trains customers have enjoyed for years.

We don't think it'll be hard.

It's going to be simply smashing!

Please send money.

Love and hugs
Richard Branston

Originally Posted by DarthYoda

Have attached a copy of the letter customers are recieving in the mail. I can't attached the pdf of the booklet as its too big.

Send it me via e-mail (address below) and I'll upload it. I've received this booklet today through the post.

webmaster[@]cableforum.co.uk (Obviously removing [ ]).

[Nikesh]

Originally Posted by DarthYoda

Have attached a copy of the letter customers are recieving in the mail. I can't attached the pdf of the booklet as its too big.

Thank you for the letter. Hopefully I will get mine soon with the booklet.