PC
To pick up on the red button point:
To some degree I agree - the vast majority of people don't look at On Demand or red button. They don't have time. That's why Virgin's strategy (which is hugely dependent on Virgin Central and these services) is misguided. All people see when they come home after a hard day at work is none of their favourites on Sky One. They don't have time to look for the few hidden gems on On Demand.
But beyond that, the red button applies for interactive news, or (more importantly), the likes of football interactive. Compare the performance of Virgin to Sky - it takes bloody ages to kick into gear, and beyond that often crashes. And the red button doesn't exist at all on Sky channels. When it's constantly advertised as being available it makes Virgin look stupid.
To some degree I agree - the vast majority of people don't look at On Demand or red button. They don't have time. That's why Virgin's strategy (which is hugely dependent on Virgin Central and these services) is misguided. All people see when they come home after a hard day at work is none of their favourites on Sky One. They don't have time to look for the few hidden gems on On Demand.
But beyond that, the red button applies for interactive news, or (more importantly), the likes of football interactive. Compare the performance of Virgin to Sky - it takes bloody ages to kick into gear, and beyond that often crashes. And the red button doesn't exist at all on Sky channels. When it's constantly advertised as being available it makes Virgin look stupid.
BA
not surprised - it is a very popular channel.
Yup,That's the only channel i miss all the rest i couldn't give a **** about.
Luke posted:
Square Eyes posted:
Virgin have had more complaints about the loss of the Sports News channel alone than the other Sky channels.
not surprised - it is a very popular channel.
Yup,That's the only channel i miss all the rest i couldn't give a **** about.
BB
Digital Spy reports that the new joint venture sports news channel with Setanta will be launching within a few weeks.
Set to be called Setanta Sports News, it will be launching exclusively on the Virgin Media platform at first. "At first" is the key phrase there, as it has also been confirmed that the channel will eventually make it to other platforms including Freeview.
As the channel is going to be Setanta-branded, and as the exclusivity rights for carriage on Virgin Media are not indefinite, I'm unclear as to why this should be a joint venture at all. Yes, it plugs a hole in Virgin Media's offering, but the way that most platforms plug a hole is by getting new channels, not by creating them. Without knowing the whole story, of course, it does seem to me that Setanta could have set up this service on its own. Sure, it could have charged Virgin a royalty of some description for the period of exclusivity, but this isn't the same as a joint venture, which is why I remain confused to hear it being described as such.
Still, it will be interesting to see how it compares to Sky Sports News, which is a very good channel.
DS also reports that Virgin Media will be launching an online "sports portal" on July 30, featuring - among other things, presumably - free highlights from Premier League matches.
Set to be called Setanta Sports News, it will be launching exclusively on the Virgin Media platform at first. "At first" is the key phrase there, as it has also been confirmed that the channel will eventually make it to other platforms including Freeview.
As the channel is going to be Setanta-branded, and as the exclusivity rights for carriage on Virgin Media are not indefinite, I'm unclear as to why this should be a joint venture at all. Yes, it plugs a hole in Virgin Media's offering, but the way that most platforms plug a hole is by getting new channels, not by creating them. Without knowing the whole story, of course, it does seem to me that Setanta could have set up this service on its own. Sure, it could have charged Virgin a royalty of some description for the period of exclusivity, but this isn't the same as a joint venture, which is why I remain confused to hear it being described as such.
Still, it will be interesting to see how it compares to Sky Sports News, which is a very good channel.
DS also reports that Virgin Media will be launching an online "sports portal" on July 30, featuring - among other things, presumably - free highlights from Premier League matches.
NU
So can we expect a host of ex Sky Sports News presenters appearing on Setanta Sports News then, Kelly Dalglish, Rhodri Williams???/
SE
Square Eyes
Founding member
I wonder where Setanta Sports News will broadcast from, do they have studios for any of their current output ?
WO
Can someone explain to me the "fanboyism" on Digitalspy between Sky and Virgin?
Two multi-billion pound corporations fought over like some schoolyard "My dads better than your dad" spat.
What does it matter which faceless corporation you get your TV from?
It's strange.
Two multi-billion pound corporations fought over like some schoolyard "My dads better than your dad" spat.
What does it matter which faceless corporation you get your TV from?
It's strange.