All customers - on any TV package - will have free access to the Setanta Sports channels this weekend. After the weekend, they will only be available for free to XL TV customers as before. The Virgin Media press release says “Virgin Media TV customers will have access to Setanta Sports 1, 2 and Setanta Golf all day Saturday and Sunday for no extra charge. Medium and Large TV pack customers would usually pay £8 a month for access to the Setanta bundle of channels”. Click here to read the press release in full.
Archive for August, 2007
There are reports online that Virgin are considering buying one of ITV’s Freeview slots off them (the space currently used for ITV2 +1) to launch their new channel, Virgin 1. Originally it was thought the Ftn slot would be used for the new channel, but (as it’s only a 12 hour slot - and ITV2 +1 uses a 24 hour slot) they might not be - meaning Ftn might stay on Freeview after all. Virgin 1 is expected to launch in September/October.
Ex-NTL areas now have the new style PIN-protection - following on from the changes for ex-Telewest areas a few weeks ago. This means you still get prompted for the PIN whenever you go to a Sky Movies channel (except Sky Family), but can now use the mini guide while watching a film. When the channel is changed (ie to another Sky Movies channel), the PIN needs to be re-entered. The previous system didn’t let you view the mini guide while watching a film after the PIN had been put in.
You may need to rescan your set top box if you experience loss of picture on ITV2 and ITV3 (and possibly ITV4), as it appears ITV have moved the audio and video streams for these channels. Channel numbers will remain the same though - it just updates what feed to point the channel at.
Channel 4 +1 has launched on Virgin Media (and Sky) as planned today. It replaces Channel 4 +1 on the cable platform (channel 143), and will replace Film 4 +1 on Freeview. The Freeview change is expected to happen at 1pm today. Channel 4 will also be reshuffling all their channels on Freeview, and there’s also some speculation the ITV channels will be reshuffled as well. Also, on Virgin Media, the ex-BBC News 24 channel has been removed from the EPG following the channel number change a while back. Update - Channel 4 +1 now shows up on Freeview. If you rescan your box you should now see the lineup as follows (due to the Channel 4 reshuffle which has also taken place) - ITV2 on channel 6, ITV3 on channel 10, Channel 4 +1 on channel 13, More 4 on channel 14, ITV4 on channel 28, E4 on channel 29, E4 +1 on channel 30, ITV2 +1 on channel 31, and Film 4 on channel 32. Film 4 +1 no longer airs on Freeview. The speculated ITV channel reshuffle on Freeview hasn’t happened (yet).
From the 10th September, Teachers’ TV will only broadcast on Freeview from 4pm to 5pm everyday. The official Teachers’ TV website confirms this.
LBC radio has appeared on Virgin Media - channel 973.
Some channel changes on the Virgin Media platform have taken place. More 4 +1 on channel 143 has closed down on cable, and now displays an information slide telling people Channel 4 +1 launches on the 20th August. Paramount +1 has launched on channel 133. Paramount 2 has moved to channel 134. Nick Jr 2 has also appeared on channel 716. Customers may need to reboot their set top boxes for these changes to show correctly.
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