July 20, 2018

Five HD channels going, six arriving

HD channels that will disappear on Sunday with the departure of the UKTV channels from Virgin Media:
  • W HD (191)
  • Dave HD (194)
  • Alibi HD (200)
  • Eden HD (249)
  • Good Food HD (280)
New HD channels arriving are:
  • Paramount Network HD (124)
  • Premier Sports (127 - subscription free for two months)
  • Quest HD (194)
  • C&I HD (200)
  • History HD (245)
  • Love Nature HD (247)
I'll miss Eden HD, which was a regular destination in our house.
That's five gone, six incoming. There are more SD channels going and arriving - get the full list of arrivals here: https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/News/UKTV-Channels-List/ba-p/3775318
It's interesting to note that the two sides in the dispute can't even agree as to the reason for the channels departing. Virgin waffle on about the On Demand rights not being available but UKTV point to Virgin offering a lower price for the channels. I suspect the truth is somewhere between the two. I also think this could be a big problem for both companies if the dispute rumbles on into the autumn - maybe we will see a speedy resolution and then we'll have some additional HD channels as well as old favourites returning?

30 comments:

Unknown said...

Virgin media want Cheaper tv channels. One Word. SKY

Unknown said...

Super, I only watch Alibi for Quantico, I have 4 episodes of the new season recorded, there are 5 episodes of the season left that I wont be able to see now.

Companies tell us this is because they want a better deal for the consumer, but its always the consumer that suffers as a result.

I'm losing channels I rarely watch and gaining channels that I doubt i'll watch as they are either showing repeats or shows that are already on Netflix and amazon but will Virgin lower bill? Probably not? will I get a letter telling me due to investment to bring me great tv my bill is going up? Absolutely.

Chris said...

Well the only one I might miss is Eden. The new ones are more exciting, but hopefully we do keep the UKTV ones eventually.

DatingKit.io said...

Seems simple to me, more than 50% of people now use on-demand services to consume TV content at times that suit them, terrestrial TV channels are steadily losing viewer ratings. UKTV have a contractual deal with iPlayer and do not want to offer any digital streaming rights to providers like Virgin, while Virgin say the digital rights are more important than the TV channels themselves, so either UKTV get with the times and start to realise that people want to consume on demand content and open up to providers by giving them the access to on demand content for a fair price, or they will have to heavily discount the price for terrestrial channels that get less and less viewers.
There is no money to be made in terrestrial TV for a provider any more. All the money is in streaming content like Netflix do, viewing habits have changed and Virgin Media have to keep up with trends and competitors and they can't do that if UKTV are holding back all that stuff for BBC iPlayer and offering the equivalent of VHS for a high price.

In my opinion, this sites squarely on UKTV's shoulders of withholding the stuff customers want, and expecting too high a price tag for what they don't want! Even a commentator above me nailed the situation by saying that he has recorded several episodes and was waiting on the rest before watching it. THIS is the change in habits, nobody watches Live TV any more except for sport! And guess what, Virgin Media are providing a sport channel as replacement to highlight the point.

Danny Boy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Notlenks64 said...

No more Del Boy, no more Top Gear what the fcuk? Im leaving

Unknown said...

No more fools and horses for me disappointed with virgin media your not going to keep your customers now sad day for all

Notlenks64 said...

Why are there duplicated channels? CH200 and CH222 are Crime Investigation. CH248 and CH295 are ZooMoo wtf come on Virgin Media.

Unknown said...

I agree with Peter Skelton's comments on duplicate channels. I have found 11 duplicate channels so far - this includes 5 HD channels,shown as 'new'channels on the list above.ParamountHD can now be found at ch 124 + 187, QuestHD at 194 + 217, C+I HD at 200 + 222, HistoryHD at 245 + 299 and LoveNature at 247 + 293. Come on Virgin sort yourselves out!!!

Unknown said...

..Even WatchHD has been replaced on ch 191 by VICE, which is already on ch 219. Makes me wonder whether Virgin Media actually realize that they are duplicating channels? I think that they should now announce a price reduction for customers!

Chris said...

Presumably it’s a temporary thing to replace the UKTV numbers with the new channels to highlight them to customers. Or possibly infuriate some of them. Personally I’m very happy as I’ve been asking them for Freesports for ages. And no, you’re not getting a price cut. It would be interesting to know how much of your subscription actually went to UKTV though.

Nick said...

Called retention’s due to the UKTV channels being dropped. Got a £3 a month reduction and a £20 credit.

Notlenks64 said...

So the new channels aren’t available on the mobile app. This just gets better.

Richard said...

Watched bbc this morning and they had someone from vm and UKTV... was funny!
Actually vm had a good argument... if you offer free channels on terrestrial, why can’t our customers have those channels
UKTV response... (paraphrased) you charge your customers, so we want some of that money!
Actually you can have a vm box which only deliverers the terrestrial channels for free and just pay for the box... so UKTV don’t know vms pricing structure,,

They did say they are happy to pay for the premium channels but added the second comment. of the original content you provide on pay channels, you also provide most of it on the free channels as well... doesn’t that mean your original content is funded by advertising not subscription... we would like a discussion about fair pricing for customers, if there is not a lot that is unique on the pay channels.
UKTV response... you charge your customers and we want some of that money!

Wasn’t a constructive debate, the questions were legitimate, but UKTV were really the ones who looked bad and trying to get money from vm and chatting off the channels... didn’t come across a vm being greedy perspective at all.

Dannysat said...

Looking at the message boards and tweets I think there are two distinct issues.

The content issue is massive. The new world of on demand and streaming has been well argued already by Humour Hive on this forum and by others elsewhere. In the end we pay the BBC to make programmes and they then sell those rights to their commercial wing and we pay again to watch them on Gold or whatever. The ins and outs of the arguments will matter little to the viewers of UKTV who just want their channels back and care little for the associated issues.

The second thing is how VM have acted towards their customers. VM claim to have had little notice of the withdrawal of the UKTV channels and yet had replacements lined up. They must have been negotiating towards a deadline and seen this outcome as a possibility and yet no word got out. Maybe it is industry practice as Sky almost went the distance with Discovery relatively recently but compromised at the last minute. Perhaps it is the shape of things to come.

Again all this is fine and dandy but the customers pay VM to provide the channels they want and that has changed with no real notice and a statement from VM saying they know what their customers want and it is on demand and they have replaced the UKTV channels with quality programming. With respect the statement falls down on both counts.

Royalbeech said...

Sounds a bit like "Brexit" to me UK want out but Europe want us to pay for the privilege....

Chris said...

Speak for yourself. But let’s not get into that shall we.

Royalbeech said...

Oh! I think I hit a nerve... Truth hurts sometimes. by the way, I voted to stay...

Unknown said...

Why would people 'PAY' for 'FREE'TV ??
FREEVIW/FREESAT !! People rather pay Virgin media or Sky for the free channels. THATS DUMB !!! Virgin media has done every one a Favour!! EVERY ONE MOANS THERES NO DELL BOY ON TV. THEY SHOULD BUY IT ON DVD. THEN THEY HAVE DEL BOY FOREVER!!!!

Unknown said...

I voted Out.

Chris said...

You know why so many remainers want to compromise and now don’t want another referendum? Because they’re too polite and don’t want conflict. You think the other side would have done the same if it was 52-48 the other way round? Hell no they wouldn’t. They would be relentlessly calling for another vote.

So they shouldn’t have given in, and stuck to their guns. Fight for what they believe. A stupid idea 2 years ago is still a stupid idea based on pure lies and manipulation today. And in the future, until whenever the younger generation can reverse it.

And Europe doesn’t want to screw us over. They want us to stay, and having a deal that is as close to remaining as possible is preferable for them of course. In the end, if the government still want to leave, they will agree a reasonable deal for both sides, but until that is guaranteed, they will keep putting pressure on to try and make us stay.

That’s all for politics on this tv blog. Sorry about that.

MegaMason777 said...

The real issue here is that my mum can no longer watch Drama. My poor mum, ho-hum... Oh and I voted to leave

Litlephil said...

As I mentioned before on another site I am as upset as all about losing UKTV but I am postative thatvVM will resolve this issue in the coming weeks with UKTV. As it is not that VM will not pay the asking price it is just like we VM want value for money for its customers as it is true the way we watch TV these days are not how it was 10 years ago. It would be good to binge on box sets of Only Fools And Horses for a day like we do with Breaking Bad in Netflix for augment sake. So I am going to sit on my hands for the time being, as long as everything is all back up an running for autumn time viewing when most of us are sitting round the TV.

Unknown said...

I am so angry because we are still paying for those channels they should offer channels you may not have

Unknown said...

I'm hearing that VM customers could also lose ITV 2 etc as well?

Anyone confirm?

Unknown said...

Rumours are could be losing all ITV apart from itv1

Nialli said...

It was speculation in The Guardian this morning: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/jul/26/virgin-media-could-lose-itv-programmes-in-long-running-dispute

Here's how Virgin responded: "We continue to have constructive discussions with ITV. All ITV channels remain live on Virgin TV and we have no intention of removing them."

Irishmanc said...

Just a thought for everyone complaining about the way things have happened. Who owns UKTV? 50% BBC other 50% Scripps which is now owned by Discovery. One of Discovery biggest investers is John Malone who also owns Liberty Global which own Virgin Media.
Issue this is about is programming from the BBC which is sold directly by the BBC to Netflix for on demand viewing this isn't made available to UKTV as on demand only as broadcast media therefore UKTV are also losing out as the programming remains under BBC control and Scripps doesn't get anything from it either when it is sold to Netflix.

Notlenks64 said...

Good news! All @UKTV channels are coming back to Virgin TV starting immediately. More details to follow….

Just tweeted by VM

Notlenks64 said...

All channels are now listed on the planner