Can anyone hazard a guess when this mess will be resolved? Days, weeks, months? Trying to find information from both sides is like trying to get the truth from Donald Trump. I hate Virgin and UKTV with equal contempt. Always the customer is the poor sod in the middle. Nothing changes there. We are just the ones that pay for it.
I think the point is that neither side want to indicate a timescale - as that would give the other the upper hand in negotiations. The first we are likely to know that it has been resolved will be - when it has been resolved.
The 'free channels should be given to our customers for free' argument is nonsense; if you stop paying Sky, TalkTalk, BT, EE etc. you continue to be able to access those channels for free (it's possible you might need to obtain a different decoder, but the actual feed still works). If you stop paying Virgin Media, you no longer have access to anything (except possibly 101-105, while your line is alive).
I'm not sure how it works with the ip based services like EE and Talktalk, when you unsubscribe don't their boxes stop working too? I know BT gets some linear channels like Dave through the aerial so that's not you continuing to get them from your pay TV supplier, it's continuing to get them from DTT aka Freeview. Most Virgin customers will get that when they leave the company
I do agree though that there's not really any such thing as a 'free' channel on Virgin, but the fact one is free elsewhere does make a it a less sellable proposition when they're marketing their cable service.
A number of IP OTT or IP Multicast boxes also include DVB-T/T2 receivers (BT / YouView boxes, Sky Now TV Smart box etc.) that will receive Freeview broadcasts (Though Now TV isn't Freeview licensed so doesn't get a full Freeview EPG)
AIUI one big sticking point is that the UKTV / Virgin agreement over UKTV pay-TV channel VOD content available on the Virgin platform is restricted? Virgin aren't happy about the content being on Netflix and/or Amazon Prime etc. but not on their platform, so want to pay less for the UKTV premium channels.
The 'free channels should be given to our customers for free' argument is nonsense; if you stop paying Sky, TalkTalk, BT, EE etc. you continue to be able to access those channels for free (it's possible you might need to obtain a different decoder, but the actual feed still works). If you stop paying Virgin Media, you no longer have access to anything (except possibly 101-105, while your line is alive).
I'm not sure how it works with the ip based services like EE and Talktalk, when you unsubscribe don't their boxes stop working too? I know BT gets some linear channels like Dave through the aerial so that's not you continuing to get them from your pay TV supplier, it's continuing to get them from DTT aka Freeview. Most Virgin customers will get that when they leave the company
I do agree though that there's not really any such thing as a 'free' channel on Virgin, but the fact one is free elsewhere does make a it a less sellable proposition when they're marketing their cable service.
On EE, the STB becomes 'dumb' - meaning it will only access SD DTT services (Freeview SD effectively).
BT YouView boxes work just fine without a subscription - I've used mine as a main DVR without a BT subscription for 18 months - it appeared to get an OTA upgrade when I was briefly with TalkTalk.
Of course, there'd be nothing stopping Virgin building an STB which took a DTT feed and thereby allowed access to the channels in the same way.
Well it seems all the hype over the loss of the UKTV channels on Virgin has died down. Looks like they will never be back. On Twiiter, the UKTV PR team said this:
"Lots of questions on Virgin Media again today! Our door is definitely open but to be clear there've been no more commercial discussions with Virgin so a solution is looking unlikely. All the UKTV channels are still available on @SkyUK @bt_uk and @TalkTalkTV"
Still seems to be plenty of anger from what I've seen, and how can you say "they'll never be back" based on a single tweet a mere 2 days after they went off? Who knows what will be the case a week, a month, a year down the line? It's ridiculous though that Virgin don't seem to have even tried to reach out to UKTV since all this.
I personally think Virgin need to get rid of David Bouchier, he seems to be the person responsible for much of this at Virgin's end at least, and he's been their face of this argument in the media. Maybe then they can get someone who'll go into UKTV working fresh and maybe with a more open mind.
Last edited by james-2001 on 25 July 2018 12:23am - 2 times in total
We are concerned about the impact of this dispute on viewers, and we will be meeting both parties as a priority to see whether it can be resolved. Those affected are advised to continue to follow previous guidance on reporting their positions. https://t.co/aKr9hjCDHi
I think if people know the full facts they can have an informed opinion and decide what they want to do accordingly
If I knew
a. how much UKTV paid Freeview or were paid by Freeview for carrying the free to air channels
b. how much UKTV paid Sky or were paid by Sky for
1. carrying the free to air channels
2. carrying the pay for channels.
3. allowing video on demand content
c. how much UKTV paid Virgin or were paid by Virgin for
1. carrying the free to air channels
2. carrying the pay for channels.
3. allowing video on demand content
It potentially help me decide whether I should switch from Virgin to Sky to allow me to watch UKTV programmes in my living room or just keep Virgin and only watch the free to air channels on Freeview on my other TVs that are connected to an aerial
We are concerned about the impact of this dispute on viewers, and we will be meeting both parties as a priority to see whether it can be resolved. Those affected are advised to continue to follow previous guidance on reporting their positions. https://t.co/aKr9hjCDHi
I think if people know the full facts they can have an informed opinion and decide what they want to do accordingly
If I knew
a. how much UKTV paid Freeview or were paid by Freeview for carrying the free to air channels
b. how much UKTV paid Sky or were paid by Sky for
1. carrying the free to air channels
2. carrying the pay for channels.
3. allowing video on demand content
c. how much UKTV paid Virgin or were paid by Virgin for
1. carrying the free to air channels
2. carrying the pay for channels.
3. allowing video on demand content
It potentially help me decide whether I should switch from Virgin to Sky to allow me to watch UKTV programmes in my living room or just keep Virgin and only watch the free to air channels on Freeview on my other TVs that are connected to an aerial
How does that help? As a consumer you either want to watch the UKTV channels or you don’t.
If you do you have to make other arrangements, otherwise do nothing. They won’t be releasing commercially sensitive information to allow consumers to pass judgement.
Exactly. The only thing that you could justify wanting to know is the expiry date on any agreements as I think it's fair to say you don't want to switch to Sky and then six months later find yourself in the same situation.
I wonder if Ofcom will rule that it's a significant enough change that people can cancel without penalty. I imagine that would be a real blow to Virgin as people will know they can cancel mid-contract without penalty and might spur some people to cancel who weren't sure about it before. Hopefully though it will help get their arses into gear to find a solution.