UPC's Need for an Arts channel

10000maniacs

UPC customers who like arts as opposed to Pop and rock are been given a raw deal at the moment. When you pay a subscription to UPC you expect to have at least one dedicated arts channel lke ARTE or Sky Arts.
Performance is gone, Main Street is gone. While they were distinctly average, were at least something.
I have noticed that Emerson Lake and Palmer TV (Rock ON TV) is off the EPG, that was UPC's excuse for an arts channel.
UPC take notice. You are not trying very hard to keep your customers.:mad:
Sky Digital has a decent arts channel.:rolleyes:

paulm17781

Have you written to UPC about this?

Are you trying to get people to write to UPC?

10000maniacs

I'm sure that UPC execs read this forum from time to time, if only to check to see if any of the posters are flogging illegal boxes.

paulm17781

10000maniacs wrote: »

I'm sure that UPC execs read this forum from time to time, if only to check to see if any of the posters are flogging illegal boxes.

They may well but over the past 3 years they haven't listened to a word on it.

SteM

10000maniacs wrote: »

When you pay a subscription to UPC you expect to have at least one dedicated arts channel lke ARTE or Sky Arts.

You may, I don't know many who do.

This is well down on my list of things I expect but am not currently getting frm my UPC subscription.

10000maniacs

SteM wrote: »

You may, I don't know many who do.

This is well down on my list of things I expect but am not currently getting frm my UPC subscription.

Thats you sir. Different strokes and all that.
I'm big into indie movies, and on Sky Arts at the moment there is a John Cassavetes Season now showing FFS.
They also show a lot of theatre and comedy. The ideal channel in my opinion.

Rosser

Yeah Sky Arts would be a great addition (right balance of popular culture and full on arty farty ). It's also is available in HD so if UPC were looking at HD some time in the future this channel is ready to go.

I have mailed them this suggestion and await a reply.....I know I'll be waiting

icdg

10000maniacs wrote: »

UPC customers who like arts as opposed to Pop and rock are been given a raw deal at the moment. When you pay a subscription to UPC you expect to have at least one dedicated arts channel lke ARTE or Sky Arts.
Performance is gone, Main Street is gone. While they were distinctly average, were at least something.
I have noticed that Emerson Lake and Palmer TV (Rock ON TV) is off the EPG, that was UPC's excuse for an arts channel.
UPC take notice. You are not trying very hard to keep your customers.:mad:
Sky Digital has a decent arts channel.:rolleyes:

The Performance/Main Street/Rock on TV debacle was nothing to do with UPC, but agreed, Sky Arts would be a bonus. ARTE would achieve very little viewership given its not only an arts channel, but a foreign language one (French/German).

SteM

10000maniacs wrote: »

Thats you sir. Different strokes and all that.
I'm big into indie movies, and on Sky Arts at the moment there is a John Cassavetes Season now showing FFS.
They also show a lot of theatre and comedy. The ideal channel in my opinion.

You said originally 'When you pay a subscription to UPC you expect to have at least one dedicated arts channel lke ARTE or Sky Arts.'.

Maybe you should have said 'When I pay a subscription to UPC I expect to have at least one dedicated arts channel lke ARTE or Sky Arts.'

As I say, UPC's service is so poor overall that an Art's channel is well down my list of priorities.

You should consider getting Sky Digital. Problem solved.

Also, I don't understand why people think Sky will happily allow their own HD channels to be carried by another provider. At the moment it's one of their special selling points, not something they will give up easily.

mike65

BBC4 is the nearest to arts, but only in a slightly random way as the channel tends to structure its outout as thematic seasons so arts might be at the forefront or nearly disapear completely.

Mike

icdg

SteM wrote: »

Also, I don't understand why people think Sky will happily allow their own HD channels to be carried by another provider. At the moment it's one of their special selling points, not something they will give up easily.

Its a revenue stream, so why not? They let Virgin Media in the UK, from Sky's point of view a far larger competitor than UPC Ireland, carry Sky Arts, so why would they not let UPC?

Sky have always happily allowed other providers to carry their channels. This stems from Sky's origins as a content provider/channel operator in the 1980s - it was only later (firstly, with the launch of Sky Multi Channels in 1993 and then with Sky Digital's launch in 1999) that they became primarily a wireless cable play. While they have had disputes with other providers from time to time (Cablelink between 1992 and 1994 and more recently with Virgin Media) these were both eventually resolved.

Let's face it, if Sky are willing to let UPC carry their flagship content - Sky Sports - they will have little difficulty with them carrying a niche channel (Sky Arts) whose BARB ratings are already so small that they cannot measure their audience. They'd be glad of the extra advertising income, if any, it could generate and also the extra carraige fees.

And lets face it, the inclusion of Sky Arts or not in a package is extremely unlikely to be the crucial factor in a decision to plump for Sky over NTL.

paulm17781

Will UPC definitely have to get HD from Sky? They have HD in other countries, could they not make deals for Ireland with other providers?

Infoanon

paulm17781 wrote: »

Will UPC definitely have to get HD from Sky? They have HD in other countries, could they not make deals for Ireland with other providers?

The only sellable HD content from a UPC point of view shall be SKY content and BBC&ITV HD which is already avaialble Free on Freesat.....