The Virgin Media Television thread

iseegirls · 16-11-2021 11:41am

Did a quick scan of the Horse Racing days they've shown since 2017:

2017 - 50 days of live Horse Racing

2018 - 44

2019 - 46

2020 - 56

2021 - 55 (up to 26th November)

Obviously, will not know about ins and outs of deals, but there may have been a compromise done, as there was no Grand National in 2020, that VM were allowed show more last year.

mike2084 · 26-11-2021 2:08am

Virgin are just showing one day of the Newbury Winter Festival this week and again strangely it's the Friday they are showing and not the bigger Saturday meeting. I don't know if they're taking a view what those who want to see it can use ITV on FTA satellite on Saturday or something?

thesandeman · 26-11-2021 5:21am

I wonder would it have anything to do with clashing with RTE or TG4 if they are showing racing at the same time?

I think it's been shown on both fairly recently though.

mike2084 · 27-11-2021 2:17am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118224603#Comment_118224603

Not tomorrow anyway- no racing on RTÉ or TG4. Virgin Media have definitely shown racing at the same time as RTÉ or TG4 in the past although they have to broadcast trailer stuff if there is an Irish race covered by RTÉ in the ITV broadcast.

An Ciarraioch · 29-11-2021 7:35pm

VM audiences for I'm A Celeb last week:

Mon: 218,000

Tue: 180,000

Wed: 168,000

Thu: 160,000

Fri: 111,000

Down to the technical issues or the lacklustre contestants?

lertsnim · 30-11-2021 9:12am

The Toy Show would account for Friday anyway.

roadmaster · 15-12-2021 4:12pm

For my sins this morning i was watching ireland AM and i noticed the newsreader changed from the lady at 7am to the one at 730am was that not abit unusual? Also is ireland AM the only place tommy bowe gets to eats cause he seams to enjoy the cooking section alot

iseegirls · 15-12-2021 7:05pm

Christ, that Christmas schedule! 😩 I know TV3 and VM have never treated the Christmas schedule with much respect, but this years is quite something.

No premieres, the only one film that hasn't been shown on VM before is The Notebook on NYE. Oliver Twist being shown for the 11th time in 2 years, The Abba Christmas Party being shown on both VM1 and VM3 on Xmas Day, Dirty Dancing showing on the 23rd, 24th and 25th on VM1 and VM2.

Here's 1 thing that is quite hard to believe (or judging by VM's film repeats maybe it's not), I've noticed the following for the film Madagascar Escape 2 Africa:

VM1: Xmas Eve 2020 4pm

VM2: Xmas Day 2020 6pm

VM2: NYE 2020 12:30pm

-----

VM1: Xmas Eve 2021 4pm

VM2: Xmas Day 2021 6pm

VM2: NYE 2021 12:30pm

---

The exact same days, the exact same times, the exact same channels.

GIMP · 15-12-2021 8:07pm

Wonder if they will suspend all news and current affairs like they did last year for nearly a fortnight and run it like an empty warehouse devoid of any presenters!

iseegirls · 15-12-2021 8:29pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118327347#Comment_118327347

Last news will be on the 23rd at 8pm. After that, there will be no full news for the rest of the year, possibly until the 4th January.

Maz2016 · 15-12-2021 9:26pm

What a joke of a network. Like seriously. That scheduling is a joke. I like virgin news but when they don’t show it for periods like this and bank holidays, you switch to RTÉ and don’t go back!

iseegirls · 17-12-2021 5:12pm

The Snooker UK Seniors Championship 2022 tournament will be shown on Virgin Media Two and Sport from the 4th to the 7th January. Not sure how much they're showing, BBC will show 12pm-6pm, and 7pm-11pm on the red button. I presume they'll use their feed and commentators.

Surprised they haven't made a play for the FA Cup rights, or at least the matches that are shown on ITV.

icdg · 18-12-2021 7:29pm

Afaik they don’t, unless they’ve very quietly acquired them.

This is the first season of a new contract with the U.K. rights split between BBC and ITV. In the previous contract the U.K. rights were held by BT and BBC and the Irish rights by BT and eir Sport, with VMTV having the final on sub license (in some seasons). Now BT no longer has any rights to the tournament and eir Sport has closed down. Afaik there is currently no Irish rights holder.

Digifriendly · 19-12-2021 8:19am

Since BBC is reasonably accessible is there any real need for separate Irish rights?

Also ITV is available on Freesat.

Davidjamson · 19-12-2021 8:43am

Which team play far better other team?

mikeym · 19-12-2021 12:48pm

That’s bloody annoying that they closed down the news around Christmas. Last year there was announcements on restrictions due to covid and Virgin Media News were on holiday.

Why doesn’t someone do the news from their house like Sky News did?

dulpit · 19-12-2021 7:41pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118346094#Comment_118346094

Because that would mean virgin would need to do more than the bare minimum. Which they don't, ever.

icdg · 20-12-2021 2:44pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118345528#Comment_118345528

Not available on any pay tv platforms. You can manually tune in on Sky (requiring something like 17 button presses to access on Sky Q) but no option for cable customers.

(The “then they can get satellite” is sometimes easier said then done if you live in an apartment block or a managed estate where there’s a particular mandated provider and/or restrictive covenants preventing the erection of satellite dishes).

dublinman1990 · 20-12-2021 5:42pm

When I watched the Christmas adverts offering box sets for VM Player; you will know within about two seconds that the content on them is mostly reality TV rubbish and very else of any worthwhile programming on it.

Their news service being taken off during the Christmas break until early January is not acceptable at all when we are in these uncertain times.

No other news provider within Europe or in other parts of the world will ever have the gall to say to their viewers that they will temporarily call off their own news service even when they're essential workers during Christmas.

When people work as a journalist in the print or broadcast media; they are actually meant to be on call working in an essential job all the time even when Covid is with us or not.

As VM News will not offer any live news or detailed analysis about Omicron spreading around the country during this Christmas; you will instantly realize that there is something very very wrong with VM News own work practices surrounding this issue.

They are effectively just handing over their viewerbase over to RTÉ News or Nuacht TG4 to get any sort of analysis on this illness.

Digifriendly · 21-12-2021 11:50am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118351614#Comment_118351614

Fair points. IS BBC NI on the Sky epg in the south?

icdg · 21-12-2021 1:16pm

Yes, and London too.

iseegirls · 21-12-2021 8:23pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118352666#Comment_118352666

I'm more surprised there never any fuss kicked up about this in the media. TV3 seemed to maybe get a harder time in the press, but Virgin Media seem to be less so - maybe they purchase so much ad space in papers that they're untouchable. It's just mad they've been allowed to transform 2 of their channels into a back catalogue of ITV archived shows.

Dodge · 21-12-2021 10:11pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118357911#Comment_118357911

It’s mainly because most people simply don’t care about linear TV any more.

Most people have access to a variety of on demand services. A lot of people have cable or satellite. It doesn’t really matter to most people if some channels offer up rubbish some/most of the time

Capt'n Midnight · 22-12-2021 5:35pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118357911#Comment_118357911

There's an awful lot of UK repeats on VM1

How much content will VM show over Christmas that isn't available on Freesat in HD and earlier ?

Delta2113 · 27-12-2021 3:33pm

They never showed Loose Women on Christmas Eve.

gordongekko · 27-12-2021 4:53pm

They've just given up. If comreg had any balls they'd split them up and not allow the new owner of virgin to own TV channels

iseegirls · 27-12-2021 8:28pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118378014#Comment_118378014

It's still quite ridiculous that they still show it at 3pm daily anyway. They mustn't want to pay for the live version.

Leonita · 27-12-2021 8:50pm

As I've always maintained the schedule is designed to suit the staff and not the viewers. Just look at the soap schedules during the year. The news staff seem to dictate the schedule which is often not in keeping with ITV scheduling. They have news updates which are random at the moment. Why not have the news updates at the same time as the normal news times during the year? They are a very amateur operation. In fact they should have just one channel dedicated to Bradley Walsh at this stage. Why are COMREG or whoever is responsible for giving permission to broadcast not looking into this amateur operation?

Dodge · 27-12-2021 8:55pm

Do you honestly believe a regulatory body should be allowed dictate scheduling to a Tv company? Come on now…

icdg · 28-12-2021 12:51am

Comreg have no jurisdiction over content. The BAI are the content regulator.

The Virgin Media Television thread

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