Archive for the ‘Virgin Media’ 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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Channel 4 has tweaked its 4OD catch-up service, and officially launched the revamp today.

4OD can be accessed at any time online, but now users can activate ‘My 4OD’, giving them the option of adding programme preferences and creating personalised playlists. This new aspect of the website will send reminders to users of ‘My 4OD’, letting them know that their favourites are due to air.

In order to activate ‘My 4OD’, users will need to register various details including date of birth.

The revamp also includes improved full-page viewing and search, as well as a recommendation service.
Sarah Milton, Head of VoD at Channel 4, said: “We have refined and optimised the design to ensure viewers get the best experience from the wealth of content Channel 4 has to offer.”

“We have over 5,000 hours of archive programming available on the Channel4.com 4oD service, and the redesign makes it even easier for users to browse our offering.”

According to The Telegraph, Channel 4 is hoping to tailor the advert selection for particular demographics by utilising the information from ‘My 4OD’.

4OD is still operating in the shadow of BBC iPlayer, although The Guardian reports impressive viewing figures of 3.4m for Channel 4’s service, which offers on demand episodes of popular shows such as Hollyoaks, 8 Out Of 10 Cats and The I.T. Crowd. 4OD, like its BBC rival, can be accessed on TV at home through Virgin Media and BT Vision packages.

Investigative organisation the Competition Commission has today announced its preliminary findings regarding Sky and its dominance over pay-TV movies.

The public body, which acts as a competition regulator, has provisionally ruled that Sky is restricting UK competition, and therefore directly causing higher prices and reduced choice, because of agreements with Hollywood studios to show films first on the Sky Movies channels.

The six major Hollywood studios are Warner Bros., Paramount, 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney/Touchstone, Columbia and Universal, and Sky has deals with each one for film rights. According to the BBC, Sky also has twice as many pay-TV subscribers as all the other rivals combined.

Laura Carstensen, chairman of the Competition Commission’s movies on pay-TV investigation, said: “Sky has had control of recent movie content on pay-TV for many years.”

“At the heart of the problem is Sky’s strong position in the pay-TV market, with twice as many subscribers to pay TV as all other traditional pay-TV retailers put together.

“This provides Sky with a great advantage when it comes to bidding for movie rights, which no rival bidder has yet been able to overcome - and, if things stay as they are, we see no likely prospect of change.

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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.

The BBC has formally announced plans to air the Wimbledon singles finals live in 3D this year. This marks the broadcaster’s first foray into the technology that is riding a wave of reignited popularity.

The women’s and men’s singles finals at Wimbledon are due to take place on Saturday 2nd July and Sunday 3rd July respectively, and are considered a highlight in the tennis calendar. Wimbledon is one of the four Grand Slam tournaments, and the only one played on the über-quick grass surface, with many players considering it to be the ultimate prize in the sport.

With breathtaking competitors such as six-time French Open winner and current world no.1 Rafael Nadal, Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic and sixteen-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer, as well as Brit hopeful Andy Murray, all taking part, Wimbledon 2011 has the makings of a classic, and seeing it in 3D for the first time will be a big draw for spectators.

BBC’s head of HD and 3D, Danielle Nagler, said: “We’re bringing audiences a new way of getting close to the action.”

“I’m sure that 3D will only add to the drama as the world’s greatest players compete for the championship.”

BBC’s executive sport producer, Paul Davies, added: “This unique 3D transmission is the latest innovation to bring to life all the tension, drama and excitement on one of the most iconic sporting arenas in the world.”

The coverage will cross BBC One, BBC Two, the BBC website and the red button, and the 3D coverage will be available to those with a 3D-ready TV as well as access to BBC HD.

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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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Broadband and digital TV provider Virgin Media has revealed that breathtaking superfast broadband speeds reaching 100Mbps will be made available to thousands of homes in Cardiff and some surrounding areas.

Broadband customers with access to these kinds of broadband speeds are able to ddownload a standard definition movie in around a minute and a half, whilst a music album can take less than six seconds.

Executive director of broadband at Virgin Media, Jon James, said: “We know residents in Cardiff will be blown away by what 100Mb can deliver and the very real impact this can have on day to day life, be it uploading family holiday videos to share with friends or downloading an entire music album in a matter of seconds.”

“The launch of our 100Mb service in Cardiff is a significant milestone in the UK’s broadband evolution and a vivid illustration of the power of our next generation network. From establishing the UK’s first ever broadband service to the launch of 100mb just ten years later, Virgin Media has led the greatest developments in digital Britain.”

According to WalesOnline, the 100Mbps superfast broadband package will also be made available in nearby Barry and Treforest, with the deal costing £45 per month, or £35 if taken with a Virgin Media landline, and a £30 activation charge and £40 installation fee will apply for new Virgin media customers.  Existing customers will see their monthly bill increase, and will also have to pay the activation fee.

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