UKTV channels set to leave Virgin Media on Sunday

I really can't see Dave losing a fifth of its audience simply due to being pulled from VM. One of the reasons Dave is so successful is because it's on Freeview/Freesat.


VM claimed that UKTV channels were some of their least popular during the early days of this spat.

I would hazard a guess that the average Dave viewer is simply out and about enjoying the good weather.

Broadcast is reporting that Sky have apparently gained 8,000 VM customers since UKTV was removed.

Brother in-law has sky broadband round the corner from me and it's rubbish, even his kids say it is. Hardly had any issues with virgin for broadband and been with them for years.

I had massive dropout issues this time last year but they appear to have been resolved. End of the day I'm paying less than I paid BT for the same setup (Short version: My mum died, I moved out her house and Virgin wasn't at the new place. Shortly afterwards they laid cables at my new digs and they did a deal where I could port my late mother's account once my BT contract was up - as it was I took over the account as obviously her Direct Debits etc ceased)

It surprises me that people go to the bother of changing provider - unless they are avid viewers of the UKTV channels. Personally, as I only watch one or two programmes from the Drama Channel it made sense to take the monthly discount and £50 handout from Virgin and buy a Firestick. (I was thinking of getting one anyway so I’m no worse off except not being able to record the UKTV shows to “keep”, and much better off as I can now watch TV channels from all over the world - good fun for a pres geek!)

That's... not many really, less than I was expecting. Even if all of them were people who moved from Virgin, it would still only equal around 0.2% of Virgin's customer base having moved to Sky.

Though it would be interesting to hear how many have cancelled Virgin since, and gone to other providers like BT and NowTV or just gone to freeview.

TV Player is the IPTV provider with the most to gain from this. They have all of the channels on a no contract basis. Only device restrictions, of which some have now been lifted depending on the device are a disadvantage, where as BT and TalkTalk require a fixed contract and installation.

Interestingly I've had completely the opposite experience, I had Virgin broadband (with Sky TV) a few years back and the service was awful. Slow at peak times, kept dropping out and they made a complete mess of a house move in the middle leaving me without service for a week. Customer support were next to useless and treated me like an idiot, taking ages to explain remedies step by step that I had told them I tried at the start of the call.


Now I've got Sky Broadband and the service has been excellent. The connection is always full speed and they provide full IPv6 connectivity which Virgin has only just started trialing. The new Sky Q hub is very good as well. The only time I had an issue is when the local yobs decided to break open the green cabinet down the road, and after a quick call to Sky they had Openreach fixing it a few hours later.

It has come to the reality now that Virgin Media and UKTV do not care whether the UKTV channels will return to Virgin. Both sides have seemed to be entrenched and in acceptance that the channels are gone. The silence from Virgin Media says it all, whilst UKTV just plug Sky, BT, TalkTalk etc, and just have given up.

Choices - for those who just want free UKTV channels, Freesat or if you live in the full Freeview transmitter area, then this is the best choice. Sky, BT etc for those willing to switch and pay.

I predict there will not be any progress on the return of the channels, and I just hope Virgin lose millions as well as UKTV. Both sides have treated the viewer and customer with contempt. 4 million subscribers treated like ****. Both companies deserve to fail.

Whenever anyone says broadband is rubbish I have to instantly ask if they are basing this on WiFi quality or the actual exchange connectivity and speeds further upstream.

I've had Sky broadband for a while now and it always delivers download speeds close to the maximum I'd expect. I don't, of course, use the built in WiFi access point for WiFi connectivity (I run Ubiquiti access points these days), and all devices that can be connected by Ethernet cables are. Sky's VDSL connectivity between homes and the exchange is pretty much identical to anyone else's (apart from large exchanges all the kit is BT OpenReach provisioned anyway I believe) However post-exchange Sky take over and their backbone quality and arrangements for interconnectivity with 'the internet' seem to be very good.

A lot of complaints I hear about broadband quality often turn out to be based on WiFi quality (which is a totally different kettle of fish)

Sky have a very decent backbone and peering arrangement (Sky News use Sky broadband connectivity increasingly for broadcast use - as do the BBC)

Virgin appear to have a far patchier connectivity record. You may get faster sync speeds - but their wider connectivity to the public internet seems to be less than perfect in some situations.

It can also be based on the quality of the router itself. Our broadband is fine, but the router they provided couldn't route the LAN for toffee. A device would get the full bandwidth one minute and nothing the next. Swapped it for a different modem/router and it worked as it should

If Virgin Media and UKTV both failed, it would be very, *very* good news for Sky... and not-so-good news for the Competition and Markets Authority.