HD On Demand: going, going...

...all but gone here in SE London. As warned last week, Virgin's TV Choice On Demand HD selection has just about disappeared, and what little remains has only a few days left. Re-population normally varies from region to region (Carol normally gets it first down the the South West for some reason) so please post here if you spot new material arriving.

Update: GONE!

Virgin Media HD petition

Enough! Time for a call to arms!
I've created an online petition calling for Virgin Media to increase their high definition services (both channels and on demand programming). The petition will be sent to Neil Berkett's office at the end of the summer, so please spare a few seconds and sign up at

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/VirginTVHD

Band of Brothers and Sopranos update

My region's now showing episodes 1 - 8 of BoB in HD, except episode 6 still, but that's not the case in all regions apparently.
We have Season Five of the Sopranos 1-8 with no missing episodes.
Cannot believe that Virgin Media still cannot get this consistent. It's not as though we're talking hundreds of hours of HD content coming on line - just a handful of programmes! Crazy.
Incidentally, anyone noticed how fabulous Heroes Season Two is looking in HD? The clarity and colours of the Hiro japanese sequences have been some of the best HD I've seen to date.

Finally - Day Break 13 arrives!

Those who've been waiting for the final episode of Day Break in HD - it's arrived!
TV Choice On Demand now has all 13 episodes listed under High Definition. Hurrah!

Ten predictions for 2008

A little late, but here are some quick predictions for what we can expect on the HD front from Virgin Media this year:

1. Channel 4 HD finally makes an appearance on cable Probably in the spring. Forums instantly flooded by the same people who had complained about it not turning up at launch in December, now complaining about the lack of genuine HD on the channel
2. ITV HD not on Virgin Media at launch I hope I'm wrong, but I suspect that it will be a late show on cable, especially if Sky retains its stake in ITV. Again, forums flooded with complaints about the lack of HD content on the new HD channel, many realising that ITV actually broadcasts mainly rubbish these days
   
3. VOD HD grows in fits and spurts 4OD HD content sneaks out but at 99p a pop for the US imports. As the Hollywood writers' strike hits hard, there's very little new available
4. BBC HD expands, but "events" take precedent over regular programming Kicks off as a genuine channel only with the launch of FreeSat.Throughout the summer the channel is dominated by Wimbledon, Glastonbury, the Proms, the Olympics, leaving little time for other programming. Things pick up in the autumn, but it's a long wait
   
5. HD remains a niche product I think this will be true for both VM and Sky customers. The V+'s upscaling of SD is so good that for those without a TV 40" or bigger there'll be no great demand. Sky's pricing will drop but it will still prove prohibitive to the average viewer. HD versions of FX and a few more movie channels appear on the platform
   
6. Sky HD will be impacted by FreeSat I don't think it will hit Virgin as hard as it will Sky. People who want HD, have a dish but don't fancy the Sky charges will opt for the Beeb-promoted "free" alternative for the main channels in HD (check out the Sky HD forums - lots of posts from people unhappy with the reliability of the Sky boxes and HD programming)
   
7. Sky One and the basics return Wishful thinking? Not really, but it matters to many and the impasse will end because ...
   
8. OFCOM report hits Sky...and Virgin Neither side happy with the findings from OFCOM into the pay TV market. Nothing of any real substance comes out but it does broker the return of the Sky basics to cable...but not in HD
9. Tiscali TV and BT Vision struggle IP TV fails to make the grade; the former will be sold at a knock down price, the latter will remain a minor player
10. Blu-Ray will become the new DVD HD standard But will still remain a niche product for the home consumer. Players will start to sell in larger numbers, but Recorders will be prohibitively priced. HD-DVD will die a fairly quick death without the support of the film studios
    

Why some HD content is "hidden"

Just picked this up from the newsgroup virginmedia.support.tv:

We have now received an update from our Support Team and they wished to thank you for your feedback. Please read through the reply below:

All HD cannot be put into the same folder as some are transactional (Pay Per View), some content is free only to XL customers. Our current architecture cannot support mixed propositions in the same folder.

We are aware however that the current way we are managing HD in the user interface is not as intuitive as it should be and we are actively looking at how better to organise this. However we will always want to put HD programming next to its SD counterpart where possible, as this benefit customers looking for a film title( for example) and seeing there is also a HD version available.

Grey's Anatomy in HD

Browsing through the TV Choice on Demand A-Z last night I noticed a couple of High Definition additions: Criminal Minds Season One is now complete except episodes 7 and 17(!) and Grey's Anatomy Season One is now available, albeit just the first two episodes in HD.

Lost Season One in HD

Yes, it is there...but not in the HD season for some reason.
Look in the A-Z listing in TV On Demand under "L". Free of charge are episode 1-12 of the first season except episode 4. No idea where 4 is...Virgin's loading of VOD content can often have these annoying oversights (Brothers & Sisters HD also has a missing episode from a consecutive run).
There may be other bits tucked away - let me know if you find anything yourself.

Confirmation of Channel 4 HD coming to Virgin

Kinda. Digital Spy are reporting that a deal's been done with Channel 4 that will give us Virgin customers free access to some HD content via VOD and most likely carriage of the new 4HD simulcast of C4 (though not 100% confirmed - capacity needing some management before full announcement, perhaps?).
Here's the DS story:

Virgin Media is to offer Channel 4 programmes in high definition via its on demand service.

Cable customers can see a selection of Channel 4 shows, which now includes some in HD, free of charge for up to seven days post-transmission via the 4oD service.

The deal also gives Virgin Media the option of carrying the new Channel 4 HD linear channel, which will launch in December.

Malcolm Wall, Virgin Media's chief executive of content, said: "We are delighted to be adding Channel 4 content to our growing line up of high definition programming. Virgin Media is at the forefront of technology advances in television and is not only offering its customers higher quality pictures in HD, but also the ability to watch what they want when they want it via the on demand service."

Virgin Media's on-demand library already includes HD assets from FilmFlex, the BBC and History Channel.

Channel 4's head of VOD and channel development Sarah Rose said: "Demand for HD is increasing, and befitting our ambition for viewers to be able to access our programming when they want it and in a format of their choice, it's important for us to be meeting this demand wherever we can. We are delighted that HD versions of some of our shows will be available to Virgin TV on demand users and look forward to increasing the amount of HD programming in our schedule over time."

(Actually, the bit about us having the History Channel in HD is wrong.) Personally, I would like to see them round up all the +1 channels and use that capacity to expand the HD offering. I also think it's time VM bit the bullet and axed the analogue service that has a huge overhead on the network for a minority of customers, and shifted the phone service to IP. That's how the American cable companies have such awesome HD capabilities. It would be great if they adopted the newer standards for broadcasting HD rather than the dated Telewest set up, but I can't see that happening just yet with a growing V+ population. Ho hum.

Can the V+ record two HD channels simulataneously?

This was odd...I was watching the Michael Palin thing on BBC HD Sunday night on Delay TV and was also recording it. Suddenly, after half an hour, the box just went phttttt and rebooted. When it was back, no recording at all and I'd lost the delay TV ten minutes too.
Bizarre. Was I pushing the box too far? With the other probs I've had recently, Mrs Nialli is now suggesting we ring VM up and get an engineer out, but as I can't repeat the problems that's gonna be a fruitless exercise. Doesn't bode well for working with more than the single HD channel in future if it can't handle recording two simulataneously. :o(

Video On Demand - TV HD

Here's a list of what's currently available, free of charge, in HD via On Demand. This is for those on the ex-NTL platform - if you're in an ex-Telewest area, please check MadDonna's site for details of your listings.

To find the listings for HD VOD, go into TV On Demand via the TV Guide, then select 6. More On Demand, and 2. High Definition.

1. Free TV HD
This is all BBC stuff at the moment. It's not a bad selection, but there are the odd omissions (such as episode 3 of Sorted and a missing Planet Earth episode that's on the ex-Telewest network). The BBC stuff does get changed but I haven't yet sussed how frequently. Hopefully we'll see an expansion in months to come; it's been five pages of pretty much the same fayre for a while now.
Diana - Last Days of a Princess
Galapagos Episodes 1 - 3
Hiroshima
Hotel Babylon (Series 1) - (Episodes 1 - 6)
Planet Earth: Great Plains
Planet Earth: Ice World
Planet Earth: Jungles
Planet Earth: Shallow Seas
Pride
Sorted Episodes 1, 2, 4, 5, 6
The Blue Planet: Coasts
The Blue Planet: Coral Seas
The Blue Planet: Frozen Seas
The Blue Planet: Introduction
The Blue Planet: Open Oceans
The Blue Planet: Seasonal Seas
The Blue Planet: The Deep
The Blue Planet: Tidal Seas
Wild Weather Cold
Wild Weather Heat
Wild Weather Wet
Wild Weather Wind

2. Flextech Films HD
I'll list these when I get around to it. A lot of the older Bond films are on here in HD, and a selection of recent releases such as Miss Potter and Venus.

3. Music HD
Just the one:
Gorillaz live at the Apollo

4. Pay TV HD
Now this is curious - C4's Brothers & Sisters has appeared, episodes 14 - 18 and 20, though I don't think it is 20 as the info on it relates to episode 2! 99p an episode is the same as the standard definition version. Appears to be added at the C4 pace rather than E4.

So, you ask, where is Lost in HD? Good question - I have no idea!