BSkyB buys Virgin Media TV channels in £160m deal

[A-AvantGarde]

Looks interesting:

Link here,

BBC News - BSkyB buys Virgin Media TV channels in £160m deal

So it looks like they're just buying the TV channels / media content and not Virgin Media in it's entirety.

 

[219]

That'll give Richard Branson some pocket change to fund a Concorde then !

 

[corned]

When I first read the title I thought that Sky were buying Virgin Media, full stop. Then I thought - great - they have decided to tread on the HD-with-no-fee thing rather than try to compete with it.

Maybe there is still some competition for them then...?

 

[Alfie]

Looks interesting:

Link here,

BBC News - BSkyB buys Virgin Media TV channels in £160m deal

So it looks like they're just buying the TV channels / media content and not Virgin Media in it's entirety.

This is sad as it is yet another step in the Murdoch campaign to rule the media. I have Sky myself but plan to drop it very soon in favour of freesat.

 

[A-AvantGarde]

This is sad as it is yet another step in the Murdoch campaign to rule the media. I have Sky myself but plan to drop it very soon in favour of freesat.

Agreed, I know it's just the TV channels / content that they have purchased. I'm suprised that it's being allowed to proceed.

Oh well, I guess it's positive news for Virgin subscribers (in terms of getting greater access to Sky content).

 

[MrT]

This is sad as it is yet another step in the Murdoch campaign to rule the media. I have Sky myself but plan to drop it very soon in favour of freesat.

Our 3 year old Sky HD box was on it's last legs (the hard drives seem to wear out with constant use). Can't be bothered to change the drive myself and Sky wouldn't do a deal on a replacement box, so cancelled my subscription (we only really watch the free channels and use the recording features anyway).

Just installed a Humax Foxsat HDR freesat recorder - a little bit less intuitive than Sky+ but very workable, seems good quality, 2 years warranty as standard and upgraded that to 5 years from Richer Sounds (can get the extended warranty premium back in 5 years time if I don't claim!).

You can even record two channels and watch a third as long as all three channels are within two multiplexes! Only thing that I'm missing is Channel 4 HD and E4 HD - but for £27 monthly saving, I think I'll live with that!

 

[Gridlock]

"Virgin Media" is nothing to do with Virgin, other than NTL leasing the name from them.

 

[splang]

About a year ago I bought a Humax HD Freesat box -- easy - just plug the sat dish that I got from sky into the Humax box and works straight away.

Went from £55 a month down to £0 and sold the HD box for £120 on Ebay!! Didn't agree with Sky's horrible customer services and price increases..

 

[Alfie]

This is very interesting regarding FreeSat.

I'm convinced now to switch. Thanks guys.

 

[MrT]

Had a week of using now, some irritations like recorded programs are in a 'media' menu rather than the schedule (which shows what is cue'd to record).

The playback transport controls are amazing - the box is very responsive to fwd/rwd commands and you can skip forwards/backwards through your recording in 2 minute blocks - perfect for skipping ad breaks!

It actually seems to handle the playback of HD recordings quite well, unlike the original Thomson Sky HD box which IMO was underpowered for the task. Said box is now on eBay...

Since the Sky sub was deactivated, we have had two outbound calls from them trying to win us back. Too late lol...!