July 31, 2017

Price rises on the way?

I've not heard anything from Virgin yet but The Register is reporting:

Cable giant Virgin is once again hiking up the price of its broadband and phone bundles, according to a list of new pricing arrangements seen by The Register.
Under the "player TV bundle" new customers can sign up to a package which includes broadband and 13 TV channels at a discount of £5.50 per per month or £32 for the first year.
But changes coming into force next month mean they will initially pay £33 per month, and then £48 per month thereafter. Meanwhile, the highest end VIP bundle, which includes 97 channels, will jump from the current starting rate of £85 to £90 for the first 12 month, and then increase to £120 afterwards.
This follows a price hike last August, which saw customers hit with an increase of £42 per year for those with a broadband and phone or "big bundle" package, and just under £36 per year for those with broadband only.
The firm's student nine-month contracts are also changing from August. Virgin's entry-level broadband package for students of 50Mbps broadband is up from £26 to £33, with the 100Mbps and 200Mbps both increasing by £3 to £39 and £44 respectively. However, the 300Mbps package is being cut from £51 per month, to £49.
The price hikes come after Virgin closed 30 retail stores recently, and launched a review of the viability of 45 offices across the UK. It currently has 130 sites across the nation.

July 10, 2017

July 18th sees the big relaunch for Sky Sports - but no price changes for VM customers

Sky Sports is getting a massive shake up later this month. Here's the news as reported by What Hi-Fi:
As expected, Sky has unveiled a major revamp of its sports channels. Under the changes - which kick in on 18th July - you'll be able to subscribe only to sport that you want to watch.
Sky will offer 10  channels, five of which will be cover specific sport. Sky Sports Premier League will only show action from the UK's top-flight league, for example, with all other football finding a home on Sky Sports Football. There are also dedicated channels for cricket, golf and F1.
You can subscribe to just one of these for £18 a month, two for £22 or three for £26. Want the full complement? It'll set you back the same £27.50 that current subscribers pay.
All the other sport that Sky covers (like rugby league, rugby union, tennis, netball, darts, NFL etc.) will be shown across two new channels: Sky Sports Action and Sky Sports Arena. There's also a new channel called Sky Sports Main Event, which will showcase the biggest live sporting events.
Finally, Sky Sports News and taster channel Sky Sports Mix will be free to all Sky subscribers, even those who don't pay for Sky Sports.
But these likely savings WILL NOT apply to Virgin Media customers. According to James on Virgin's Community forum:
All the news about the Sky Sports Channel Changes are up here: Sky Sports Changes
Virgin Media will continue to offer all of the Sky Sports channels in one combined package, and when taken with our Full House pack we are the only provider where you can get all of the sport on BT Sport and Sky Sports in one package.

BUT I DON'T WANT ALL OF THE SPORT … and I'm sure I'm not alone. Not happy, Virgin Media, not happy at all. Please sort it out.

July 01, 2017

Why so quiet on VMHD?

You may have noticed that things have been pretty quiet on this site since the arrival of Virgin Media’s V6 box. To be honest, there has not been much going on so there’s little to report on - this blog is still active and I will report any big Virgin Media news as I have done for almost a decade now. There’s still no news of 4k content or Sky Atlantic on VM and the V6 bugs have been pretty much ironed out now (Netflix is suddenly working on my wi-fi connected V6!) and if anything new does materialise it will be posted here to keep you informed. I’ll shy away from posting rumours and speculation - just the facts (and the odd opinion or two).
If you’re wondering what I’ve been up to, I’ve just published my second novel and I’m working on a third. Details can be found on my other website here.