General : Changes to Virgin TV (2021)

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by jfman

There’s plenty English language television OB.

Discovery don’t have a monopoly on documentaries, Disney don’t have a monopoly on cartoons or regurgitated comic book fantasy films. General entertainment is ten a penny from a range of potential content providers on both sides of the pond.

There may be plenty of channels, jfman, but they are not the same quality. I think you are thinking quantity instead of quality.

---------- Post added at 14:41 ---------- Previous post was at 14:36 ----------

Originally Posted by jfman

I couldn’t have put it better myself - why would anyone want to pigeon hole the content they see to that of one or two streaming services at £5/10 a month when you can get the depth and breadth of content from Sky or Virgin.

I nearly spat out my coffee - I had to try to hold it in and it went up my nose - that really stung!

I guess we will have to agree to disagree on that, jfman. What I know is that my watchlists for TV channels have been diminishing for the last couple of years but those for Netflix and Amazon are increasing substantially. There’s not that much left on TV channels anymore, and many of our friends have noticed this too. All I can say is that you must be very easily pleased.

[jfman]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

There may be plenty of channels, jfman, but they are not the same quality. I think you are thinking quantity instead of quality.

And who defines quality?

As far as I can tell if you are acting as the arbiter of such matters it’s not the content but the delivery method that is the deciding factor.

Indeed, it is you who have pushed quantity over quality by persistently emphasising a reduction in the “number of channels” provided by Sky/Virgin.

I suspect like most I don’t watch the vast majority of it - certainly the ratings don’t support that there’s many compelling channels in there and there’s nothing at all to indicate the vast majority of it isn’t interchangeable.

I nearly spat out my coffee - I had to try to hold it in and it went up my nose - that really stung!

I guess we will have to agree to disagree on that, jfman. What I know is that my watchlists for TV channels have been diminishing for the last couple of years but those for Netflix and Amazon are increasing substantially. There’s not that much left on TV channels anymore, and many of our friends have noticed this too. All I can say is that you must be very easily pleased.

Hate to do it (again) but despite this you continue to subscribe.

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by jfman

Minority interest channels scoring 0.1-1.0 are everywhere on the BARB ratings getting pennies in the pound wholesale. They all sound pretty interchangeable to me. Discovery Shed? Or will I just YouTube some DIY videos for half an hour to waste my day away?


Streamers may be better value in a narrow subset of circumstances. However for the vast majority of “general entertainment” viewers they are simply spreading out the content and driving up costs.

Very few sports fans are interested in “one sport” and one only.

Wasting the day away is certainly what watching your so-called minority channels would be.

Streamers are providing mind-blowing amounts of content - much better quality than on our traditional channels. However, I agree that sports fans are getting a raw deal at present.

---------- Post added at 14:48 ---------- Previous post was at 14:46 ----------

Originally Posted by jfman

Hate to do it (again) but despite this you continue to subscribe.

In case you have forgotten, that has been answered many times now and I won’t be repeating myself as it’s getting boring now.

[jfman]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

Wasting the day away is certainly what watching your so-called minority channels would be.

Streamers are providing mind-blowing amounts of content - much better quality than on our traditional channels. However, I agree that sports fans are getting a raw deal at present.

“Mind blowing amounts of content” is once again a reference to quantity over quality. Whether the quality is much better is entirely subjective. Is the content on Discovery Plus substantially better than the minority interest content they’ve peddled for the last two decades integrated into packages?

In case you have forgotten, that has been answered many times now and I won’t be repeating myself as it’s getting boring now.

Unfortunately OB you embody the problem your vision faces - namely that it’s very easy for existing incumbents to retain their customer base because there are very few like for like products in the marketplace offering the same or greater value.

Where/when do you envisage dropping them? Have you priced up alternatives?

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

However, I agree that sports fans are getting a raw deal at present.

I don't see streaming altering that, unfortunately. It's due to the costs of unique content acquisition, not the costs of satellite or cable distribution.

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by jfman

“Mind blowing amounts of content” is once again a reference to quantity over quality. Whether the quality is much better is entirely subjective. Is the content on Discovery Plus substantially better than the minority interest content they’ve peddled for the last two decades integrated into packages?

Where/when do you envisage dropping them? Have you priced up alternatives?

That doesn’t really stand up jfman, as I did say the content was much better quality.

As far as my own requirements are concerned, I am certainly just about able to get the programming I need online only, although the advertising on UKTV Play is an annoying obstacle. My problem is that I need to be able to keep things easy for my wife, who really cannot get her head round accessing all the different streamers. This, of course, is why I need everything on one box. One watchlist - simples.

If the new arrangements Virgin is introducing for broadband only customers carry all the main streamers including Discovery+, this might provide the solution I am looking for. The resistance of Netflix to integration is problematical though, so I hope they relent on that soon.

[jfman]

So streamers need to make their content more widely available, on competitors hardware and without adverts where these exist in their business model.

I’m sure you can appreciate why I think Sky/Virgin aren’t dead just yet.

If someone with your foresight into this rich and diverse future isn’t in a position to cut the cord just yet I’m not sure at what point your average, lazy television viewer crosses the threshold.

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

That doesn’t really stand up jfman, as I did say the content was much better quality.

As far as my own requirements are concerned, I am certainly just about able to get the programming I need online only, although the advertising on UKTV Play is an annoying obstacle. My problem is that I need to be able to keep things easy for my wife, who really cannot get her head round accessing all the different streamers. This, of course, is why I need everything on one box. One watchlist - simples.

If the new arrangements Virgin is introducing for broadband only customers carry all the main streamers including Discovery+, this might provide the solution I am looking for. The resistance of Netflix to integration is problematical though, so I hope they relent on that soon.

Great as it would be to have all the streamers on one searchable and bookmarkable/watchlist platform, this goes against the commercial benefits for the streamers of keeping viewers within their own apps.

[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by jfman

So streamers need to make their content more widely available, on competitors hardware and without adverts where these exist in their business model.

I’m sure you can appreciate why I think Sky/Virgin aren’t dead just yet.

If someone with your foresight into this rich and diverse future isn’t in a position to cut the cord just yet I’m not sure at what point your average, lazy television viewer crosses the threshold.

Well, if they want to maximise their audience, yes. They have to make access available to as many people as possible, so the more platforms their streamers are on, the better.

I haven't ever said that Virgin or Sky were in danger of dying, but I have claimed they will need to adapt.

The streamers need to chase the lazy viewers. That's why Netflix have adapted their streamer to play random stuff continuously. Switch on, chill out.

[jfman]

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

Well, if they want to maximise their audience, yes. They have to make access available to as many people as possible, so the more platforms their streamers are on, the better.

You are incorrectly assumed they want to maximise their audience.

While there will be competing strategies essentially they want to maximise their profits, some may sacrifice this in the short term for market share. However audience (viewership) clearly isn’t what they are aiming for by withdrawing their content from the most popular platforms.

I haven't ever said that Virgin or Sky were in danger of dying, but I have claimed they will need to adapt.

Both actively stream and deliver linear content - I genuinely don’t know what you expect from them. If third parties want to go down the direct to consumer route there’s nothing they can realistically do.

The streamers need to chase the lazy viewers. That's why Netflix have adapted their streamer to play random stuff continuously. Switch on, chill out.

Lazy subscribers too. As I said if you can’t bring yourself to cancel Virgin despite feeling so strongly about this I wonder how many of their 3 million, or the 8 million on Sky, you realistically expect to cut their noses off to spite their face when the vast majority are technology agnostic.

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

Well, if they want to maximise their audience, yes. They have to make access available to as many people as possible, so the more platforms their streamers are on, the better.

I haven't ever said that Virgin or Sky were in danger of dying, but I have claimed they will need to adapt.

The streamers need to chase the lazy viewers. That's why Netflix have adapted their streamer to play random stuff continuously. Switch on, chill out.

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

It’s a shame. I suppose that driving a hard bargain gets a better price for customers, or maybe simply a bigger profit for VM, but in the end, it looks like the ambition to be a ‘super aggregator’ is a bit pie in the sky.

Sooner or later, there will be a better proposition that will benefit customers that will neatly contain everything integrated in one box, including terrestrial and Sky. That will see VM dead in the water.

The opportunity is there I think for Sky to seize. If it does so, they will get my custom, that is for sure. They are almost there, actually.

A great pity, and a wasted opportunity.

Originally Posted by OLD BOY

Virgin could succeed in my opinion, but it is looking to me now that it is unlikely, because of their attitude. They just don’t have the passion for it.

[RichardCoulter]

A channel in the entertainment genre called That's TV Gold is to start on Sky & Freeview.

Does anyone know if it will be coming to VM?

[ScottishSteve]

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter

A channel in the entertainment genre called That's TV Gold is to start on Sky & Freeview.

Does anyone know if it will be coming to VM?

Probably not, as I’m sure none of the That’s network channels are carried on Virgin but they are on Twitter

https://twitter.com/ThatsTVGold

If their existing programme is a guide of quality then I don’t think we will be missing much.

[RichardCoulter]

Originally Posted by ScottishSteve

Probably not, as I’m sure none of the That’s network channels are carried on Virgin but they are on Twitter

https://twitter.com/ThatsTVGold

If their existing programme is a guide of quality then I don’t think we will be missing much.

At first it was thought that it would be showing retro music, but if that was the case it would be in the music section on Sky, as opposed to entertainment.

I'm wondering if it will show archive programming like Forces TV & Talking Pictures.

[savvychels]

Just catching up and have only just seen that Fox is closing in a few days. We have a season of NCIS and of NCIS New Orleans recorded. Are we going to lose access to those recordings when Fox closes?

Going back a long way (maybe early Tivo days) I remember losing recordings when channels moved to a different number, so I’ve only just realised we may lose these. I don’t think there’s any way we can watch before it closes.

If someone could confirm though, I’d appreciate it, one way or the other.

Thanks