Autumn price rises ahoy

Virgin Media has announced it is hiking prices for five million customers. We will be sent letters between now and the end of September outlining the changes, and the company has confirmed that anyone who wants to can leave penalty-free by providing notice within 30-days of receiving the notification.
Here are the main price increases:

• Broadband-only – up to £3/mth.
• Broadband and line rental – up to £3/mth.
• The Player bundle – by £3/mth.
• The Mix and Fun bundles – by £3.50/mth.
• The Full House bundle – by £4/mth.

Anyone who signed up to Virgin Media after August 1st 2018 won't see their prices increase.
The increase will hit bills in either October or November and will be confirmed in the notification letter.

UKTV channels return to Virgin Media

The channels added during the UKTV time away have stayed. I can see only two that have been renumbered Quest HD  is now 217 and C&I HD is on 222

Premier League looks to ISP to curb use of illegal streaming

The Premier League league is getting tougher with those illegal streams of football in the forthcoming season. The High Court has issued a "blocking order" which will force the major ISPs (including Virgin, BT and Sky) to shut down servers which are illegally streaming games.
The Premier League obtained the order as part of what it calls "biggest ever crackdown" on the illegal streaming of its content and is part of a bid to "combat the sale and use of illicit streaming devices" including the Kodi Box, which lets people watch sports and films for free.
A similar order was granted for the final two months of the 2016/17 season and saw more than 5,000 server IP addresses blocked. The latest block will be in place for the entire 2017/18 Premier League season.
Premier League Director of Legal Services, Kevin Plumb, said: “This blocking order is a game-changer in our efforts to tackle the supply and use of illicit streams of our content.
“It will allow us to quickly and effectively block and disrupt the illegal broadcast of Premier League football via any means, including Kodi boxes."
Similar measures have also been used to block bit torrent sites such as Pirate Bay, but it's proven to be like that fairground whac-a-mole game - hit one and another quickly pops up.

Virgin Media's first 4K UHD channel has arrived

From the BT Sports press release:

BT Sport 4K UHD is now available to Virgin TV customers for the very first time.
This comes as BT Sport has reached a new multi-year agreement to continue broadcasting all of its sporting action to Virgin TV customers. This includes all 351 UEFA Champions League & UEFA Europa League games alongside 42 live Premier League matches, the FA Cup, European Rugby Champions Cup, boxing, MotoGP and much more.
Many of these major sporting events will also be shown in stunning 4K Ultra High Definition – which is four times the detail of High Definition (HD).

BT Sports 4K UHD is on channel 555 on the V6 EPG.

Virgin Media signs new ITV agreement

ITV has reached an agreement with Virgin Media to continue to make its channels available to the company's 4 million TV customers for the next three years.

The deal, which ends more than a year of discussions that were acrimonious at times, comes after ITV delivered an ultimatum to Virgin Media to reach a deal this week or potentially face a blackout of shows such as Love Island and Coronation Street.

More info at https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/jul/27/virgin-media-reaches-deal-itv-access-channels?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

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?

UKTV channels to disappear from Virgin Media from Sunday

Virgin Media’s four million pay-TV customers face being unable to watch UKTV’s 10 channels, which include Dave, Gold and Drama, from Sunday as a dispute over video on demand rights to shows comes to a head.
Full story here https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/jul/19/virgin-media-customers-to-lose-uktvs-10-channels-in-rights-row?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

BT Sport 4k UHD on Virgin Media from July 30th

A new multi-year agreement will make BT’s 4K channel available to Virgin TV Full House and VIP bundle customers at no extra cost, from July 30th.
Virgin and BT’s partnership has been extended in a multi-year agreement spells good news for sport fans who own a 4K TV, Virgin TV V6 box and subscribe to Virgin TV’s Full House or VIP bundles - it will see them automatically gain the BT Sport 4K UHD channel (531). New and existing Virgin TV customers signed up to its Player or Mix bundles will be able to add all BT Sport channels, including the 4K one, to their package for £18 per month.
BT Sport’s coverage includes UEFA Champions League, Europa League and Premier League matches, the FA Cup, European Rugby Champions Cup and MotoGP - some of which will be offered in 4K.
Here's the official Virgin Media Press Release

Sky Cinema On Demand HD movies return on the V6

It's taken a while, but I've just noticed that HD versions of the vast majority of Sky Cinema On Demand movies are now available on my V6 boxes. We used to have these a few years ago but in recent times the only HD On Demand movies were the newest to Sky Cinema. Now they're back.
There are a few still missing (for example, I only see SD versions of Amistad and An Affair To Remember) but everything else seems to be in both an SD and HD version.

BBC World Cup coverage: Virgin V6 confirmed

It’s near the bottom of this alphabetical list but the V6 is supported for the BBC World Cup 4K coverage. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/help/latest-news/live-uhd