Surprised about Virgin Media's HDTV offerings! Or lack of.

[acrobat]

Just 1 blummin channel?!!!!

I'm looking in to get HD TV for my folks in their house. They have SD Sky already but are getting a new telly so wanted to get an HD tv package. I checked out Virgin Media. They have a bit more on demand stuff than Sky I think, and the Vbox is slightly better, but I can't believe how screwed they are with the HDTV channels!! Their one and only HD TV channel is BBC HD or some balls. I couldn't believe it. I kept refreshing the webpage incase it wasn't all loading properly

I then called them just to check and the guy was really honest and said that if I wanted broadband, he would happily recommend their fantastic broadband, and their phone service is competitive with BT etc.. but if I am mainly after HD TV, then he would have to be honest and recommend sky! Wow. He explained about the big falling out and Sky being gits and demanding 4 times the price from Virgin so thats why they aren't buying it in anymore. But I assumed that was just for a few channels. not all of them, and I also thought it would be a temporary thing that would get resolved sooner rather than never. He said there is no end in sight either.. I am amazed at how screwed that makes them. It's not a bad deal TV package if you aren't bothered about HD I suppose, but we are bothered.

All my dad watches is sport, so Sky Sports HD would have been a BIG deal to him. He also is a history/naturey/and sciency type, so would have really enjoyed National Geographic HD, Discovery HD, and History HD. Also you can get Sky1 HD which has some decent American shows like the Simpsons and whatnot, and they are broadcast in HD. Nice. And then you have BBC and Channel 4 HD too which would probably have the odd show he and my mum would watch. Admittedly the arts channels and stuff would probably never get watched, but the sports, nature/history, and Sky1 HD channels alone would make it worth having. And all the HD movie options are there as an option too.

So I can't believe what Virgin Media is missing out on. It's a really big deal. No HD sport is just nuts. I feel so sorry for them but more sorry for us customers who don't really have any competition helping to keep the prices down. I also wonder why Virgin are so lax with some of the other channels. Channel 4 HD surely isn't owned by sky? And they have Virgin 1 to take over from Sky1, so why can't they have a Virgin1 HD too? Just one channel is madness. The odd bit of a pay per view would help but in about 10 years of owning sky, we never use pay per view except for one boxing match I think.

[pauldarkside]

Just a quick note: The Simpsons/Futurama on Sky One HD is not HD.

The last I read regarding Virgin Media was that they were to offload (sell off) their TV operation - read more here. Quite where that places the future of Virgin Media's HD offerings I don't know.

I'll be sticking with Sky for the foreseeable future as there's a definate lack of alternatives where I live.

[Salazaar]

Channels 4 and 5 do have a deal with Sky at the moment for non-terrestrial broadcast though those should be ending some time this year.

Other than that, why would Sky let Virgin have access to their HD channels for anything less then a small fortune? Doing so would only increase the competition against them.

I suppose Virgin could opt to pay what Sky are asking but would you, the consumer, be prepared to pay a lot extra to watch Sky HD channels on Virgin?

[TheAnimus]

Channels 4 and 5 do have a deal with Sky at the moment for non-terrestrial broadcast though those should be ending some time this year.

Other than that, why would Sky let Virgin have access to their HD channels for anything less then a small fortune? Doing so would only increase the competition against them.

I suppose Virgin could opt to pay why Sky are asking but would you, the consumer, be prepared to pay a lot extra to watch Sky HD channels on Virgin?

Where's an anti-trust lawyer when you need one

[No.72]

Speaking of HD channels, BBC HD has the masters live on Thursday-sunday, BBCHD isn't completely useless after all!

[LWA]

Speaking of HD channels, BBC HD has the masters live on Thursday-sunday, BBCHD isn't completely useless after all!

Thought it was the World Championship? Thanks for reminding me though!

[Blitzen]

Im still waiting for PlayboyTV HD

Wobbly bits in HD will be class

[bigblue]

Speaking of HD channels, BBC HD has the masters live on Thursday-sunday, BBCHD isn't completely useless after all!

It does indeed, and a few other sporting events, though very little football.

There were a few issues with Masters coverage last year, though overall the picture quality was fantastic. They've reduced the bitrates now though, so there may be a few upset punters if the quality has noticeably dropped.

[TiG]

Sky doesn't have many HD channels tho does it?, 6-7?.

Its nothing like the states....

TiG

[No.72]

The thing I hate about the BBC and the masters it that coverage starts soo late and baring in mind Lineker who knows fuge all about golf bangs on for 40 mins at the start, (9-12pm) where as in the US it starts much earlier. Although its mostly due to stingy US telly rights. Same story with virgin and sky in some ways.

[pauldarkside]

Sky doesn't have many HD channels tho does it?, 6-7?.

Looking at mine now:

Channel 4HD
BBC HD
Sky One HD
Sky Arts HD
Luxe TV HD
Sky Premiere HD
Sky Screen 1HD
Sky Screen 2HD
Sky Sports HD1
Sky Sports HD2
Sky Sports HD3
Rush HD
Discovery HD
Nat Geo HD
History HD
SBO HD1
SBO HD2

[jimborae]

Looking at mine now:

Channel 4HD
BBC HD
Sky One HD
Sky Arts HD
Luxe TV HD
Sky Premiere HD
Sky Screen 1HD
Sky Screen 2HD
Sky Sports HD1
Sky Sports HD2
Sky Sports HD3
Rush HD
Discovery HD
Nat Geo HD
History HD
SBO HD1
SBO HD2

And FX-HD starts on the 21st April as well with some good shows coming to it.

[pauldarkside]

And FX-HD starts on the 21st April as well with some good shows coming to it.

Yeah, I didn't even know about Rush HD until compiling that list.

(Watched Battlestar Galactica on Sky One HD last night - first it's been on since getting the screen and box - and it's simply stunning)

[Gr44]

SkyHD is awesome. My only moan is you can't record two HD programes at once. Also, the HDD is pretty small if you _only_ record HD ( which you don't because there isn't enough on, yet. )

As pointed out, Simpsons etc isn't HD... quite a lot of stuff on Skyone HD isn't ( needs a HD symbol on the information - else it's just been upscaled ) Simpsons looks worse when upscaled, IMO.

[pauldarkside]

SkyHD is awesome. My only moan is you can't record two HD programes at once.

Yes you can - I do that quite a bit You can't record two channels and watch a third though but you can record two and either watch one of them whilst recording or watch something already on the drive.

Also, the HDD is pretty small if you _only_ record HD ( which you don't because there isn't enough on, yet. )

Yep, I'll agree with that - some (about half as I understand it) is reserved for the other PVR functions (pause live TV, rewind, etc); disabling AnytimeTV doesn't free up space unfortunately. The drive can be upgraded although I read you need a specific standard of hard disk and not all off-the-shelf ones will cope - how true that is I don't know.

[TAKTAK]

even freeviews having a HD flavour next year iirc