Archive for the ‘Cable TV’ Category

BBC and Virgin Media have struck a new deal which will further enhance the user’s experience of the TiVo service.

An enhanced Red Button service offering extra interactive features, on demand video streams and BBC Online content will become available to Virgin Media TiVo customers in 2012, along with the BBC Sport and BBC News apps.

Viewers will be able to experience improved, varied and more detailed content during the major sporting events of 2012, including the London 2012 Olympics, Euro 2012, Wimbledon and the new F1 season.

The deal between the two heavyweights follows the successful addition of BBC iPlayer to Virgin Media’s TiVo service, which already offers a wealth of eye-catching features such as the ‘thumbs up, thumbs down’ option allowing you to rate shows you watch, and the impressive TiVo Search.

Jane Weedon, Controller of Business Development, BBC Future Media, said: “With its pioneering BBC iPlayer service now available on more than 300 different internet-connected TV devices, the BBC has successfully taken catch-up TV beyond the PC and into the living room.”

“Having partnered with Virgin Media to bring BBC iPlayer to TV back in 2008, we have since brought a vastly-improved, fully-integrated experience of BBC iPlayer to Virgin Media’s TiVo Service. With the addition of the BBC News app and enhanced BBC Sport services – all accessible via the Red Button – we plan to build on this partnership and continue to innovate in connected TV through 2012.”

New and existing Virgin Media customers can get TiVo, with current offers including free activation on the 500GB box. A 1TB box is also available, which can store around 500 hours of recorded standard definition content.

The UK’s leading subscription-based sports broadcasters have agreed equal deals with the Scottish Premier League, with both Sky and ESPN paying a combined £80 million for 30 exclusive live games each.

According to The Guardian, the new deal runs until the end of the 2016-17 season, and also ensures the continuation of the current league format, despite campaigning from fans for a larger league. This also means that the always feisty four Old Firm derbies per season will remain in place until at least the end of the new TV deal.

Speaking about the door closing, for now, on a significantly larger SPL, the top division’s chief executive Neil Doncaster said: “There is no room to manoeuvre in terms of expanding. Fourteen teams might potentially work in terms of having a split league and retaining four Old firm games. Maybe. That would be feasible.”

“But it has never been feasible to have 16, 18 or 20 because you automatically mean going to one home game and one away. We think that will take £20m out of Scottish football. That is a massive amount of money per season, in terms of lost gate and TV revenue. The lost gate revenue is not to be underestimated. So going to 16, 18 or 20 – financially – is impossible.”

The new deal is said to be bringing in an extra £3 million per year for the SPL.

Sky, Virgin Media and BT Vision customers can all add Sky Sports and ESPN to their digital TV subscriptions.

An agreement has been reached between digital TV heavyweights Sky and Virgin Media, which will see customers of the latter offered access to on demand service Sky Anytime.

Sky Anytime was originally available exclusively to Sky customers, but this deal will extend the service to Virgin Media viewers. With Sky Anytime, you can pick and choose content that is in line with your current subscription, and watch it at a time that suits you.

Virgin Media already boasts a huge on demand library of its own, including access to BBC iPlayer and 4OD, as well as a range classic and contemporary movies and TV shows. With the addition of Sky Anytime, Virgin Media customers subscribing to the full Sky Movies package will have access to an extra 500 titles. Combined with the titles available through FilmFlex, PictureBox and Virgin Media Player, that brings the total to over 1,000 on demand movies.

Virgin Media customers with the full Sky Sports package will also be able to view on demand sports highlights from the channels, including Barclays Premier League and UEFA Champions League football.

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Digital TV behemoth Virgin Media has announced that its next generation web-connected set-top box powered by TiVo will receive a companion app on the iPad.

This new feature will give iPad users with a TiVo box alternative control over the smart piece of hardware. They will be able to search through the extensive on demand libraries, as well as the TV guide, without interrupting the show being viewed on TV.

It is essentially a TV content search engine, which can also be used to switch the TV to a new programme of the viewer’s choice.

Virgin Media’s executive director of digital entertainment, Cindy Rose, said: “The way viewers watch television is changing faster than ever. Partnering with TiVo has helped us develop the most advanced and flexible TV system in the UK ensuring our customers are able to enjoy the best connected television offering available in the market today.”

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Digital TV giant Sky has fixed the prices paid by customers, in a move designed to aid families during tight financial times.

News reported by website Cable.co.uk confirmed that the price freeze runs from September 1st this year to August 31st 2012, which will be welcome news for Sky customers at a time when UK residents are seeing other bills continue to rise.

Sky’s leading rival Virgin Media is, conversely, increasing monthly line rental from August 1st, and its connection fees are expected to rise, whilst BT Vision has already bumped up landline charges this year.

Managing Director of Sky’s customer group, Andrea Zappia, said: “With subscription prices frozen for at least a year, our customers can look forward to getting more than ever from Sky.”

Sky has also recently worked to streamline its service, after announcing that the viewing packs will be simplified, and Sky Mobile TV and Sky Player have both been combined to form the new on demand service Sky Go.

Virgin Media has announced an agreement with US film studios Disney and Paramount which will see 3D movies and content broadcast exclusively to customers through its 3D On Demand service.

Sky has taken the first steps into commercial 3D broadcasting in the UK, and fierce rival Virgin Media has moved quickly to provide a genuinely competitive option for its customers.

Plenty of 3D content is was already available at no extra cost, echoing the digital TV provider’s model for HD broadcast, whilst the new film titles can now be ordered through FilmFlex for a rental fee; these include the eye-popping pain-fest that is Jackass 3D, and effects-laden extravaganza TRON: Legacy.

Virgin Media’s director of on demand TV and strategy said: “We’re thrilled to be adding this exciting range of new movies to our 3D video on demand service from two of the biggest studios Paramount Pictures and Disney.”

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Cable giant Virgin Media has officially announced plans to offer breathtaking superfast broadband speeds of up to 100Mbps to UK web surfers, which is roughly 20 times the average speed currently achieved.

Virgin Media has confirmed that this speed will be offered to over 12 million UK homes, and it will dwarf even the very fastest speeds advertised by rivals like Sky and BT.

This continues to demonstrate Virgin Media’s dominance in the market of broadband development, and the new broadband speed of 100Mbps is an astonishing 200 times faster than the very first speeds of up to 0.5Mbps offered 10 years ago.

So what exactly can we do with this kind of dizzying broadband speed?

Well, assuming that you can actually get the full 100Mbps (which will depend greatly on a number of factors including the amount of people online and the website you are using) then you could ‘potentially’:

• download an album of music in 5 seconds
• download a TV programme in 30 seconds
• download a movie in 90 seconds
• download an HD movie in 7 minutes

Virgin Media has also stated that, following trials of 100Mbps and 200Mbps, the new superfast speeds prove truly remarkable when several members of one household are simultaneously using the web. Virgin Media is convinced that its new speeds will particularly impress in this area.

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Following our previous report, broadcasting rivals Sky and Virgin Media have agreed a deal that sees the sale of Branson & Co.’s own TV channels to the satellite giants.

Sky acquires LIVING, LIVINGit, Challenge, Challenge Jackpot, Bravo, Bravo 2 and Virgin1 as part of the deal, which will probably involve the rebranding of Virgin1.

Sky will fork out something in the region of £160 million in total, expanding its basic pay TV package and eliminating the original carriage fees it paid in order to broadcast the channels.

As of January 2011, Sky will benefit from full control over the sale of advertising space on the channels.

The deal also involves new carriage fee agreements which permit Virgin Media to broadcast Sky’s basic channel line-up; this includes Sky 1 and Sky Arts.

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Fierce rivals Sky and Virgin Media are close to an agreement that would see the latter’s portfolio of digital TV channels purchased by the satellite giant.

The Guardian reports that Virgin Media’s popular range of TV channels, which include Virgin1, Bravo and Challenge, are set be go for around £150-£160 million by the end of next week.

As part of the deal, it is rumoured that Virgin Media would gain a long-term carriage agreement that would see a continuation of those channels on its cable format.

Sky has so far declined to comment on the reports.

BT Vision is planning to offer consumers Sky Sports 1 and 2, hot on the heels of the announcement that the satellite TV giant must offer its hugely popular flagship sports channels at a cheaper wholesale price to other digital TV broadcasters.

Digital Spy has reported that BT Vision expects to make Sky Sports available to its customers in time for the start of the new Premier League season in August; a bundle deal for both channels could be as little as £15-20 per month.

Sky customers currently have to come up with £36 per month in total if they want Sky Sports 1 and 2 - £18 for the standard starter package and an additional £18 to add the sports channels. BT Vision customers are currently offered £7.50 per month for 3 months and 14.99 thereafter.

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