The Virgin Media Television thread

RoTelly

from the Late Late Show Thread

"Virgin Media More is basically ITV+1 Month."

thanks to @Atlantic Dawn

iseegirls

The VM More schedule is available in the RTE Guide. Unable to see it online anywhere as of yet.

It's looks as if Virgin Media Sport is shutting down judging on the schedule, because it's all sport highlights from 12midday to 9pm. Then it's the dramas like Trigger Point, The Virtues, Holding, The Ipcress Files along with Love Island South Africa. More sport highlights after 12.30ish then. RTE Guide have also removed VM Sport Channel from their listings.

It also looks like that there will be no adverts. The dramas which are usually hour long on ITV, are condensed into 50 minutes, suggesting no adverts.

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118879359#Comment_118879359

You know I was thinking that Sports might be axed, why don't I say these things.

icdg

As I said elsewhere it’s amazing it lasted almost a full year beyond the end of the Champions League deal, the reason it existed in the first place. Pity to see two Irish sports channels gone in the space of a year though. The two remaining Extra channels are likely remaining only to show Europa League games, which is the only time they are needed really.

Dodge

Currently used for the nations league games too

(Not suggesting that’s enough, just pointing it out)

iseegirls

Virgin Media Sport Extra 1 and 2 renamed Virgin Media Extra 1 and 2. Although, I'm unable to find both those channels on the Virgin Media box at the moment. Anyone else find it?

Virgin Media Sports schedule stops showing any programming from Friday midnight.

AJB39

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118895942#Comment_118895942

Virgin Media Extra 1 and 2 are channels 850 and 851. It looks like Virgin Media Sport will close although I don’t think that’s confirmed. It looks like it will sort of merge with Virgin Media More. Virgin Media Sport by day and Virgin Media More by night.

awec

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118879677#Comment_118879677

I think sports coverage had become far too fragmented, we need less channels not more.

I know the idea is competition but that is not how it ended up working. Nobody competed with each other, so consumers got absolutely shafted.

Every provider just siphoned off their own little exclusive slice of the pie, so if consumers wanted the full pie they needed numerous subscriptions and it cost them more in the end.

butwhynot

VM Sports has a new home.

You can continue to enjoy all of the sports that featured here plus so much more on Virgin Media MORE, tune to channel 100.

https://www.virginmediatv.ie/en/tv/now-on-tv.html

This time last year there were reports of them having acquired rights from Discovery to show some of the cycling, I've yet to see a bike race on their stations.

iseegirls

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118914117#Comment_118914117

From March 1st 2021:

It recently renewed its UK horseracing rights until 2023 and will soon receive free-to-air rights to several sports including cycling and tennis through a deal with Eurosport owner Discovery.

Yep, there hasn't been any of these sports on the channels over the past year.

odyssey06

If they are FTA rights then they would need to be on VM1, VM2 or VM3 rather than the VM More \ Sports channels which are limited to VM subscribers?

Didn't see any cycling, usually TG4 covers the Tour and if there's a 'name' Irish rider they might cover Giro or Vuelta.

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118917382#Comment_118917382

I think it is up to VM to decide if it is FTA or FTV for VM customers.

odyssey06

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118917422#Comment_118917422

Maybe Im overthinking it. I thought there might be something mandating FTA for exposure of the sport / sponsors.

icdg

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118917422#Comment_118917422

VM More (and VM Sport before it) is not free to view, it is 100% a pay channel only accessible by taking out a Virgin TV subscription. There is no free to view option.

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118918835#Comment_118918835

Sorry "Free" for Virgin Media and ... for a time eir customers on a basic package. Did it ever get to Sky?

lertsnim

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118918921#Comment_118918921

Virgin Media Sport was on Sky as part of the Eir Sport package. It didn't last long though as Eir and Virgin had a falling out.

icdg

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118918921#Comment_118918921

Putting quotation marks around the word “free” doesn’t make it any more true. You must have a current Virgin TV cable subscription to watch the channel. It is no more “free” than eg Sky Max or Sky Sports News.

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118919611#Comment_118919611

Unless you are a marketing guru in "eir" or "virgin media" or "sky".

iseegirls

Picture quality very poor for the matches on Virgin Media More. Looks like they've skipped on the HD version.

Delta2113

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118928458#Comment_118928458

Perfect HD on my television with 360 box.

icdg

About time to rename this thread, I think!

channelsurfer2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118967126#Comment_118967126

wow. I realised its actually nearly 8 years since i made the first post. A sign of old age in me ICDG!!

icdg

The European Qualifiers posts have been spun off to their own thread and we might continue that discussion there

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058243579/uefa-european-qualifiers-nations-league-2022-28#latest

Pussyhands

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118910543#Comment_118910543

Yep. Far too fragmented but that may be coming to an end. Over the past number of years all the media companies were trying to bundle everything together.

So you had Eir and Virgin in Ireland setting up sports channels trying to hoover up rights so they could then bundle mobile, broadband and tv into one. But it seems to not have worked as Eir have pulled out of sports, Virgin Media tv is being sold I think and rights are being lost and BT, who had the same plan in the UK are selling BT Sport.

icdg

Safe to say the era of sports being used to sell broadband subs is over, and really it could never have worked in the long term giving the price of sports rights.

The competition argument is an interesting in that it’s worked out very well for rights owners (and the FAPL in particular, at least till Covid hit) but not so much for consumers, particularly if you’re the sports fan who has to have everything. At one point I thought two providers would be all the market would bear but obviously that’s been put to the test now with more new entrants like DAZN and Viaplay (though they’d want to watch they don’t meet Eleven Sports fate).

Thargor

How many times are they going to show this celebrity version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire, the one with Jonnie Vegas? Prime time on a Sunday evening and no exaggeration this must be the fifth time Ive been channel hopping and seen it on VM1.

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119068228#Comment_119068228

I have noticed WWTBAM? on the top 20 shows for the past number of weeks, what episodes have they being airing on Saturday and Sunday over the last 2 months?

Also have they dropped the 7pm news?

iseegirls

Sunday was the 5th time they've shown that celebrity special of WWTBAM. They recently showed it on the 19th Feb 2022 (repeated 3 days later at 11pm of course)

They're playing episodes randomly out of order for the show. Series 36 mostly - with VM showing them for a 5th time at peak time. They do like to milk episodes, and their usual target is to show everything 8 times in a 2 year timeframe - so expect to see that Celebrity special to be shown again.

Delta2113

Continity announcer tonight said Coronation Street is back Monday at 7.30pm. Of course it's 8pm. Can't even get the basic stuff correct.