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UPC MYprime Horizon

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    #32
    icdg
    Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 11,528 Mod ✭✭✭✭icdg


    Yeah, the box sets selection has bearly expanded, although it does seem to have a reasonable selection of movies (which remember, they were charging per movie for before).

    As a Mediabox Digital Max customer I'm quiet worried about the apparent stipulation that you take the Horizon STB to gain access - does this mean they are taking away our access to what limited box sets previously existed? I'm not particularly enthusiased about switching from the stable Mediabox platform to the apparently buggy Horizon. Surely even if our STBs aren't capable of running the software (and there's no reason why we shouldn't able to access them through the existing interface) we should still be able to access them through the Horizon Go website and app (which we've previously been able to use).


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    #33
    total former
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,784 ✭✭✭total former


    barrackali wrote: »
    Just looked through the available selection. ..to market My Prime as a competitor to Netflix is disingenuous. For the price increases we have experienced, this is a pretty poor offering from UPC.

    Where is the list of content available? Just dead links on the UPC website.

    http://www.upc.ie/television/my-prime/


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    #34
    icdg
    Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 11,528 Mod ✭✭✭✭icdg


    Try this:
    https://www.horizon.tv/en_ie/my-prime/

    The movie selection: Less quantity than Netflix, but more newer movies.

    The box sets: awful. Barely an increase in what was there already.


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    #35
    Kensington
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,683 ✭✭✭Kensington


    Someone already mentioned, Sky and Netflix have most "must-have" boxsets and TV drama tied up in exclusivity deals (Sky own the exclusive rights to the entire HBO catalog for example - past, present and future - until 2020).

    So the selection was never going to be move than archive and cheap-to-acquire stuff that neither Netflix nor Sky felt worthy of paying exclusivity for (exclusivity rights = VERY expensive).


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    #36
    barrackali
    Registered Users Posts: 425 ✭✭barrackali


    Kensington wrote: »
    Someone already mentioned, Sky and Netflix have most "must-have" boxsets and TV drama tied up in exclusivity deals (Sky own the exclusive rights to the entire HBO catalog for example - past, present and future - until 2020).

    So the selection was never going to be move than archive and cheap-to-acquire stuff that neither Netflix nor Sky felt worthy of paying exclusivity for (exclusivity rights = VERY expensive).
    Very expensive = the successive price increases that UPC have added to their customers bills. They have the necessary funds to purchase better content for MyPrime.


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    #37
    Kensington
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,683 ✭✭✭Kensington


    barrackali wrote: »
    Very expensive = the successive price increases that UPC have added to their customers bills. They have the necessary funds to purchase better content for MyPrime.

    Sorry, should clarify. What I meant by very expensive is that Sky and Netflix considered it "must-have" enough to bid for outright exclusivity, meaning no other operator can access the content without reselling it via Sky (either by reselling their branded linear channels, or their branded on-demand service).

    Right this instant, all that must-have content is already tied up by Sky and Netflix, so UPC cannot access it until those rights are up for renewal, in the case of HBO content, the earliest would be 2020. So there's absolutely nothing they can do no matter what they do.

    Therefore the only content UPC have available to put on MYprime is the stuff no-one bothered bidding exclusivity for - generally because it's either archive content or probably not worth watching anyway...


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    #38
    total former
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,784 ✭✭✭total former


    Kensington wrote: »
    Therefore the only content UPC have available to put on MYprime is the stuff no-one bothered bidding exclusivity for - generally because it's either archive content or probably not worth watching anyway...

    Which is what 99% of Netflix content is too, once you strip away the likes of Breaking Bad, House of Cards and Orange is the New Black, i.e. the small number of "headline" shows that probably most people sign up for.

    The links still aren't working, but to me it looks like a massive step up from the previously available on demand content, but falling short of Sky Go and Netflix, i.e. exactly what I expected it to be.


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    #39
    jack presley
    Closed Accounts Posts: 13,687 ✭✭✭✭jack presley


    Yet UPC still claim this is an exciting development and well worth the price increase. I think their PR team needs to go back to the drawing board.


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    #40
    mollser
    Registered Users Posts: 1,111 ✭✭✭mollser


    Not bad for films, very disappointing for tv box sets.

    Just a user interface point (which plagues horizon generally)... why the heck is there an individual icon for each series of each tv show? Wouldn't it be a lot cleaner to have an icon for a show, click through and then you can choose the series you want?

    Maybe it is just padding to make the library seem more extensive than it actually is??


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    #41
    icdg
    Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 11,528 Mod ✭✭✭✭icdg


    Hmm, when I log onto the UPC website or Horizon Go app the selection of movies listed under My Prime earlier appears to be reduced down to about 26. Far from the "hundreds of classics" that were there earlier?

    Edit: seems the reduced selection is due to a problem. Not a great start.


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    #42
    icdg
    Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 11,528 Mod ✭✭✭✭icdg


    Mediabox customers have My Prime as an option on their On Demand menu, fully browsable, but are unable to watch anything - getting the "Your subscription needs to be upgraded" message.

    So it seems that among the purposes of My Prime is to try to entice long-term customers, most of whom have Mediabox (or even NTL or Chorus) STBs, to change over from a proven, stable platform to the less than proven Horizon platform, even though we are paying the same or more than some Horizon customers.

    EDIT: To add even more insult to injury, there's even a guide on the UPC website to show us how to use it on a Mediabox!!!!
    http://www.upc.ie/television/my-prime/how-it-works/


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    #43
    Kensington
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,683 ✭✭✭Kensington


    icdg wrote: »
    Mediabox customers have My Prime as an option on their On Demand menu, fully browsable, but are unable to watch anything - getting the "Your subscription needs to be upgraded" message.

    So it seems that among the purposes of My Prime is to try to entice long-term customers, most of whom have Mediabox (or even NTL or Chorus) STBs, to change over from a proven, stable platform to the less than proven Horizon platform, even though we are paying the same or more than some Horizon customers.

    EDIT: To add even more insult to injury, there's even a guide on the UPC website to show us how to use it on a Mediabox!!!!
    http://www.upc.ie/television/my-prime/how-it-works/
    The whole launch seems to be dogged in technical blips left, right and centre - content not showing, free content showing as PPV, people being told to upgrade their subscriptions.

    Is it possible the not working on the mediabox is just one of them?


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    #44
    icdg
    Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 11,528 Mod ✭✭✭✭icdg


    It'd be nice to think that but the main My Prime page mentions that it is for Horizon customers only.

    My suspicion is that it will work on Mediaboxes which are second or subsequent boxes in homes where the main box is a Horizon box - AFAIK there was (at least initially) a limit of one Horizon box per household and any subsequent boxes were Mediaboxes (the mooted "Horizon slave" STB having never materialised),


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    #45
    Dermot224
    Registered Users Posts: 186 ✭✭Dermot224


    Just got this reply from UPC on the Talk to UPC forum. I pay for 120 MB BB Max TV Sports and Movies HD and multiroom and they want to charge me an extra fiver. Don't think so:


    My Prime is included in all of our Horizon bundles as standard but you can still avail of this service if you so wish. A charge of €5 per month would apply and this must be kept for a minimum of 1 month. A once off downgrade fee would apply when removing the service also.

    If you'd like to order this we can do so for you?

    Thanks, Brian.


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    #46
    icdg
    Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 11,528 Mod ✭✭✭✭icdg


    You'd be better off changing to a Horizon package at that rate, particularly as you're also paying for HD. If the Horizon STB isn't an issue for you, that is.


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    #47
    total former
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,784 ✭✭✭total former


    Getting somewhat off-topic here but having had various UPC digital boxes over the last 13 years, Horizon is by far the best and most stable of them all.


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    #48
    Dermot224
    Registered Users Posts: 186 ✭✭Dermot224


    icdg wrote: »
    You'd be better off changing to a Horizon package at that rate, particularly as you're also paying for HD. If the Horizon STB isn't an issue for you, that is.

    or Pay for a Horizon Package but keep your Mediabox and router.


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    #49
    Dermot224
    Registered Users Posts: 186 ✭✭Dermot224


    total former wrote: »
    Getting somewhat off-topic here but having had various UPC digital boxes over the last 13 years, Horizon is by far the best and most stable of them all.

    Whats this then?
    http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057022965


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    #50
    iguana
    Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 12,915 Mod ✭✭✭✭iguana


    Dermot224 wrote: »
    or Pay for a Horizon Package but keep your Mediabox and router.

    Can you do that? My parents would ideally like to have a Horizon package but want to keep the upstairs computer hardwired to the router.


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    #51
    beauf
    Closed Accounts Posts: 22,651 ✭✭✭✭beauf


    You can order the Horizon box with a de-consolidated modem. Mine its set up like that, UPC put in a splitter one to the Horizon box, the other to a modem. Then you are into a whole different thing of getting the modem into Bridge mode. You lose any internet features of the horizon box.


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    #52
    total former
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,784 ✭✭✭total former


    Dermot224 wrote: »
    Whats this then?
    http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057022965

    It's a thread with a lot of complaints about Horizon.

    So like I was saying, Horizon is the best UPC box.


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    #53
    L1011
    Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 67,850 Mod ✭✭✭✭L1011


    The boxsets list is hugely expanded from what it was a month ago - but a fraction of what was there, quality wise, when I signed up and got a Cisco DVR a number of years ago. Pathetic to misleading to claim its like Netflix at all.
    icdg wrote: »
    My suspicion is that it will work on Mediaboxes which are second or subsequent boxes in homes where the main box is a Horizon box - AFAIK there was (at least initially) a limit of one Horizon box per household and any subsequent boxes were Mediaboxes (the mooted "Horizon slave" STB having never materialised),

    The SD content (about 60% of it) in both movies and box-sets under MyPrime works on my Thomson Mediabox, which is a second box.

    HD content tells me I need a HD subscription, when the box can't even do it - I wonder do they push a downscaled version to SD boxes?

    Most older shows are SD and some newer stuff is uploaded in both - Cougartown for instance. I was wondering why they'd need SD if its a Horizon-only product but clearly its for this purpose.


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    #54
    icdg
    Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 11,528 Mod ✭✭✭✭icdg


    As I say there's no technical reason to limit it to Horizon- it is just to push subscribers to the old packages to switch over.


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    #55
    beauf
    Closed Accounts Posts: 22,651 ✭✭✭✭beauf


    Had a look at the prime section.

    Extremely poor selection of stuff. Even with that little bit of content the interface seems even slower than usual. It also turned my box off twice. Or maybe it was resuming normal tv. Hard to know the difference its so slow.

    I wouldn't pay for it. End of.


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    #56
    L1011
    Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 67,850 Mod ✭✭✭✭L1011


    There's still a much larger number of movies available on the PPV movies section, some pretty old. I don't think they're putting enough effort in to negotiating for this...

    I've used the PPV movies a few times and its a decent enough service when compared to physical rentals but if they're selling a Netflix-equivalent they really need to offer an equivalent.


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    #57
    jack presley
    Closed Accounts Posts: 13,687 ✭✭✭✭jack presley


    L1011 wrote: »
    I don't think they're putting enough effort in to negotiating for this...

    They got plenty of free PR when they announced this with articles in all the major papers and none of the papers are going to turn around now and write about how crap the selection is. So I'd day it's mission accomplished from a UPC point of view.

    Pity it's not the same for their customers.


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    #58
    icdg
    Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 11,528 Mod ✭✭✭✭icdg


    Four weeks later, the press release finally arrives...

    http://www.upc.ie/pdf/pressrelease/upc_introduces_my_prime.pdf


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    #59
    jack presley
    Closed Accounts Posts: 13,687 ✭✭✭✭jack presley


    icdg wrote: »
    Four weeks later, the press release finally arrives...

    http://www.upc.ie/pdf/pressrelease/upc_introduces_my_prime.pdf

    If it has taken them 4 weeks for the press release, how long do you reckon it will take to group the box sets in the library?


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    #60
    Virgin Media: Brian
    Closed Accounts Posts: 16,507 ✭✭✭✭Virgin Media: Brian


    Hi Folks,

    Just an FYI but Love Hate will be coming to My Prime next week. :-)
    We'll keep everyone updated on any more content being added as it comes.

    Thanks.


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    #61
    mackersdublin
    Registered Users Posts: 1,431 ✭✭✭mackersdublin


    UPC: Brian wrote: »
    Hi Folks,

    Just an FYI but Love Hate will be coming to My Prime next week. :-)
    We'll keep everyone updated on any more content being added as it comes.

    Thanks.

    Only Series 1-3 is there though, will 4 and 5 be added?


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