Virgin Media TV changes

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  • TERRIBLE!! :cursing:

    I'm watching CNN now. I'm utterly fed up about this.

    I suppose at some point next year, CNN will appear on whatever concoction of a streaming service that Warner and Discovery dream up.

  • TERRIBLE!! :cursing:

    I'm watching CNN now. I'm utterly fed up about this.

    I suppose at some point next year, CNN will appear on whatever concoction of a streaming service that Warner and Discovery dream up.

    From memory, they announced CNN+ back in April but apparently it's launching in US first. It's going to be a Live+On-demand offering. I think there's another CNN-branded subscription service by a different name they are offering here at the moment, my memory's a blank regards that name though. ||

  • Thanks Cheeky.

    If Sky Max is meant to be the channel with all the new stuff on it, I wonder why Showcase has been given priority on the EPG?

  • Thanks Cheeky.

    If Sky Max is meant to be the channel with all the new stuff on it, I wonder why Showcase has been given priority on the EPG?

    Sky Showcase is showing the best of Sky’s channels. You can bet that any good stuff on Sky Max will be simulcast on Sky Showcase.

  • ...apart from Sky Atlantic content to keep it off Virgin Media.

    They are now the only pay TV company not to have access to it; you'd think that Sky would put some SA stuff on Sky Showcase if only to try and poach VM customers.

  • ...apart from Sky Atlantic content to keep it off Virgin Media.

    They are now the only pay TV company not to have access to it; you'd think that Sky would put some SA stuff on Sky Showcase if only to try and poach VM customers.

    There's basically only two traditional pay TV companies in the UK, so that's not difficult when one of them is Sky and VM is the other. BT sold out to Sky so their service is basically rebadged NowTV and they are closing Plusnet TV rather than copy that arrangement.

  • EE is another.

    I'm not saying there aren't others, simply that most are so small that they are virtually irrelevant. Even VM lacks enough scale to achieve certain things, and they are (a distant) No.2. Sky can get things from 3rd Parties almost without trying as they are so much larger, companies want to be on the biggest so Sky can leverage better terms and even exclusivity without asking for it.

  • After Plusnet closes, I think that there will only be Sky, VM, BT and EE.

    On Virgin Media the CNN picture was replaced at two minutes past midnight with a slate advising viewers that it had been removed and to try Sky News, BBC Nrws or Bloomberg as an alternative. They seem to have had the sense not to suggest GB News this time!

    There is no mention of the alternative ways to continue to receive CNN.

    A minute later the audio was removed and the channel is now silent. Bloody great :(

  • Euronews would've been the obvious choice, rather than Bloomberg. The latter is probably only there as the blub mentions HD...and it's American.

    I wouldn't expect any TV platform to tell me how to continue viewing something they not longer carry, they are hardly going to encourage customers to jump ship to a rival.

  • That's true, but they're on about trying to get the app for people to subscribe to, so I thought that they might have mentioned that, if not Sky.

    There's no point promoting something they don't yet have to a wider audience, it raises expectations that might not be met. Putting it on a slate would, even if not said, give the unintended impression it was imminent. Mentioning the future possibility in an FAQ is fine, they gave some hope but not immediate expectation.

    Seeing something on an on-screen slate, though not deliberate on the part of the reader, the unconscious expectation is for immediate solutions. Whereas in seeking out an FAQ you at least expect it not to be straightforward.

    The CNN app they have (had?) on TV360 was already developed for the Horizon platform, if other Horizon-platform providers still have deals with CNN it is more likely CNN will be inclined to update it to implement their new subscription model. CNN may not deem if worth the effort if it's only for Horizon devices in UK market.

  • I might have posted this on a separate thread if I had the ability to test it on other TV platforms, but I can't, I don't know if this is on other Connected TV services, so here is what I've observed on Virgin Media just now.

    The BBC Connected Red Button Bridge no longer has News and Sport menu options, just iPlayer and Featured.

    The last change that occurred removed Weather and Lottery. I was expecting a change, but was actually expecting BBC Sounds menu option to be added, not News and Sport shortcuts to be removed from the menu bridge.

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