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Lost 24

If Virgin get ITV. And how long will it take. By that time I suspect more and more TV production companies will be distributing via the net, the whole broadcasting media model will change.

Prison Break is :cool:

In my view, or at this point its simply a prediction, but Net TV will falter for the simple fact it turns a somewhat social activity of watching TV into a solitary one.

The future of net tv is that it will be streamed via the internet to the main tv in the household. You might say this is simply what Sky and Virgin Media are around for.
However, the more attractive option is to use a broadcaster for your purchasable programmes, such as Prison Break, Documentarys etc..., and allow online content to trickle onto the TV, such as interactive movies like Youtube and online content such as Weather, News, music streaming etc...
It would be impossible to get all your content off the internet (legally as well as easily that is), so for that reason, net tv and braodcasting can always co-exist in a profitable relationship that will see braodcasters take more control of net content on tv. Plus, programming is much harder than we give it credit for. How many times have you been on the net and got bored, not knowing what else you can do after visiting all your newsgroups and favourite sites. Broadcasters take this issue away from its customers. (In the case of sky, for the worse. I wish I could program my own channel that simply rotated between my favourite shows with no adverts. I would be able to pack in so many more episodes of futurama that way!! "Hmm... Media Centre, Yes you have an interesting proposal...."

The TV is not dead or dying. Far from it.
 
In my view, or at this point its simply a prediction, but Net TV will falter for the simple fact it turns a somewhat social activity of watching TV into a solitary one.
...
The TV is not dead or dying. Far from it.

Getting off topic but what the heck.

Your right the broadcast media won't die, it will either wither away over the next couple of generations, because of convenience and convergence, or it will adapt.

Most peoples content comes via the TV, video, DVDs, soon it will be the net also. You know at the end of the day there is no real difference where the signal comes from, DVD or You Tube.

But what it gives to the consumer is the power to organise their life as they choose. Video meant you could record and watch again at a time of your choosing, and who didn't fast forward through the commercials? Now DVDs are taking over the recorded medium and the supply medium. How many films do you see that have never had a theatrical release but have gone straight to DVD. People choose what films to watch and when. The net just means you don't have to get to the high street or wait for Amazon to deliver.

The production companies know that they can tap straight into the mass market if they want to and know how. Yesterday the BBC announced its You Tube deal, I think all the film companies will want to use the net to get their films to the masses. Times are changing.

With convergence of the net and TV, downloading programming need be no more of a solitary pursuit than renting a video to watch with friends used to be. And if you had a wife constantly nattering in your ear during all TV, you would appreciate solitary TV more.;)

Maybe I am being optimistic with the time scales, but I think if you give it a decade, or DVD will be like video.
 
in fact if you consider the variables, say TV on demand then great lm all for it.. l hate the fact that we have to watch tonnes of crap in order to get to the good stuff, which is why the only TV l have is for my PS2 altho that will only be for so long since lm getting a box which will allow me to play through my monitor.. and if you look at it from another perspective TV and the film industry using the net as a media tool could be a good thing since in perspective l think that 1. the possibilities are endless and 2. with media giants such as BBC, ITV, etc pushing to offer their services online will in short possibly give reason for expansion when concerning the british networks suffice to say maybe this would be the boost that the UK needs to push ourselfs into the next realm for high speed internet in the UK, after all without a push and the need for extra capacity will BT and any other supplier looking into ways of expanding our growing demands without a push in the right direction?
 
By the way 0.03 x 365 x 3.3million = 35million ish
Thats peanuts for NTL (rebranded Virgin Media to try and get away for its poor Customer Services reputation).
Given that it has a ARPU of about £45, the cost of the contract would be less than 2% of its ARPU.
I'm no lover of the BskyB empire, however I recall reading in a recent NTL interim that it has earmarked the funds for this Sky contract to help pay/expand for its future fee based video-on-demand service.
Call me a cynic, but I couldn't blame anyone for wondering if this contract impasse has been deliberately engineered and Richard Branson (a peoples type of guy, who as I've said before appears to have no official authority) has been wheeled out as a PR stunt on the part of NTL aka Virgin Media.
 
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then again, you have to think, he was trying to buy a large percentage of ITV which have in turn gave him allot better backing to buy programmes which in turn have been shown to you the viewer, and if sky had been found to of only bought these shares in spit just to hold a manopily over the best viewing l kinda think it in poor taste, yes this whole fiasco brings a bad taste, and if l was in your position ld be just as peeved but since lm in a neutral position l guess l can see more of the argument, if branson had ITV's share of the market then sky would in turn have had no meaning since NTL would have allot of the pick of those programmes.

for lack of better terms to explain, take microsoft.. you build a new OS (better, cheaper, and more stable) for instance for the PC platform thats not linux youll have then on your back every step of the way if you took a big chunk of their users and they would cry even if you used an ounce of their code, hell even if you used a similar idea for doing a certain thing they would have you in court before you could snap your fingers, why? well thats obvious your taking away the service they offered.. and its not because its could be an alturnitive to their system but more the fact that they will have to lower prices to compeate then again, if there was a better more user friendly OS out there then it would cost microsoft hellofa lot, which brings me back on subject, if branson had got hold of the shares of ITV then he would have had the backing to buy more of the better programs that Sky holds the manopily over and more than likely as the user/viewer of these services you may have allot more choice than you were ever given...

this is just my take on things at this moment in time tho, from what l gather of the situation at least.
 
Sky is really taking advantage of the situation.

I just heard an ad on the radio with a calm voiced female highlighting all of Virgin Media's losses and she goes through a list of "sky One, Sky News etc.." and straight out asks them to leave Virgin and join Sky.

Whatever happened to the advertising without attacking your competitors?
Skys marketing team are really looking like a childish bunch at the moment.
 
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The fact that Sky are advertising they carry Sky News/One etc and are trying to attract NTL/VM customers seems fine to me - it's what the free market and advertising is all about.

According to one national newspaper, discounts are now being offered to customers who ring NTL/VM and threaten to quit their contract by going over to Sky.
I did find it quite funny that the blank screens on NTL (aka VM) were earleir carrying banners such as Sky Snooze (instead of Sky News).
 
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According to the Guardian:
It's plus ça change at the old NTL – now Virgin Media – according to customers who are reporting that the problems that plagued the cable company are ongoing.

this week customers are reporting that it's been almost impossible to get through to its customer services. Others trying to leave the company have spoken about waiting on hold for 45 minutes, only to have their call "automatically terminated".

Virgin says its call centres have been swamped by callers trying to gain information about its public spat with Sky that led Virgin to drop several popular channels – including Sky One – last week.

Those customers getting through to complain that their TV offer has been devalued are generally being offered a £10 a month discount - for six months.
 
Both Sky and Virgin Media have behaved appallingly to the detriment of their own reputations. But worst of all they have ended up treating their customers with the contempt they obviously hold for the 'cash cows'. Even now they continue their bickering and trying to spread their propaganda. You would think they would have done enough damage to themselves.

But the customer will win out in the end, because ultimately they have the power. They can walk away with their wallets and purses at any time.

Its been a week or so since 'spring blessing day' as I now call it, soon we will be cancelling our virgin media cable tv package saving some £300 a year and more importantly some 10 hours of time wasting each week. I'm kind of excited by all the things we will have time to do now.

This has been a blessing in disguise for us, who has really lost out, not me.
:D :) :D
 
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