General : Virgin Media & UKTV+ITV Channels

[Mad Max]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

Nonsense! I used to record four or five programmes from Sky One every week. There is nothing worth recording these days. Strikeback excepted.

More channels does not mean increased quality content. It just means more dross to fill it out.

^ ^ This, x100......

[RichardCoulter]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

It's not speculation. Every other platform gets paid for carrying channels, but for some strange reason, this is not the case for VM (except the shopping channels, I believe). As UKTV don't pay other platforms for carrying their free channels, why should VM subscribers pay for mostly repeated content funded by advertising?

---------- Post added at 11:39 ---------- Previous post was at 11:36 ----------



VM should not be paying for free channels. This practice is a hangover from the past.

A bit like the UKTV channels, actually.

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Not sure if your memory is failing you, but those were the days when Sky did have good programmes on it. In fact, the main draw of people to the pay tv channels was Sky TV.

UKTV has nowhere near as much clout and they will lose this fight. The sooner they realise that and climb down from their high horses, the sooner they will bleed less money.

They had better move fast, or Virgin will be reinvesting their money, hopefully in superior content.

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They will get over it. And if you think you are safe with Sky, remember that they almost lost the Discovery channels a few months ago.

Fortunately, Discovery saw sense. UKTV are trying it on. The people complaining are simply dragging this dispute out. If they quietened down, UKTV would be forced to re-consider. I am not expecting VM to give in over this, so the ball is in UKTV's court. Are they going to continue to discriminate against VM by making them pay for their free channels when other platforms get them free, or not?

Incorrect. On every other platform the FTA broadcasters have to pay someone for distribution, capacity and an EPG allocation, not for content.

This is also the case for VM, but made more complicated by the fact that they are the sole provider of distribution, capacity and the EPG on the cable platform. These costs where VM has agreed to pay for content will either be netted off or taken into account when negotiating carriage costs. By law, however, the EPG fee must always be clearly shown as a quantifiable transaction for every channel.

With the removal of Quest HD, Premier Sports going back to a frozen screen this morning and VM Ireland customers losing access to their UKTV recordings (despite being promised a three month grace period), could this be a contender for the worst week ever for VM?

[muppetman11]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

Nonsense! I used to record four or five programmes from Sky One every week. There is nothing worth recording these days. Strikeback excepted.

More channels does not mean increased quality content. It just means more dross to fill it out.

Thats just your personal viewing , the fact the Sky channels now get better viewer numbers is exactly that a FACT.

I never mentioned anything about more channels !!!!

[Mr K]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

More channels does not mean increased quality content. It just means more dross to fill it out.

More choice the better, OB as we agreed earlier? Your dross, is somebodies must see. Your must see, is somebody else's dross.

However think most agree the replacement channels are dross.

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by muppetman11

Thats just your personal viewing , the fact the Sky channels now get better viewer numbers is exactly that a FACT.

I never mentioned anything about more channels !!!!

Sadly, the viewing figures do not necessarily reflect programme quality. I am surprised by some of the tribe people gladly watch these days.

---------- Post added at 15:50 ---------- Previous post was at 15:43 ----------

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter

Incorrect. On every other platform the FTA broadcasters have to pay someone for distribution, capacity and an EPG allocation, not for content.

This is also the case for VM, but made more complicated by the fact that they are the sole provider of distribution, capacity and the EPG on the cable platform. These costs where VM has agreed to pay for content will either be netted off or taken into account when negotiating carriage costs. By law, however, the EPG fee must always be clearly shown as a quantifiable transaction for every channel.

With the removal of Quest HD, Premier Sports going back to a frozen screen this morning and VM Ireland customers losing access to their UKTV recordings (despite being promised a three month grace period), could this be a contender for the worst week ever for VM?

I am with jj20x on this. He states:

VM can't be expected to use cash from their own customers subscriptions to pay for content that is funded by advertising. UKTV don't get any cash from other platforms for the free channels, they have to pay for carriage, just as they should pay VM.

I can't disagree with that!

[muppetman11]

OB I love how you seem to talk like you are the authority on quality , the last few days you've been telling everyone how UKTV is rubbish and Virgin are adding better options.

You seem incapable of accepting everyone enjoys different things and everyone differs on what they class as quality and rubbish.

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by Mr K

More choice the better, OB as we agreed earlier? Your dross, is somebodies must see. Your must see, is somebody else's dross.

However think most agree the replacement channels are dross.

Do you really mean to tell me that the considerable number of Sky fillers between the few better shows on Sky count as quality entertainment? I despair of the human race sometimes - we just seem to go from one level of dumbing down to the next level of descent.

As I said before, pay tv should be better quality than free tv, but plainly, it is not. Unless things change for the better soon, I will be ditching cable tv in favour of Netflix, Amazon, Freeview and Now TV. I am holding on until we know what changes are coming in the autumn, but unless things improve, I will be discussing options with my wife. I just don't think we are getting value for money any more, and of course that's nothing to do with UKTV, which we barely watched anyway.

[muppetman11]

You've been ditching it for the last few years.

---------- Post added at 16:05 ---------- Previous post was at 16:04 ----------

Originally Posted by Mr K

More choice the better, OB as we agreed earlier? Your dross, is somebodies must see. Your must see, is somebody else's dross.

However think most agree the replacement channels are dross.

OB struggles with this

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by muppetman11

You've been ditching it for the last few years.

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OB struggles with this

Wrong on both counts. I've been keeping my options open during the last few years it is true, but I haven't been ready to ditch cable just yet.

By the way, most of the new content is pants as far as I am concerned, although Paramount is not bad and nor is Love Nature.

The on demand quiz thing is no better than Challenge on demand and I have no interest in sports but I am pleased that these channels are appreciated by some and I support Virgin's decision to add these to the line-up.

Your TV is more dross and ZooMoo is for the kids. I hope they can do much better than this over the autumn months.

[denphone]

Originally Posted by muppetman11

Be honest you haven't a clue who pays what so no point speculating.

Its his reliable crystal ball full of whizz bang predictions MM.

---------- Post added at 16:33 ---------- Previous post was at 16:31 ----------

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

Nonsense! I used to record four or five programmes from Sky One every week. There is nothing worth recording these days. Strikeback excepted.

More channels does not mean increased quality content. It just means more dross to fill it out.

Rubbish as there is plenty of stuff on Sky's channels if one looks properly..

---------- Post added at 16:37 ---------- Previous post was at 16:33 ----------

Originally Posted by muppetman11

OB I love how you seem to talk like you are the authority on quality , the last few days you've been telling everyone how UKTV is rubbish and Virgin are adding better options.

You seem incapable of accepting everyone enjoys different things and everyone differs on what they class as quality and rubbish.

Too much of his nose being up in the air rather then getting down to us plebs level methinks.

[figgyburn]

Originally Posted by oliver1948uk

What we don't know is how many people have ACTUALLY cancelled their VM services.

In my case, I would like to as I watch Drama a lot, mainly The Bill and He De Hi.

Hi De Hi, drama,really.That show was not funny 20 years ago nevermind today
Good riddance to bad rubbish i say.Sorry.

[Mr K]

Originally Posted by figgyburn

Hi De Hi, drama,really.That show was not funny 20 years ago nevermind today
Good riddance to bad rubbish i say.Sorry.

Yeah 'Sorry!' was another classic
Each to their own Figgster !

---------- Post added at 17:04 ---------- Previous post was at 16:57 ----------

LOL, i've just been banned for the official forum. Someone asked if there was a petition - i posted a link to the change.org one, and hey presto a it disappeared and a ban.

Me thinks they are a tad over sensitive at VM towers It will have been a very hot few days for them in more ways than one !

[Ultimate.Conj]

A classic or not, they are two terrible tv shows to be watching in 2018 on a HD or 4K tv.

I don't mind people enjoying them, but there are better things out there now. I wouldn't leave virgin just because those shows aren't available anymore.

I didn't watch much UKTV content, but did watch the 1st episode of Harrow. It was good, but it won't make me leave virgin because it has gone.

We need virgin to be pushing boundaries with new content, not stuck with 1980s tv shows.

[Mr K]

Originally Posted by Ultimate.Conj

A classic or not, they are two terrible tv shows to be watching in 2018 on a HD or 4K tv.

I don't mind people enjoying them, but there are better things out there now. I wouldn't leave virgin just because those shows aren't available anymore.

I didn't watch much UKTV content, but did watch the 1st episode of Harrow. It was good, but it won't make me leave virgin because it has gone.

We need virgin to be pushing boundaries with new content, not stuck with 1980s tv shows.

Like the Waltons, Little House on the Prairie and old Neighbours ?

[denphone]

Originally Posted by Mr K

Like the Waltons, Little House on the Prairie and old Neighbours ?

They bring back childhood memories..