General : Changes to Virgin TV (2022)

[OLD BOY]

I suspect there may also be a reduction in the number of Sky Cinema channels as deals with the studios move to the streamers. The number of new films appearing on Sky in recent months is very noticeable.

[jfman]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

I suspect there may also be a reduction in the number of Sky Cinema channels as deals with the studios move to the streamers. The number of new films appearing on Sky in recent months is very noticeable.

There’s limited savings in that, almost none.

By Sky Sports they mean rolling back on content. That’s where savings are made.

[Phunkenstein]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

I suspect there may also be a reduction in the number of Sky Cinema channels as deals with the studios move to the streamers. The number of new films appearing on Sky in recent months is very noticeable.

Aside from Disney and it’s various labels, Sky haven’t lost any other deals to the ‘streamers’ - they still have Paramount theatrical titles albeit shared, still have their deals with Warner Bros, Sony & Universal and actually nabbed two deals from distributors who had deals at Amazon (EOne and StudioCanal)… the issues with fewer movies has primarily come from the reduction in major theatrical titles released over the last couple of years hence their pivot to more acquired and produced original movies…

I honestly don’t think the number of linear channels is linked to the number of premiere movies… the genre focus of the channels are far more linked to the overall catalogue they have at any one time.

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by jfman

There’s limited savings in that, almost none.

By Sky Sports they mean rolling back on content. That’s where savings are made.

Sorry, I don’t understand that. The Sky Cinema channels will suffer from a reduced volume of new films coming through, and as time goes on, its existing deals on older films will expire.

If Sky has fewer films to offer, then we can expect the number of film channels to decrease, and presumably, a reduction in the price of subscriptions.

But yes, for Sky, no good news here.

---------- Post added at 23:15 ---------- Previous post was at 23:00 ----------

Originally Posted by spiderplant

And why do you think are they doing that, OB?

Well, they are looking to a future where eventually, the broadcast channels will be closed in favour of the streaming alternative. Another incentive for audiences to swap to streaming is to make whole series available as soon as the show lands on scheduled linear TV.

Why do you think they are doing this, SP?

[TimeLord2018]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

I suspect there may also be a reduction in the number of Sky Cinema channels as deals with the studios move to the streamers. The number of new films appearing on Sky in recent months is very noticeable.

The only 'major' Film Studio they have good chance of losing the exclusive first pay window to streaming is Warner Bros Pictures in 2025 to whatever their streaming service is called then , Sony doesn't have a streaming service,

[jfman]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

Sorry, I don’t understand that.

At last, the admission we’ve all been waiting for.

The Sky Cinema channels will suffer from a reduced volume of new films coming through, and as time goes on, its existing deals on older films will expire.

If Sky has fewer films to offer, then we can expect the number of film channels to decrease, and presumably, a reduction in the price of subscriptions.

In the past Sky have offered very narrow themed film channels - indeed as far as dedicating a whole channel to Star Wars movies for a specific period. You are incorrectly assuming a link between the number of films in the available library and number of channels.

But yes, for Sky, no good news here.

Well, they are looking to a future where eventually, the broadcast channels will be closed in favour of the streaming alternative. Another incentive for audiences to swap to streaming is to make whole series available as soon as the show lands on scheduled linear TV.

Why do you think they are doing this, SP?

Again believing they are competing rather than complementary formats. The question isn’t why would they keep broadcast channels going, it’s why wouldn’t they?

ITV would absolutely foam at the mouth of being the channel every TV has on “1”. Promo after promo for ITVX.

[epsilon]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

Well, they are looking to a future where eventually, the broadcast channels will be closed in favour of the streaming alternative. Another incentive for audiences to swap to streaming is to make whole series available as soon as the show lands on scheduled linear TV.

Why do you think they are doing this, SP?

I would agree that it is just a carrot to encourage users to switch to viewing on the streaming platform. Perhaps because a majority of their viewers currently prefer to watch the live content. Who knows how successful they will be.. earlier ventures to promote content, such as ITV Encore haven't been a massive success.

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by Phunkenstein

Aside from Disney and it’s various labels, Sky haven’t lost any other deals to the ‘streamers’ - they still have Paramount theatrical titles albeit shared, still have their deals with Warner Bros, Sony & Universal and actually nabbed two deals from distributors who had deals at Amazon (EOne and StudioCanal)… the issues with fewer movies has primarily come from the reduction in major theatrical titles released over the last couple of years hence their pivot to more acquired and produced original movies…

I honestly don’t think the number of linear channels is linked to the number of premiere movies… the genre focus of the channels are far more linked to the overall catalogue they have at any one time.

Sky has done well with its EOne, Studio Canal and Paramount deals. I do think the loss of Fox and Disney films with their well-known franchises is noticeable and Amazon's acquisition of MGM won't help matters as far as James Bond goes.

Sky must be hoping to do some sort of deal with Warner Bros be it exclusive or non-exclusive. Warner needs the money so Sky should be in a good position here.

But I agree that Covid led to a reduction in filming and that's feeding through into fewer releases.

---------- Post added at 09:13 ---------- Previous post was at 09:05 ----------

Originally Posted by epsilon

I would agree that it is just a carrot to encourage users to switch to viewing on the streaming platform. Perhaps because a majority of their viewers currently prefer to watch the live content. Who knows how successful they will be.. earlier ventures to promote content, such as ITV Encore haven't been a massive success.

ITV Extra also provides other benefits to ITV:
- Opportunity to charge viewers for no adverts
- Opportunity to have a direct relationship with subscribers and market to them
- Targets younger people who watch on phones more than TVs
- Hope that once people are in the ITV Extra app, they will watch more ITV content and not channel hop to the BBC, Channel 5 etc.

[spiderplant]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

Why do you think they are doing this, SP?

See Andrew's post. It's all about money.

[Phunkenstein]

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

Sky has done well with its EOne, Studio Canal and Paramount deals. I do think the loss of Fox and Disney films with their well-known franchises is noticeable and Amazon's acquisition of MGM won't help matters as far as James Bond goes.

Sky must be hoping to do some sort of deal with Warner Bros be it exclusive or non-exclusive. Warner needs the money so Sky should be in a good position here.

But I agree that Covid led to a reduction in filming and that's feeding through into fewer releases.

---------- Post added at 09:13 ---------- Previous post was at 09:05 ----------


ITV Extra also provides other benefits to ITV:
- Opportunity to charge viewers for no adverts
- Opportunity to have a direct relationship with subscribers and market to them
- Targets younger people who watch on phones more than TVs
- Hope that once people are in the ITV Extra app, they will watch more ITV content and not channel hop to the BBC, Channel 5 etc.

I do think if Sky did end up losing/letting go a bunch of output deals, any changes to their movie proposition would be a far more dramatic change than reducing a linear genre channel or two - more like an entire structural change to how they offer movies across their propositions and to their carriage partners like Virgin.

No doubt that the loss of the Disney deal is noticeable - and was to be expected and honestly I think the loss of Bond isn't that significant given the paucity of new product from that franchise anyway... and I am inclined to agree with Warner; they're going to stay in business in some way whether it's a Paramount-esque streaming deal or they take advantage of their current predicament and offer them a ton of cash for an extended output deal post 2025.

A lot of people give them shit for their 'Sky Original' movies but it was the correct strategy at the correct time especially as there was a need for more exclusive product as the overall number of studio titles started dropping pre-covid and also got them access to a few titles that were sold by distributors who couldn't get them out theatrically... and it's a good thing they're still leaning into it whether it's just acquiring titles or actually boarding them at the production level... also it was quietly announced this week that one of their titles, A Good Person, looks like it's going to have an exclusive theatrical window... that's a real big deal if they want to continue scaling and play for some bigger titles that are taken to market.

[epsilon]

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

ITV Extra also provides other benefits to ITV:
- Opportunity to charge viewers for no adverts
- Opportunity to have a direct relationship with subscribers and market to them
- Targets younger people who watch on phones more than TVs
- Hope that once people are in the ITV Extra app, they will watch more ITV content and not channel hop to the BBC, Channel 5 etc.

Right, but I was limiting my reply to the point about content being streamed on ITV X before being aired on the live channels.

The features you list aren't unique to ITV X. They were also present in its predecessor, ITV Hub.

[muppetman11]

Originally Posted by Phunkenstein

I do think if Sky did end up losing/letting go a bunch of output deals, any changes to their movie proposition would be a far more dramatic change than reducing a linear genre channel or two - more like an entire structural change to how they offer movies across their propositions and to their carriage partners like Virgin.

No doubt that the loss of the Disney deal is noticeable - and was to be expected and honestly I think the loss of Bond isn't that significant given the paucity of new product from that franchise anyway... and I am inclined to agree with Warner; they're going to stay in business in some way whether it's a Paramount-esque streaming deal or they take advantage of their current predicament and offer them a ton of cash for an extended output deal post 2025.

A lot of people give them shit for their 'Sky Original' movies but it was the correct strategy at the correct time especially as there was a need for more exclusive product as the overall number of studio titles started dropping pre-covid and also got them access to a few titles that were sold by distributors who couldn't get them out theatrically... and it's a good thing they're still leaning into it whether it's just acquiring titles or actually boarding them at the production level... also it was quietly announced this week that one of their titles, A Good Person, looks like it's going to have an exclusive theatrical window... that's a real big deal if they want to continue scaling and play for some bigger titles that are taken to market.

Sky is finished in my opinion , the next nail in the coffin will be if it loses Premier League Football.

[RichardCoulter]

Originally Posted by muppetman11

Sky is finished in my opinion , the next nail in the coffin will be if it loses Premier League Football.

If Sky shut up shop, so would Virgin TV in its current form.

Oh yes, football rights are what saved Sky from bankruptcy. The rights holders know this and keep creaming off more and more money from them.

It's free market capitalism in action, bur how long can this go on?

[Taf]

My TIVO caught the last few seconds of an advert. Something to do with "free access over xmas for all Virgin media customers".

Any ideas?

[Inactive Digital]

Originally Posted by Taf

My TIVO caught the last few seconds of an advert. Something to do with "free access over xmas for all Virgin media customers".

Any ideas?

It's the Virgin Ultra HD channel.