Ouija
Supernatural Hunter
Reaper
Posts: 629
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Post by Ouija on Mar 1, 2007 14:04:00 GMT -5
Grr! I have my TV and Internet with NTL, which has been all fine and dandy for the past few years, but Virgin have taken over NTL, and as a result, they have killed the Sky channels! That's bull shit!! Me, and along with the majority of people I know, mainly watch the sky channels! Sky Sports, Sky News, and most of all, Sky One! With Sky One gone, (and Sky Two) there's no more: Lost Futurama Nip/Tuck 24 BUFFY!!! (Not that I don't have DVD's...) etc... But seriously, it sucks! Now all I'll have to watch on TV is the Sci-Fi channel. Which basically means Angel and Heroes. What bloody selection! (I'll have to wait until Firefly and Dead Like Me are repeated yet again) Sorry, but I wanted to rant. Do any of the other (few) UK members here have/had NTL, and feel the same way?
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Post by madvicks on Mar 1, 2007 14:25:47 GMT -5
We don't have Sky or NTL/Telewest/Virgin but I had been following this news story with interest.
Quite frankly, I don't think all of the blame can be laid at Virgin's door, Sky have used the Virgin take over as ploy to up the cost of the channels.
What I do not understand is Virgin supplies Sky with channels like Living etc, so why did Virgin not turn the tables on Sky and say for every pound Sky wanted extra for Sky One etc that Virgin wanted it back in kind?
I do feel it is very poor tactics on Sky's part and find there glib adverts in the paper saying essentially if you are a Virgin customer your only option is to switch.
I'm sorry to say welcome to my world where to see shows like Lost, Nip/Tuck, 24 you either have to buy the sets or rent them.
I think Richard Branson has something up his sleeve, he knows Virgin Media customers are going to leave, I just wonder if he is trying to show Sky they are not going to bully him. Hopefully, by the end of next week there will be a resolution for you.
What is does show is, Virgin Media sure as hell gave Sky a fright for them to pull this stunt!
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Post by madvicks on Mar 2, 2007 14:03:10 GMT -5
From Working Lunch (yes I am that sad to watch it whilst having my sandwich, do you realise how boring day time TV is when you are off sick?) Virgin customers have been telephoning Virgin who have been making package upgrades at no extra charges, lowering some packages by £5 per month and saying if you are still not happy you can leave Virgin at the end of the month with no cost/contract committal/reprisals.
From an outside view point it seems Virgin are doing there best so get in touch.
The situation is actually going to an independent commission which is unknown for businesses to do, apparently Sky's actions and the contract made is going to be investigated in depth and Sky could be forced to hand the channels back over to Virgin.
There was also clear implication that Sky did do this because they have lost so many customers in recent months and have been hit hard by Virgin.
Talk about bullyboy tactics!
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afer
Geek
There Is Nobody In The World Who Has The Power To Stop Me Now...
Posts: 30
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Post by afer on Mar 2, 2007 16:39:55 GMT -5
I hate the Virgin takeover too! I haven't had any channels taken away though. I just preferred it the way it was. There is a channel in which you can catch any show you like at any time? channel 119 Maybe that will help!
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Post by Girl Power on Mar 2, 2007 18:24:10 GMT -5
I'm not in the UK and this is the first I've heard of this, but I do know that the Sky channels bring a lot of first run US shows to the UK. I sure hope that Virgin gives customers another option to replace Sky. Can you download shows from the net? I know that a lot of US shows are downloadable. Some, like Heroes, can be downloaded for free, and others can be downloaded very cheaply from itunes. Just a thought.
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Ouija
Supernatural Hunter
Reaper
Posts: 629
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Post by Ouija on Mar 2, 2007 19:02:29 GMT -5
Oh, don't get me wrong, I don't feel THAT upset with it all to the point of shouting, screaming, and even breaking stuff. Just a casual "Well that sucks." I just find it annoying and pointless. When in doubt of anything good on TV, watch Sky One, it's bound to have something good on. And if not, Sky Two.
It's just a waste of my parents money. (Though oddly, it seems we still have Sky Movies? But I know my parents paid extra for that anyway, since it wasn't in the initial package...)
Afer, does the channel 119 thing work for you? I spent a good ten minutes yesterday repeatedly 'pressing red' and it did shite all. As far as I can tell, neither the NTL box or remote are broken, so I don't know why it's not working.
I don't think the parents will be switching any time soon. It's no great loss to them, since they rarely watched Sky One. They're not going to go through any hassle of chaning just for me, so that sucks. They're content with their movie channels, which they still think has a crap selection, but still.
I know Sky tried to hike up fees, and Virgin didn't buy, and there is a grudge between the two owners over some ITV thing a while back about investments, but while it does seem Sky are the cause of this, Virgin has a shitty sense of sarcasm/humour. The messages they keep relaying on TV don't exactly make people feel better about things.
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gerry
Private Eye
Posts: 453
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Post by gerry on Mar 3, 2007 4:22:39 GMT -5
So what I say is: Goodbye TV, hello bittorrent. . . saves yourself twenty minutes of crap an episode.
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afer
Geek
There Is Nobody In The World Who Has The Power To Stop Me Now...
Posts: 30
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Post by afer on Mar 4, 2007 9:57:22 GMT -5
Afer, does the channel 119 thing work for you? I spent a good ten minutes yesterday repeatedly 'pressing red' and it did shite all. As far as I can tell, neither the NTL box or remote are broken, so I don't know why it's not working. It doesn't work for me either. I press red and a message comes up saying "Not available at this time..." OMG...now i have lost Sky One I read that Virgin refused to pay Sky One the money they demanded for switching off, so Virgin just wiped Sky One off the package!! This also happened with Sky News. OMG...I can't live without Nip/Tuck
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afer
Geek
There Is Nobody In The World Who Has The Power To Stop Me Now...
Posts: 30
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Post by afer on Mar 4, 2007 15:05:04 GMT -5
Ouija, i thought i would share this email i recieved from them-
Dear customer,
Let’s face it. Things would be pretty boring if choice didn’t exist. There’d be just one kind of airline to fly with. One type of car to drive. And if Sky had their way, there’d only be one place to get TV.
We thought we’d let you in on a few tricks they’ve been trying to get their way.
While we’ve continued to make Virgin Media channels like Living, Bravo and Challenge available to all Sky customers, Sky may withdraw their non-premium channels from Virgin Media’s service – in order to force you into switching service.
Virgin Media were willing to pay an increase in costs in order to get the complete range of Sky content and channels.
However, Sky have consistently demanded an increase that bears no relation to the channels’ market value.
We have refused to accept this increase, since it would mean absorbing significant costs ourselves, and passing the kind of price increase on to our customers that is simply unfair. We are not prepared to rip off our customers.
So Sky have picked up their ball and gone home.
As a Virgin company, we’re well used to the attempts of large corporations trying to manipulate markets, stifle competition and rip off consumers.
Luckily, we don’t think Sky’s the limit.
We think the future’s full of fresh entertainment and communication possibilities. And we’re looking forward to bringing them to you. With all the freedom and choice you deserve.
We’ve launched Virgin Central, a revolutionary type of TV channel, where programmes start and stop when you say so. This is only available on Virgin Media, since Sky don’t have the technology to be able to transmit it. What’s more, it’s available to every single one of our digital TV customers.
And there’s our unique on demand library. A giant collection of over 500 films, 1000 music videos, 100s of TV shows – all at your beck and call. You can access them at any time.
We’re not scared of competition, we welcome it.
To find out more, visit virginmedia.com/fairplay.
Yours, Sir Richard Branson
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