Category: Cable

Virgin Media Reveals Leap in TV Viewing

Cable TV operator Virgin Media has revealed how the Covid-19 lockdown has changed viewing habits in the UK.

Amongst the statistics revealed are a 10% increase in customers watching TV, compared to pre-lockdown, with customers watching TV for an average of 41 extra minutes per day.

28th March, a Saturday, was the busiest data for customers tuning into TV channels, with 17% growth, compared to the eight previous Saturdays. For apps, this figure was an even higher 42%.

News, music, and radio channels all saw an increase in demand. Each customer spent an extra 25 minutes watching the news, on average. With schools closed, children’s channels also saw increases in demand.

Cuts to Regional BBC Services

The BBC are cutting some regional TV shows, in order to cut costs. 450 job losses are expect, with the axing of inside out the most prominent move.

Regionally news bulletins on the Breakfast programme (BBC One) will return, although a date for this has not been announced. All 6.30pm news bulletins will have a single presenter going forward. The regional politics programmes will be reinstated, but with a new format to reach a wider audience.

Inside Out, which has 11 regional variations will be replaced with a new investigation programme, from 6 larger regions. The unnamed programme will focus on single investigation per programme, rather than three 10 minute long segments.

Perhaps the biggest changes are at the local radio stations in England, which will retain the standard blocks of 4 hour long programmes introduced initially as a temporary measure back in March. Local programmes will be retained between 6am and 10pm, with a new national late show planned for 10pm to 1am. All shows will have 1 presenter only.

Some of the cuts are necessary due to the delays in reintroducing TV license charges for the over 75s, and the cost of covering the licenses for those on Pension Credit.

Disney to Close Channels

Children’s channels Disney Channel, Disney Junior, and Disney XD are to close in the UK. Unsurprisingly, this is part of the moving of content to Disney’s subscription streaming service Disney Plus, which will become the exclusive home for all of the content.

The move will take effect on October 1st, and will affect Sky and Virgin Media subscribers who currently subscribe to packages which include the channels.

Disney Plus launched in March this year, and costs £5.99 a month. Sky subscribers can access the service through the app on Sky Q.

The change is specific to the UK, although similar moves may made in other countries. Other Disney owned channels including National Geographic are not affected by the change.

Changes for Pick Ahead of Live Football

Sky owned Pick has made a few changes ahead of the broadcast of live football from Friday.

The most noticeable change is a tweak to the brand, with the Sky Pick name being adopted, along with a new logo in the corporate Sky style. This is likely to be the first time viewers will have been made aware of the channel’s owners.

New high-definition (HD) feeds have appeared. On satellite, a new HD outlet has opened, and is available on both Sky and Freesat on a UK spot beam, without encryption.

The use of a UK spot beam is crucial, as the Premier League (and other sports) have carriage deals with other broadcasters in other countries. Therefore, if the channel was carried on a Europe wide beam, it would need to be encrypted to protect the rights of other broadcasters.

This means that the standard definition version on Freesat will not carry football, as the channel is available on a Europe wide footprint. Additionally, the +1 timeshifts on both Sky and Freesat will also not carry football, neither will the Irish versions of the channel.

On Virgin Media, Sky Pick has switched to HD, although viewers may not immediately be aware as the HD suffix has not been added to the channel name.

Free to Air Premier League

With the remaining Premier League football matches to be held behind closed doors, a number of broadcasters have announced they will showing games free to air.

The BBC will broadcast four games live, in addition to its Match of the Day highlights programmes. The channel to show these matches is not known, but is likely to be BBC One or the BBC Red Button service.

Sky owned free-to-air channel Pick will be showing 25 games live, with the first being Everton v Liverpool, which will also be simulcast on Sky Sports.

Amazon will be streaming 4 matches on its platform Amazon Prime platform, without the need for subscription. The exact matches are yet to be announced.

This leaves BT Sport as the only rights holder to have not announced any free to air coverage.

Including the free to air matches and those as part of subscription services, all remaining Premier League games will be televised live.

Sony Crime Channel to Close

Sony Crime ChanelThe Sony Crime Channel is to close on during the early hours of 10th June 2020, on its remaining platforms Sky (satellite) and Virgin Media (cable), as Sony focuses on its remaining movie and entertainment channels.

Although launching with a large amount of publicity, the channel had struggled to compete with its rivals, and has been downgraded. The channel had already lost its national Freeview (terrestrial) slot.

Sony Crime Channel launched in February 2018, and has lasted just over two years on the air.

Subscriber Losses for Virgin Media

Cable TV platform Virgin Media, owned by Liberty Global, has lost customers in both the UK and Ireland. In the UK, 110,900 subscribers were lost, while in Ireland the figure is 9,400.

Heavy discounting by rivals has been attributed to the subscriber decline in the UK. However, total revenue in the UK has increased.

Liberty Global have also seen a drop in customers in Belgium and Switzerland. In the UK, Virgin Media also provide internet, phone, and mobile services.

Box Upfront Not Returning

As Channel 4 starts to fully integrate the Box Plus Network into its main business, it has been confirmed that Box Upfront will not be returning.

Box Upfront had become Boxmas over the festive period. Boxmas will close on 8th January on Virgin Media, and 6am on 9th January on Sky. Adverts on E4 are currently running for a new Box Upfront show for 4Music, suggesting that the Box Upfront brand will continue in a revised form.

The move follows the closure of the Box Plus app, as content migrates to All4. The remaining Box Plus Network consists of 4Music, The Box, Box Hits, Kerrang TV, Kiss TV and Magic TV

5Spike to Merge with Paramount Network

ViacomCBS owned 5Spike and Paramount Network are set to merge. 5Spike will close, with Paramount Network becoming a male skewed action and reality channel. The changes will take place on Tuesday 7th January 2020.

On platforms where Paramount Network occupies a lower channel number than 5Spike, Paramount Network will take over 5Spikes channel number.

On satellite, Paramount Network is moving to Channel 5’s main transponder. The changes will take effect automatically, and viewers should not need to take any action to continue watching Paramount Network.

5Spike first launched as Spike in 2015, with Paramount Network appearing on UK screens in 2018.

Last Day for Total Country

Total Country has announced that it is closing today, just over a year after launch.

The channel launched initial on Sky on 1st November 2018, replacing Massive R&B. The channel was also added to Virgin Media cable platform in March of this year.

Following Keep It Country’s rebrand to Spotlight TV and introduction of other forms of music, Total Country was the only UK television channel to focus solely on country music.