Virgin's first HD ad

Showing during this week's Britain's Got Talent.
BTW, ever wondered why Sky ads are everywhere? Marketing Week reports that BSkyB’s marketing spend is on course to hit £1bn this year!

Sky Sports HD Coming to Virgin Media

It's the one we've all been waiting for, now confirmed in MediaGuardian late on Thursday:

Ofcom's ruling also states that HD versions of Sky Sports 1 and 2 must be offered to rivals on "fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms". The deal struck by BSkyB today will allow Virgin Media access to HD channels but BT and Top Up TV will have to apply to the CAT to get HD access as and when their services can launch the higher specification channels.

Sky agrees deal with Virgin for reduced rate Sky Sports

It's complex, but Sky has today agreed a new deal to provide Virgin Media, BT and Top Up TV with discounted wholesale deals for Sky Sports. According to MediaGuardian:

BSkyB has today dropped fight to get the Competition Appeals Tribunal to implement a "stay" to postpone the implementation of Ofcom's ruling that it must cut the amount it charges all rival pay-TV operators to offer Sky Sports by more than 20% [...] Despite today's deal BSkyB intends to mount a case to overturn the Ofcom ruling that it must slash the cost of SkySports 1 and 2. It will present to the C.A.T. in a matter of weeks, but its rivals will be able to take advantage of those new prices while it argues its case.

No word yet though as to what's happening with OFCOM's ruling on the availability of Sky Sports HD (and Sky Movies HD) on non-BSkyB platforms.

Sky Q1 2010

From MediaGuardian:

The popularity of BSkyB's high-definition services has outstripped analysts' expectations with 428,000 households signing up for Sky+ HD in the first quarter, a 76% year-on-year increase, helping average revenue per user to top £500 for the first time.
BSkyB, which today announced that Sky News will launch in HD on 6 May to coincide with election coverage, hit analyst forecasts by adding 62,000 net new customers in the three months to the end of March.

Tivo Premiere review

Just found this. Virgin won't be bringing to the UK exactly the same box or service as the Tivo Premiere but it gives you some idea of Tivo's interface. (I've embedded the HD version, so blow it up to full screen when playing)

Berkett: HD is key

From http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/apr/28/virgin-media-sky-sports:

Virgin Media has pledged to launch cheaper TV packages for football fans in time for next season, if the Competition Appeals Tribunal enforces a cut in the amount BSkyB charges rival broadcasters for Sky Sports, but believes that access to HD offers it the biggest potential rewards.

Berkett [said] that while the wholesale price cuts will "definitely benefit customers", for Virgin Media the real long-term financial benefit will be gaining access to high definition versions of Sky Sports channels. Part of Ofcom's ruling states that HD versions of Sky Sports 1 and 2 must be offered to rivals on "fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms".
"The real issue is access to HD, it is more important to us than the economics in sports packages," he said. "Customers will definitely benefit [from pricing cuts to sports packages] but in terms of financial performance this is more important. Now in 2010 us not getting access to HD supply [channels from Sky] is going to start to make a difference.

Virgin Media Q1 2010 Results

Full details: Virgin Media - First Quarter 2010 Results

We grew our digital TV base by 46,600 in the quarter to over 3.7m. We have now switched off our analogue TV signal in all digitally capable areas, freeing up significant spectrum to enhance both our TV and broadband services further. Taking into account this planned decline in analogue TV services, our TV customer net growth was 35,700.
Subscribers are increasingly using our market-leading video-on-demand (VOD) service and 58% of our TV customers now regularly watch VOD. We are developing monetization of this library of thousands of hours of content, working with broadcasters and advertisers to create dynamic pre-, mid- and post-roll adverts. We recently announced a landmark first agreement with two UK media agencies that are part of Aegis Group, one of the world's leading marketing communications companies.
Our VOD services include a substantial amount of high definition (HD) content. We are also continuing to expand our HD offering, where we now offer 12 HD channels and expect to add even more in the coming months. We have also launched our new HD ready standard set-top box, the V HD Box, which is available for no additional monthly subscription fee, ensuring our customers do not need to pay extra per month for access to HD channels. Our V+ HD DVR subscriber base continues to grow and we added 77,900 subscribers in the quarter to reach an installed base of 939,900, which represents a penetration level of 25%.
We also continue to work with TiVo to develop a new converged TV and broadband interactive platform which will be unveiled later this year.

Coverage from Media Guardian: Virgin Media beats expectations with 38,000 new households

Sky appeal delayed 24 hours

LONDON (Dow Jones)--The hearing before the Competition Appeal Tribunal on British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC's appeal to delay Ofcom's recent ruling that it must wholesale its premium sport content to rivals and provide a new pricing structure by May 14 was Tuesday unexpectedly adjourned until Wednesday afternoon.

Virgin Media Online Movies announced

Virgin is taking the FilmFlex on demand movie service to a PC near you with the launch of Virgin Media Online Movies :

"Film fans will be able to stream their choice of film, ready to watch when they want, directly to laptops, PCs and onto TVs. All rentals will offer unlimited views for 48 hours so viewers can pause, rewind and watch again. Plus the film can be watched wherever the account holder logs on – at work, or at home...

"Virgin Media Online Movies will help visitors discover and enjoy a whole world of film and we’ll continue to develop the service by adding download functionality, even more titles and a great choice of HD films to the line-up.”

No HD at start up though and no word yet as to when HD movies will be launched. Apparently rentals can be accessed up to 30 days from purchase but once you've started watching you only have 48 hours from thereon. (More info on The Register)
Let's hope that when it does arrive that 'great choice of HD films' is extended as is doesn't currently cover many of the big releases from certain studios. Also the rental for the service on PCs is 48 hours - the TV service is currently a measly 24 hours from purchase. The new service incidentally is not limited to Virgin Media customers - online movies will be available to all. Before anyone asks, I'm not sure if it will be available to Mac users but it's Silverlight-based and should be okay.
Incidentally, the VM press release says that "the TV service saw over 11 million films watched on demand in 2009." I had no idea Filmflex was that widely used.

Interesting week ahead for Virgin customers

On Monday, there's a ruling due on Sky's immediate appeal against the OFCOM demand for it to drop its prices for Sky Sports and Movies and make the HD versions available at  a reasonable price on all platforms. Sky is asking for a stay of execution whilst they appeal - hopefully the Competition Appeals Tribunal believe in better...
Details here: Sky Launches Appeal Against Pay-TV Ruling
Then on Wednesday we have Virgin's results for the first quarter of 2010, which is often accompanied by announcements of new services. Whilst rumours of Sky1 HD and other high def arrivals are rife on the forums, I've not heard anything to confirm anything is as iminent as the next few days. Besides, with many of us still awaiting NGTV and our four missing HD channels, any more HD channels are probably unlikely until the roll out is complete and everyone can get the new stuff.