Posted March 2, 2007 A few of us were talking about this in the post your meaningless post thread, and we agree that things are getting out of hand and a bit petty. What are your thoughts on it all? Who will be victorious? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 2, 2007 Sky will win, i mean come on who would rather have the UK channels over sky movies/sports/one/two/three etc Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 2, 2007 Yeh gotta agree with Caris Sky will win but the whole thing is a bit petulant. I haven't delved into all the details but it seems we are gettin a lot of bs from both sides, its hard to know who is at fault. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 2, 2007 At the end of the day, whos really gunna lose? Us. I have a HD Virgin Media box with a single crappy HD channel (BBC HD, that show jack shit), Sky offer alot more but at an insane price. I do watch some Sky One (mostly the Simpsons or whatever) so i'll miss those. Either way, neither side is going to back down and we're all fucked. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 2, 2007 It's simple business strategy really. Sky want to increase the fee charged to Virgin so they can carry Sky One, Sky News and SSNews (i think they are the channels) and Virgin don't want to pay the increase. If Virgin want to keep the particular channels and be able to offer them to their customers, Virgin will pay. I think Sky have somewhat of a monopoly on digital TV in the UK (and especially Ireland) but Virgin and Setanta are beginning to give them a scare, so Sky are flexing their muscles to show the competitors that they are still the number one digital television provider. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 2, 2007 We're moving to Sky at my house, after hearing Sky One's being dropped from Virgin. Imo, Sky's a lot better, I've wanted it for ages. At the end of the day, whos really gunna lose?Us. I have a HD Virgin Media box with a single crappy HD channel (BBC HD, that show jack shit), Sky offer alot more but at an insane price. I do watch some Sky One (mostly the Simpsons or whatever) so i'll miss those. Either way, neither side is going to back down and we're all fucked. The package my parents got is; 1 sky+ box (for downstairs) and a normal sky box (for my room), phone line with free landline calls and 16mb broadband with unlimited usage. All for a £45 installation fee and £60 a month. That's damn' good imo. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 2, 2007 Well Sky has kinda won, Virgin done't want to pay the price and Sky have now taken off Sky one etc from us Virgin customers. I'm really annoyed at this, however lately I havnt been watching much tv. I suggested to my dad, why dont we swap over. He said he doesnt watch Sky one, Sky news no-one watches anyway. So in all for them its kinda better that we dont come downstairs after not being down with them, then change to the simpsons on Sky one. If anything the parents have won. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 2, 2007 Well, I don't want much TV anymore, only Stargate. Which is now a bastard because I don't have SkyOne anymore. The good news is though, that once the virgin contract is up, I am going to switch to a fast broadband connection, like 10meg. So then I'll just download Stargate. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 2, 2007 This has really annoyed me, i used to watch Sky One at least for half a hour every day (Futurama, DAILY! ) and i also watched The Simpsons, MITM, and Brainiac. But now we've lost it... i only watched the tv for half a hour yesterday and it was Dead Ringers, a terrestrial program. How can Virgin doubt the importance of this channel? They will lose thousands of customers due to Sky one, people will be cross, they've removed it in the middle of 24, now people won't be able to watch it, unless its restored before sunday, because you can't skip a episode of 24... Virgin need to bring this back, otherwise there going to have heavy losses... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 2, 2007 Hopefully Sky and Virgin Media go bankrupt. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 2, 2007 We're moving to Sky at my house, after hearing Sky One's being dropped from Virgin. Imo, Sky's a lot better, I've wanted it for ages. The package my parents got is; 1 sky+ box (for downstairs) and a normal sky box (for my room), phone line with free landline calls and 16mb broadband with unlimited usage. All for a £45 installation fee and £60 a month. That's damn' good imo. Err... I don't think so. Firstly its "up to" 16mbit. Secondly, its capped to shit and speed throttled at busy times. For £65 a month i get: 3 Telewest boxes (1 HD with V+) 10mbit internet (soon to be 20mbit in June) Free evening and weekend calls No installation fee and all equipment is free. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 2, 2007 Both sides have got exactly what they wanted here. I doubt either of them had any intention of doing a deal. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 2, 2007 I hate this petty squabbling. Sky are just trying to milk money, although they did offer more channels to the package (Sky Arts and Sky Three), but now I can't watch 24, Simpsons and Futurama. Way to go Sky, that's how you lose customers to the Internet and torrents. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 2, 2007 Err...I don't think so. Firstly its "up to" 16mbit. Secondly, its capped to shit and speed throttled at busy times. For £65 a month i get: 3 Telewest boxes (1 HD with V+) 10mbit internet (soon to be 20mbit in June) Free evening and weekend calls No installation fee and all equipment is free. Are they boosting current 10meg users to 10 are they? My speed is shit slow for 10meg... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 3, 2007 Are they boosting current 10meg users to 10 are they? My speed is shit slow for 10meg... Afaik, it depends on your area and the amount of traffic. But its never forcefully limited. Obviously 6pm > midnight is always busy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 3, 2007 Err...I don't think so. Firstly its "up to" 16mbit. Secondly, its capped to shit and speed throttled at busy times. For £65 a month i get: 3 Telewest boxes (1 HD with V+) 10mbit internet (soon to be 20mbit in June) Free evening and weekend calls No installation fee and all equipment is free. Ah, fair argument there. Though at the moment we have the same phone setup, 2 normal Telewest boxes and 2mb internet. We're paying £78 a month for some reason... wierd. We even complained to Telewest a while back, and we're now on the basic package to save cash. Odd. And I heard about how crap the internet is from someone at work. Bugger. :/ Though doesn't the speed depend on how close you are to a relay station? If that's the case, then the nearest one to me is just under 2 miles away. I hope it's not too slow... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 3, 2007 Any upgrades for 4MBit users or not? Doesn't really bother me as I'm never at home, but just wondering if they're boosting other speeds.............which they should really. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 3, 2007 I'm really pissed off with this. I have Telewest and now skyone is took off I can't watch LOST :'( Fuck both of them. Assholes. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 3, 2007 Disappointed at losing Sky One. No more Simpsons while I play my DS in the evening. Virgin will take over the world. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 3, 2007 Fortunately, Branson is buying the rights to all the seasons of Lost, 24, Simpsons and Futurama that I know of. Don't quote me on 'all the seasons' for all the programs except Lost. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 3, 2007 Its all a rather unfortunate mess, which has suddenly affected viewers. Sky is the main player in the TV market, and are fiercly territorial about their market position. Sky has in the past subdued all other competitors including the cable companies (Telewest, NTL and Wight) and wiped out ONdigital/ITV Digital and other cable operators like Aberdeen Cable. The agressive path Sky has taken over the past 20 years or so was inevitably going to lead to massive consolidation in the Pay-TV market (economies of scale you see), Tiscali has bought out Broadband TV provider Homechoice (a further potential acquisition for Virgin Media), NTL/Telewest/Virgin and more will follow. However, it is ONLY Virgin who stand to make any dent in Sky's huge subscriber base - and has the subscriber numbers to squeeze better carriage aggrements - and this is the current problem. Virgin don't want to pay a huge increase to carry Sky's "basic" package - and when you consider that Sky One's viewing figures have dropped considerably over the few years, you understand why Virgin won't sign. Sky is (either perpously or neglectfully) overestimating the channel's worth. Despite massive investment in Sky One, average viewing figures record just seven hundred and fourty thousand (with only Lost breaking the 1m barrier). It makes no sense for Virgin to pay. Recently (and not reported in the media so far) is that Sky has massively dropped the prices it pays for Virgin's channels (including Bravo, Living) Virgin's solution seems to be to purchase shows for Video on Demand: they've already secured LOST Series 1, 2 and 3 for VoD, the brilliant Greys Anatomy and are working on getting 24 and a whole host of others. This year they'll be bidding against Sky for top US shows. The shows you love WILL be heading to Virgin shortly... And your Sports and Movie channels are protected by a regulated "fair pricing" rate card. Sky can't unfairly increase these prices. Movies and Sport are also being dispursed to many broadcasters (Setanta and Virgin hold broadcast rights to some top FA games, so Sky may not necessarily be the best place for football from 2008. Also, an issue of contention is ITV. NTL (now Virgin) were busy prepping a bid for the UK's ITV PLC (main commercial TV broadcaster for those unaware). This would have proven a lucrative deal for both ITV and NTL. Sky however stealthily purchased over 18% in ITV PLC, effectively blocking any potential bid by NTL. Sky has lost money on this purchase, and are likely not going to recoup it; most agree that the only motivation for Sky was to block a massive expansion of NTL. The combined ITV/NTL would be in a far better position to bid for content, and ultimately not be so relaint on Sky for programming. This is now to be investigated by OFcom (and will most likely open a large can of worms for Sky) - incidently a decision supported by Virgin but not Sky. All that said, neither company is going anywhere. For all the bloodshed Virgin and Sky are both here for the long haul. Sky will continue to do what they do, while Virgin snap at their heals for customers, content and ITV. Its probably also worth mentioning that Virgin are planning to match Sky's 'reception footprint' by providing content by Broadband, with roll out later this year. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 3, 2007 Fortunately, Branson is buying the rights to all the seasons of Lost, 24, Simpsons and Futurama that I know of. Don't quote me on 'all the seasons' for all the programs except Lost. Source? Sky own the rights to those programmes in the UK for quite a while I think... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted March 3, 2007 LOST: http://observer.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,,2020565,00.html 24: http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=544319 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
