No more sky channels for virgin media

[Saracen]

Would the customers of virgin been happy to pay more money because of Sky's new price?

It would have been more honest of them.

I want Sky 1 period. They could have offered a basic package without Sky channels and a 'Plus' option with them, and left it to VIEWERS to decide whether they were prepared to pay for Sky or not. Instead, NTL/VM dug their heels in and decided not to provide the channel that was the sole reason I was paying them for the service.

So ... either I subscribe to Sky, or just save the subscription and buy the DVDs of the shows I actually want. In either case, NTL/VM lose my custom because they decided not to supply the product I was paying their fee for, when they could have left it to MY decision as to whether I would pay more for it.

[Durzel]

Virgin Mobile seem to hate Sky at the moment, and vice versa.

I rang up VM and made up a story about Sky contacting me aggressively to get me to switch my blueyonder broadband to them and without any argument VM just dropped my £35 a month payment to £17.99.

I don't have any other VM service so I thought this was quite a result.

Shame I'm still paying £52 a month for the full Sky package.

[Bob Crabtree]

HEXUS.lifestyle has a little news piece about the tiff between BSkyB and Virgin Media - Sky pulls its non-premium channels from Virgin Media cable.

[Fat Gat]

How cack is this really? Out of the package that our flat gets off them Sky One was pretty much the only channel I watch. Saw a piece on the BBC bulletin earlier on today, an independant expert was saying there's a clause in the customer contract saying that if there's 'substantial' changes to your package you're entitled to a refund. What the definition of substantial means is anyones business but some lawyer types are looking into it apparently.

Oh and this would happen just after I've finished wiring in a scart system for the whole flat under the carpets so we can all watch cable, GRRRRRRR!

[ACiD303]

It's only really affected me today, completely forgot about the Sky switch off and wanted to watch some futurama or simpsons - for probably about the first time this year.

Not so much bothered by the channels going, I just hope they'll slash prices so that they're inline without Sky channels. Or get Sky back, whatever.

Im really interested in whats going to happen next, I enjoy these big company stand offs

[FrontSideBus]

Sky can stick their channels up their backside tbh.

They made a big mistake playing dirty tricks like this, look what happened with BA when they tried...

[jamin]

I have no love for Murdoch or his empire but I was paying for NTL TV almost exclusively for Sky 1. Anything else was icing on the cake.

What's more, I have no love for NTL either. Over a long period, I've been jerked about by them over and over and over again.

So ..... as far as NTL/VM are concerned, no Sky 1 = no TV subscription from me, and if I have to go elsewhere for that, I'll go elsewhere for most or all of the rest of the services I want, too.

I may have no love for Murdoch, but I'll treat NTL/VM in exactly the same way as they've treated me. In other words, with clinical disregard, bordering on contempt. I want the service I was paying for, and if NTL can't or won't provide it, I'll get it elsewhere. And I'd be as happy, or happier, to make a stand against NTL as I would BSB. After all, I object to Murdoch on principle. With NTL, it's personal!

At the end of the day, thats your perogative and your right to be able to switch. Which is the core of this whole feud. VM are standing up to skys monopoly and anti competitive tactics. In the short term it will affect customers, but looking further into the future I can see things changing for the better. The VM culture is not NTL, although its going to take time to get things up to scratch.

Personally, I'm not going to lose sleep over missing 4 simpsons repeats a day, and repeats of Buffy and Angel or Relic Hunter. I will miss SG-1 and 24, but I can get them online. Long and short of it is SKY 1's programming is massivley overrated and I agree with VM for fighting SKYs unrealistic valuation.

[Skii]

At the end of the day, thats your perogative and your right to be able to switch. Which is the core of this whole feud. VM are standing up to skys monopoly and anti competitive tactics. In the short term it will affect customers, but looking further into the future I can see things changing for the better. The VM culture is not NTL, although its going to take time to get things up to scratch.

Personally, I'm not going to lose sleep over missing 4 simpsons repeats a day, and repeats of Buffy and Angel or Relic Hunter. I will miss SG-1 and 24, but I can get them online. Long and short of it is SKY 1's programming is massivley overrated and I agree with VM for fighting SKYs unrealistic valuation.

I wholeheartedly agree with this.

[Moby-Dick]

If I had a regular VM package then I probably wouldn't bother switching , but due to the failures of the Milton Keynes cable infrastucture which both NTL and Virgin media have stated they have no plans to upgrade, I'm quite happy to switch to sky. (I'd have gone freeview + top up TV , but sky was cheaper )

[Tobeman]

http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,2025043,00.htm

..After Sky's basic channels were removed from the Virgin Media cable service yesterday, channel 602 - the former Sky News slot - was renamed "Sky Snooze try BBC".

However, last night, Mr Branson told MediaGuardian.co.uk: "I have asked them to take it down. We do not mean any disrespect to Sky News. I think it is a very good news channel."..

kek!

[Saracen]

At the end of the day, thats your perogative and your right to be able to switch. Which is the core of this whole feud. VM are standing up to skys monopoly and anti competitive tactics. In the short term it will affect customers, but looking further into the future I can see things changing for the better. The VM culture is not NTL, although its going to take time to get things up to scratch.

Personally, I'm not going to lose sleep over missing 4 simpsons repeats a day, and repeats of Buffy and Angel or Relic Hunter. I will miss SG-1 and 24, but I can get them online. Long and short of it is SKY 1's programming is massivley overrated and I agree with VM for fighting SKYs unrealistic valuation.

VM aren't making some principled stand against Murdoch's monopoly - they're doing exactly what BSB are doing - fighting for their own vested commercial self-interest.

The crack about Simpsons, Buffy re-runs etc is just spin. We each want and watch what we want, and it has NOTHING to do with VMs decision. Personally, I don't watch Buffy or Angel re-runs, have never watched Relic Hunter and wouldn't watch the Simpsons if you paid me.

As I said earlier, I don't watch much TV at all, but among what I do watch is SG-1, Atlantis, Battlestar Galactica and Bones. And due to this decision I can no longer get them.

To be honest, I don't much care what VM's long-term culture is, and I'm not prepared tp pay them now for them to stand on their principles. They've stopped providing the service that was the sole reason for me paying them for their service. So I've stopped paying them for it. If, on whatever channel, they bring back the programs I was paying for, I'll look at starting up until again ... and evaluate the other options against them. But inertia suggests that once Sky is in, I'll only switch if it's in MY interest to do so (and once the contract minimum term runs out).

In the meantime, VMs attitude over this sucks. So does Skys, but that doesn't let VM off the hook. I'm paying for services, and they suddenly decide to stop supplying them. Do they email customers a warning? Nope. Do they provide a period to allow customers that want the programs they'll no longer be getting a chance to make alternative arrangements? Nope. They just suddenly cut the service with NO warning at all, and to hell with it messing their customers about.

If this is an example of VMs "culture", then not only does it suck, but it's several levels of intransigence worse than NTL were at their worst.

Every NTL/VM customer will make their own decision. Some will miss the channels but stay anyway, some won't be bothered about the coverage they've lost, and some (like me) will be flaming angry with VM. If it weren't for the fact that arranging broadband cover and switching my phone lines (and numbers) is such a pain, I'd already have dumped them for all services over this. But I'll guarantee them this much - it HAS caused a lot of ill-will with many customers, and will (no doubt already has) resulted in some losses of customers.

And the way the whole thng has been played out by both companies, such as VMs reference to Sky News as "Sky Snooze try BBC" is pathetic, and something I'd expect of a petulant 5-year old in the school playground, not a large corporation.

So if you want to stay loyal to VM, that's fine. Your choice. But please don't try to convince me that this is some principled fight by VM against the Evil Empire, because it isn't. VM would be quite happy to go along with the Evil Empire (and their anti-competitiveness) if they could get the price and terms they wanted. It's about the commercial bottom line, and VM are quite happy to screw over their own customers in their petulant little bickering with an equally obnoxious Sky.


As for getting SG-1 etc online, I'm sure I could, too. But I don't use P2P services at all, let alone for illegal content. If shows like that are available online legally, I'm certainly not aware of it. And even if they were, I wouldn't be interested. I spend much of my working life staring at a computer screen and I have no interest at all in watching TV on my computer. I don't have a PC in the lounge or bedroom, and moreover, won't have one there. I want to rest, relax and get away from that.

Sky 1's programming might be "massivley overrated" in your opinion, and of course you're entitled to that opinion ... but I don't share it. As I said, I don't watch much TV but a very high proportion of it (or at least, that part that isn't on free terrestrial stations) is on Sky 1 (or 2).

As faras I'm concerned, whatever Skys behaviour in this, VMs has been disgraceful. Arrogant, obnoxious, petulant and disgraceful. And that's generally not how a company wants their customers to perceive them, not that it bothers VM much, by the look of it.

[htid]

What i'm not understanding is this:

Now on channel 120 it's Virgin Central instead...it says press red to start...yet red does nothing?

I thought it was our remote but my housemate said red has never worked on NTL...not on his NTL remote at home either. Am I missing something here?

[Tobeman]

What i'm not understanding is this:

Now on channel 120 it's Virgin Central instead...it says press red to start...yet red does nothing?

I thought it was our remote but my housemate said red has never worked on NTL...not on his NTL remote at home either. Am I missing something here?

is this the thing that starts the on demand viewing? I tried it the other night and works fine, got a relatively new Samsung box though..

[htid]

is this the thing that starts the on demand viewing? I tried it the other night and works fine, got a relatively new Samsung box though..

Yep that thing. Hmmm we had NTL for about 2 and a half years so it's an old NTL box we have. Maybe we should ring and ask to swap...although not sure if there is much point since we are students and leave in 3 months. Have to see anyway.

[jamin]

I totally disagree with you Saracen, but you are obviously passionate about the issue and I'm not going to get into a flame war. As I said, your perogative, your choice your opinion.

[steve threlfall]

What i'm not understanding is this:

Now on channel 120 it's Virgin Central instead...it says press red to start...yet red does nothing?

I thought it was our remote but my housemate said red has never worked on NTL...not on his NTL remote at home either. Am I missing something here?

Vitgin central is a great service. I am watching Nip Tuck on there at the moment. Lots of little britain too