Sponsored Links

VM FTTP and TV

VM's owner (Liberty Global) does not AFAIK have a recordable IPTV box, so for the moment those on XGS-PON can only get the Stream box. In future I do expect a recordable IPTV box but I fear it will be similar to Sky's Stream in that you'll get the following after the live broadcast:
1. Content is streamed by VOD servers.
2. Content, especially Catch-up, is accessed only via the channel's app (so you'll need a logon for each).
3. Content is not available at all.

In short, IPTV means the days of being able to record every live TV broadcast are coming to an end.
I think you are right. I think that's where they are aiming for. But I think it's a big mistake. By reducing themselves to just internet and IPTV they are making it much harder to differentiate themselves from other TV providers. Certainly neither VM nor Sky will ever be the king in streaming content so I much rather have an Apple TV with Netflix, Prime Video and Disney than anything VM/Sky can offer (with the exception of sports).
 
They can't switch off the old cable network without either ditching broadcast TV or running an RFoG overlay and having to maintain broadcast headends and keep on with coax into homes joined by fibre for PON.

They'd have to drop the Nexfibre joint venture and either abandon expansion entirely or guarantee an Ofcom ruling that they have significant market power if they expand fully integrated.

A fair number of channels are already IP and, besides, TV hasn't ever really made money anyway: for years it's been sold because folks expected it to be in the bundle. VM don't make much out of carrying it.
 
I think you are right. I think that's where they are aiming for. But I think it's a big mistake. By reducing themselves to just internet and IPTV they are making it much harder to differentiate themselves from other TV providers. Certainly neither VM nor Sky will ever be the king in streaming content so I much rather have an Apple TV with Netflix, Prime Video and Disney than anything VM/Sky can offer (with the exception of sports).
Linear TV has been in decline for years and in 2022 fell to under 50% of all viewing, so it isn't worth it for VM to fight to get back full recording capabilities in this market - which will never happen anyway. The strategy is migrating to full fibre and everything over IP, and losing traditional recordings of live TV is just something we'll have to live with (regardless of which Pay TV operator you are with).
 
Linear TV has been in decline for years and in 2022 fell to under 50% of all viewing, so it isn't worth it for VM to fight to get back full recording capabilities in this market - which will never happen anyway. The strategy is migrating to full fibre and everything over IP, and losing traditional recordings of live TV is just something we'll have to live with (regardless of which Pay TV operator you are with).
Haven't watched "proper" TV in about 5 years now, not missed it one bit.
 
I don't have any issues in moving to streaming or leaving the Tivo behind. My issues are with what the replacement product provides in terms of features, content availability and quality. For instance using catch up apps is a PITA because:
  1. Each app is different so you got to remember how to use them, navigate different menus
  2. You go to remember on which channel was the thing you want to watch
  3. You got to find the thing you want to watch
  4. A lot of the times the thing you want to watch is not immediately available after it's broadcasted or if the programme has already started you can't watch from the beggining (some apps allow this but not all)
  5. A lot of the times the thing you want to watch has ridiculous restrictions
  6. Most things expire at some point and are no longer available for catch up
The local DVR capability like the Tivo solves all these problems. Maybe most people don't care but I do. On top of that it allows to skips ads, fast forward, live rewind (not all live streams allow live rewind), etc without any restrictions and it's much more responsive than streaming. Finally the quality of the stream in a lot of catch up apps is very poor. In fact I often just record the HD version of a programme on my Tivo and stream/watch on my iPad the recording live as it's much better quality than watching live in the app in the iPad. Then is the lack of UHD Sports on all streaming services. If I can watch and record Sky Sports and TNT in UHD on my Tivo why can't VM provide the same quality of service on their stream boxes? It's really mind blowing they can't match their new online streaming service to their old school TV coaxial quality. They recently grew their Stream TV channels to 100 including "a range of HD channels" like it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Well we had HD channels since 2005 so that's almost 25 years ago! Then VM makes it even more crazy by not selling their Stream box unless you buy broadband and only allowing 1 per house. I mean who really wants a service like that? At least when I had BT Sports 4K with BT TV it was a full IPTV channel but I could still record it with my BT Box.

The worst thing is that all of this is just cycle. The cord cutters think they are gone for ever but you wait a few more years to see what happens. Channel unbundling is just a cycle. In fact in the US where the unbundling is far more advanced we are now starting to see signs of the reverse cycle kicking and the bundling starting again. You should not be surprised if after more consolidation we end up with 6-10 large streaming networks and once they peak customer numbers they start to bundle together in different packages to stop people cancelling every few months and jumping around them. All of this is just part of the Enshittification. You think Netflix were different but they aren't. They stopped password sharing and continue to raise their prices. Disney the same thing. They all added ads to their platforms.
 
Top
Cheap BIG ISPs for 100Mbps+
Community Fibre UK ISP Logo
150Mbps
Gift: None
Virgin Media UK ISP Logo
Virgin Media £22.99
132Mbps
Gift: None
Vodafone UK ISP Logo
Vodafone £24.00 - 26.00
150Mbps
Gift: None
NOW UK ISP Logo
NOW £24.00
100Mbps
Gift: None
Plusnet UK ISP Logo
Plusnet £25.99
145Mbps
Gift: £50 Reward Card
Large Availability | View All
Cheapest ISPs for 100Mbps+
Gigaclear UK ISP Logo
Gigaclear £17.00
200Mbps
Gift: None
Community Fibre UK ISP Logo
150Mbps
Gift: None
Virgin Media UK ISP Logo
Virgin Media £22.99
132Mbps
Gift: None
Hey! Broadband UK ISP Logo
150Mbps
Gift: None
Youfibre UK ISP Logo
Youfibre £23.99
150Mbps
Gift: None
Large Availability | View All
Sponsored Links
The Top 15 Category Tags
  1. FTTP (6024)
  2. BT (3638)
  3. Politics (2720)
  4. Business (2439)
  5. Openreach (2405)
  6. Building Digital UK (2330)
  7. Mobile Broadband (2143)
  8. FTTC (2083)
  9. Statistics (1899)
  10. 4G (1813)
  11. Virgin Media (1762)
  12. Ofcom Regulation (1582)
  13. Fibre Optic (1467)
  14. Wireless Internet (1462)
  15. 5G (1404)
Sponsored

Copyright © 1999 to Present - ISPreview.co.uk - All Rights Reserved - Terms  ,  Privacy and Cookie Policy  ,  Links  ,  Website Rules