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Thread: UKTV Channels to leave Verjin at the weekend

  1. #1
    V.I.P catseye's Avatar
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    UKTV Channels to leave Verjin at the weekend

    Dave, Gold and W are set to be axed from Virgin Media’s service this weekend after the platform failed to renew terms with UKTV.

    The BBC Studios / Discovery-owned broadcaster’s portfolio of 10 channels will no longer be available to Virgin’s 4m TV subscribers from midnight on Sunday.

    Virgin claimed negotiations hit an impasse over UKTV’s unwillingness or inability to include in the deal box sets of archive BBC programming.

    UKTV generated record turnover of £345m in 2016 and Broadcast estimates the stand-off could cost it tens of millions of pounds. It will also cause a headache in terms of lost advertising revenue, particularly around its free-to-air channels.

    Virgin’s chief entertainment officer David Bouchier said that its subscribers expect on-demand access to broadcasters’ full archive, something UKTV is unable to offer, and laid the blame at the door of its joint venture parent company, BBC Studios.

    “What our customers want, and what UKTV delivers is increasingly diverging,” he said. “It is prevented from offering us digital rights due to its deal with the BBC, which effectively locks it into a linear world.

    “Viewing behaviours among our customers are changing and we are committed to investing in the kind of programming they want to watch, whenever and however they want to watch it.”

    UKTV offered a different version of events.

    It cited a drastic reduction in the carriage fees it has been offered by Virgin as the reason the two businesses are at loggerheads.

    Chief executive Darren Childs said: “We want to continue to provide our channels to Virgin Media, but the huge cut in fees that Virgin has requested doesn’t reflect the value we bring to customers.”

    Childs claimed that his channels account for more than 25% of pay-TV entertainment viewing on Virgin.

    UKTV struck a ‘landmark’ deal with Virgin in 2016 which handed the pay-TV platform access to 10,000 hours of programming, but the bulk of this comprised catch-up and boxset rights to its originals, rather than the likes of Blackadder, Fawlty Towers and Top Gear.

    Many carriage deals are resolved at the eleventh hour, such as the recent stand-off between Discovery and Sky, but the complicated nature of this dispute means an agreement may be less likely than usual.

    Virgin’s Bouchier said that the rights to the BBC archive has been the key sticking point in negotiations which have dragged on for several months

    “UKTV is increasingly investing in its own programming and some of it does quite well, but the BBC shows are the backbone of the business,” he said.

    Bouchier said Virgin has repeatedly contacted BBC Studios, which controls the rights to the BBC, archive but has become increasingly frustrated with what he claimed is its confused rights strategy.

    “The BBC is trying to cut a cheque with linear rights and then insist we come back after it decides who we need to deal with for its on-demand rights,” he said.

    He suggested that a potential future launch of a service such as a UK version of Britbox or the mooted Kangaroo 2.0 could be behind the failure for BBCS to finalise its approach.

    “We are stuck in a world that is unfair and unreasonable. Netflix and ****** have acres and acres of BBC programming but we cannot get engagement on the type of rights our customers want,” he added.

    Bouchier continued: “UKTV is as frustrated as we are, there is a lot of disquiet and upset – it is like an episode of The Borgias. No-one who is involved in the modern TV business will be unaware of the need to move to a digital future. It is difficult for UKTV to grow the business other that by launching more channels – it’s business model is seriously outdated.”

    Virgin also believes that UKTV is eroding the value of its pay-TV channels by airing premium shows across its free-to-air services. He estimated that over the past year, 12 of the top shows on Alibi have also aired on the free-to-air Drama.

    The 10 UKTV channels will be replaced on the Virgin Media TV service with a suite of services including lifestyle channel YourTV, wildlife channel Love Nature and gameshow channel IQTV.

    It also plans to make £9.99 per-month channel Premier Sports available to all subscribers for free for eight weeks.

    Copied & pasted from Digital Spy

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  3. #2
    Cool Dude
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    Pay pay pay, no thanks.

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    V.I.P keith lard's Avatar
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    Got up this morning checked and Free-to-air channels Dave, Drama, Home, Really and Yesterday, along with paid-for channels Gold, Alibi, Eden, Good Food and W were replaced on Sunday morning.

    the GOD channel is still on!

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    V.I.P Aldo's Avatar
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    I have just seen this info ref the lost channels, I hope that it is of some use to other members:


    Looking for a new favourite channel? Love true crime do***entaries? Want more sport? See what’s new on Virgin TV…

    Your brand new channels

    We’ve invested in a whole bunch of new programming for you to enjoy, including brand new channels and Box Sets (depending on your TV bundle). This includes Paramount Network HD (CH 187), where you can watch season 7 of Suits and more brilliant shows like Designated Survivor and Marvel’s Agent Carter. There’s even more drama to enjoy on YourTV (CH 218), home to thrilling US shows like Bones and Castle, as well as true crime do***entaries and real-life stories.



    Sports fans can also enjoy Premier League teams’ pre-season friendlies, Guinness PRO14 Rugby and more on the new FreeSports channel (CH 553), and we’re also making the Premier Sports HD channel (CH 551) available to all customers, initially for two months, with no additional subscription required!

    And there’s even more good news! Some of our existing channels, such as Lifetime, True Entertainment and Discovery Turbo, are being made available to more customers. On top of that, we’re expanding our range of On Demand content and 4K Ultra HD programming with new Box Sets like DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow, Supergirl and Madam Secretary.



    Read on to find out more about the new and updated programming on Virgin TV – including which TV tier it’s available on and a sneak peek at what you can watch. If you’re unsure about which TV package you have, this can be found online by logging into My Virgin Media.

    Paramount Network HD (CH 187)

    Lowest TV bundle availability: Player

    Must-watch telly: Suits, CSI: Miami, Marvel’s Agent Carter

    Love Nature HD (CH 293)

    Lowest TV bundle availability: Full House

    Must-watch telly: Africa’s Wild Horizons and Great Blue Wild

    Love Nature SD (CH 294)

    Lowest TV bundle availability: Mix

    Must-watch telly: See Love Nature HD

    YourTV (CH 218)

    Lowest TV bundle availability: Player

    Must-watch telly: Castle, Bones and Body Of Proof

    Vice (CH 219)

    Lowest TV bundle availability: Player

    Must-watch telly: My House and The Ice Cream Show, plus local and international premieres

    Premier Sports HD (CH 551) – no subscription needed

    Lowest TV bundle availability: Player

    Must-watch telly: Home of Guinness PRO14 and the International Champions Cup

    Now 80s (CH 346)

    Lowest TV bundle availability: Player

    Must-watch telly: A much-loved music channel specialising in all things 1980s

    ZooMoo (CH 295)

    Lowest TV bundle availability: Full House

    Must-watch telly: Nature do***entaries for all the family

    C+I HD (CH 222)

    Lowest TV bundle availability: Full House

    Must-watch telly: The Jail: 60 Days In and Homicide Hunter

    HISTORY® HD (CH 299)

    Lowest TV bundle availability: Full House

    Must-watch telly: Knightfall, Vikings and Black Sails

    Discovery Turbo (CH 261)

    Lowest TV bundle availability: Player

    Must-watch telly: Supercar Superbuild, Street Outlaws and Wheeler Dealers

    True Entertainment (CH 189)

    Lowest TV bundle availability: Player

    Must-watch telly: M*A*S*H, Murder, She Wrote, The Persuaders

    Lifetime® SD (CH 208)

    Lowest TV bundle availability: Mix

    Must-watch telly: Britain’s Next Top Model, The Real Housewives Of New Jersey, I Can Make You A Supermodel

    Horse & Country (CH 298)

    Lowest TV bundle availability: Player

    Must-watch telly: A specialist TV channel for equestrian sports and lifestyle

    Together (CH 269)

    Lowest TV bundle availability: Player

    Must-watch telly: Superfoods: The Real Story and Extremely British Muslims

    Freesports (CH 553)

    Lowest TV bundle availability: Player

    Must-watch telly: PRO14 rugby, NHL, NASCAR and World Rallycross Championship

    I do not subscribe to the VM TV Package, so I am unable to say if the above listed do actually work at this time.

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    V.I.P Aldo's Avatar
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    UKTV channels restored to Virgin Media after row over fees


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    Cool Dude Barney's Avatar
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    Amazing what a big brown envelope will do these days

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    Quote Originally Posted by Aldo View Post
    UKTV channels restored to Virgin Media after row over fees
    Does this mean the likes of Vintage TV will be back on Freeview/Freesat as well?

    Just looked and the answer is noooooo or not yet at least.
    Last edited by Nikkas; 16-08-2018 at 09:36 AM.

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    V.I.P Detlef's Avatar
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    The web version _http://watch.vintage.tv/ is still streaming and their site has a full EPG so I guess they have just not paid the Tx rental fee yet.

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  17. #9
    Verified Registered User c31's Avatar
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    maybe they will put more chanels on i only have broadband from them had email today saying my bill is going up by another 3 pound third time this year what a laugh, real con merchants

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