Sky packages go up again

Five of Sky's six TV bundles are going up in price come June, with Sky suggesting the average bill will increase by "less than £3 per month". I guess they had to fund that ridiculous inflated price they paid for Premiership rights somehow.
Sky's basic bundle, which includes 35 entertainment channels including Sky Atlantic and Sky Sports News, will remain the same price (£21) but all the other packages, including the Sky Sports and Sky Movies packages will increase in cost.
How this will impact Virgin Media subscribers to the Sky channels we will have to wait to see. The Sky Movies bundle will go up 50p/month to £17/month, Sky Sports will increase by £1 to £25.50/month, while the Sky Movies + Sky Sports bundle will be £34.50/month, up £1.50. The Variety bundle goes up £2 to £30/month, while the Family bundle jumps £3 to £36/month. The new prices come in to effect from June 1st.
(I think Sky still charges extra each month for HD too - it used to be a tenner but I think it's half that now.)

Sky Sports anywhere for Android users

Virgin Android device owners who subscribe to Sky Sports as part of their TV packages can now watch Sky Sports content on their smartphones and tablets.
The latest version of the Sky Sports app for Android now lets Virgin Media customers sign in using their VM log in details in order to access any of the channels. They do need to have a TV sports subscription, where they can watch Sky's channels through a TiVo box, but there are no other restrictions.
Sky Sports 1 to 5, Sky Sports F1 and Sky Sports News HQ are all available to watch on Android phones and tablets over Wi-Fi or a mobile data connection. TiVo customers can also choose to watch the channels through the Virgin TV Anywhere app, which will then subsequently open the Sky Sports app. "The Sky Sports app for Android cements our position as the home of sports TV at home or on the move and means we now have a full complement of Android and iOS apps for both Sky Sports and Sky Movies<" said Scott Kewley, director of digital entertainment for Virgin Media. "Our customers enjoy the same access to Sky Sports on the go as Sky customers."

VMHD Blog back in action

I've been away from the country for work but I'm back now. Apologies for the unheralded silence.

Virgin Media blocks Pirate Bay proxy sites

Not that I advocate torrenting on this blog, but the Government's mandate to ISPs to block file sharing sites took a step to the even darker side with the news that VM and others aren't just required to block the sites themselves, but also sites that tell you about the sites.
Here's what The Inquirer reports:

THE MAIN UK INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS (ISPs) are reportedly blocking access to sites that offer links to Pirate Bay proxy access sites, or are in the process of doing so. 

We can confirm that access to one of the pages is prohibited by Virgin Media's copyright guardian. The same test on a BSkyB connection returned sites one and three in their known form, while the second had a holding page for a domain firm. Virgin Media told us that it is blocking the court ordered sites, and confirmed that 98 sites fall into this camp. A spokesman added: "Virgin Media is required to block certain sites by the UK High Court. As a responsible ISP, we comply with court orders addressed to us."