Entertainment Interactive

BBC Alba to launch

Paul — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 15:19:08 +0000

The new Gaelic TV channel from the BBC will launch on cable and Sky on the 19th September and will be available throughout the country on those services. The channel will also be available on Freeview in Scotland only once digital switchover is completed and if the BBC Trust gives the go ahead for it to launch on Freeview in Scotland. BBC Alba will show entertainment programmes, documentaries, sport, kids programmes, news, dramas and more.

Hallmark +1 and Diva TV +1 now available

Paul — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 18:00:04 +0000

Hallmark +1 and Diva TV are now available on Virgin TV. Hallmark +1 is on channel 191 and Diva TV +1 is on channel 193. Both channels are one hour timeshift channels.

Olympics coverage on Freeview and Virgin Media

Paul — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 12:11:24 +0000

Freeview

The Olympics opening ceremony is this Friday on the BBC. Olympics coverage has been expanded on the Freeview platform. As previously mentioned, BBC Parliament will be used to provide an additional video feed (BBC Parliament can be used because parliament is in recess for the summer anyway). It has also now been announced the Community Channel will be off-air for the duration of the Olympics. There will be no Community Channel from the 9th to the 25th August. The space from the Community Channel will be used by the BBC to provide additional video services for the Olympics. The channel will return to air after this date in its normal timeslot. The BBC website says - “Freeview viewers will have access to at least two extra streams in addition to the offerings on BBC ONE and BBC TWO. Olympics Interactive will be a 24-hour service offering a huge choice of sports as well as a medals table, news stories and schedule. Between 0200 and 1800 BST Interactive will show the best of the day’s action, much of it live, and after that replay the major events of the day to allow viewers to catch up on any sports they may have missed”.

Virgin Media

Viewers will be able to press their red button and get up to six channels of Olympics coverage, 24 hours a day. The BBC says - “Our interactive air time will be upped from 1,000 hours of coverage at the Athens Olympics to 2,450 hours in China giving you the chance to watch uninterrupted coverage of your favourite sports”. Please note that BBC Parliament will remain on-air on the Virgin Media cable platform - it is only being taken off air on Freeview for the duration of the Olympics - not on cable or Sky.

Online

The BBC website will be providing streaming video of the Olympics. The BBC website says - “UK users of the website will be able to watch live video of all the key action. You will be able to choose from up to seven video streams showing simulcast coverage from BBC TV and BBC interactive”.

Radio

BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra will be providing coverage of the Olympics - keeping you up to date with all the news and results. These BBC radio stations can be streamed on the BBC website. Other BBC radio stations will also provide Olympics news and results.

Search for Olympics programmes in the BBC What’s On guide.

FX content now available On Demand

Paul — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:13:40 +0000

FX programming is now available On Demand on Virgin TV. Programmes include Dexter and Sleeper Cell.

Gems TV extends Freeview broadcast hours

Paul — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 18:25:30 +0000

Gems TV have extended their hours on Freeview by two additional hours - but on a separate channel name and number. The new slot is called Gems TV1 and their existing Gems TV slot also remains. This means Gems TV will broadcast on channel 43 from 9.45am to 12.45pm and on channel 44 from 7pm to 9pm. The space Gems TV are now using 7pm-9pm looks like it came from the space freed up when The Jewellery Channel left Freeview earlier this year.

Challenge Jackpot launched on channel 154

Paul — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 09:06:04 +0000

Challenge Jackpot has launched on Virgin Media on channel 154.

The Hits relaunching as 4music in August

Paul — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 08:51:30 +0000

The Hits will be relaunched as 4music in August, and will be available on Freeview, cable and Sky.

At GetMeMedia.com they say “the launch will take place in late summer and the 4music channel will feature a must see mix of Channel 4’s unrivalled music programming, including intimate documentaries, unmissable live performances and a range of music entertainment series”.

Click here to read more at GetMeMedia.com - including a PowerPoint presentation - just click on Download Attachment on that page.

(more…)

Warner TV now on Top Up TV Anytime service

Paul — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 11:33:04 +0000

Warner TV content has been added to the Top Up TV Anytime service. Programmes such as The West Wing and Nip/Tuck will be available. Up to 14 hours worth of Warner TV content will be available on Top Up TV Anytime.

BBC Sport Interactive on Freeview

Paul — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 08:26:49 +0000

The sports section on the Freeview BBC interactive service has been improved. When you press red from any BBC channel, you can now select Sport Home which takes you to a new and improved section. The section now links to the BBCi video streams for Interactive video services and tells you what’s on now so you can easily switch to the relevant stream you want to watch. The new Sport section also has a brand new easy-to-use menu at the bottom.

BBC iPlayer is now integrated into the On Demand menus

Paul — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 08:27:56 +0000

BBC iPlayer is now integrated into the Virgin Media On Demand menus. All BBC programmes On Demand now use the iPlayer versions of recordings. If you go to All Channels in the Catch Up TV section and choose iPlayer it just loads the red button version of the BBC iPlayer. If you go to All Days in Catch Up TV it will show up using the same Virgin Media menus as the other content but will still use the iPlayer versions of the programmes. In other iPlayer news, it’s now thought the previously-planned BBC iPlayer channel on the EPG has been postponed - possibly indefinitely.

Virgin Media owned channels now widescreen

Paul — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 15:14:07 +0000

The Virgin Media owned TV channels (commonly known as the VMTV channels) are now widescreen. The channels had always been 4:3 but have finally made the leap into 16:9 format. VMTV channels include Virgin 1, Challenge, Living and Bravo. UKTV channels made the switch to widescreen a few months ago. This change also affects other platforms, including Freeview which has Virgin 1.

NME Radio launched on channel 975

Paul — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 13:30:26 +0000

A new radio station has been added to the Virgin Media lineup today. NME Radio is now available on channel 975 on Virgin TV. You may need to restart your set top box to see this new addition.

The Jewellery Channel ceases broadcasting on Freeview

Paul — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 10:02:18 +0000

The Jewellery Channel on Freeview channel 44 has ceased broadcasting. It had been available on Freeview for the past six months. Channel 44 is now just a placeholder. It’s not known what (if anything) will replace the channel. One popular view is that Nuts TV could take the additional space and start broadcasting at 7pm every evening. The Jewellery Channel remains broadcasting as normal on other platforms and is also available on Five US in the mornings.

BBC iPlayer channel launching next week

Paul — Wed, 28 May 2008 11:02:47 +0000

The ’soft launch’ of BBC iPlayer on Virgin Media happened a few weeks ago with it being available through the red button from any on-air BBC channel. From next week a BBC iPlayer channel will be added to the Virgin Media EPG. The news comes from an official Virgin Media press release (click here). The BBC iPlayer service will be fully integrated into the On Demand menus (like Catch Up TV) in a few months (the exact date is not yet confirmed).

‘Rabbit’ has launched

Paul — Sun, 18 May 2008 23:14:56 +0000

The new interactive dating & chat service from Teletext - ‘Rabbit’ - has launched on Freeview channel 102. The channel used to be home to Teletext Cars but was renamed to ‘Rabbit’ on the EPG recently. The ‘Rabbit’ service has now launched. The service enables viewers to text in and get their messages put on-screen and also allows them to send in pictures of themselves & have them displayed on the channel. ‘Rabbit’ is very much like one of those Sky dating channels. It’s all done using MHEG technology so it’s quite impressive what features it has when you think it’s only an MHEG application.

Virgin Media rolls out set top box update

Paul — Thu, 15 May 2008 22:59:05 +0000

Updates are rolling out to Virgin Media set top boxes at the moment. These updates are for standard set top boxes (the ‘V’ boxes) - ‘V+’ boxes got upgraded a while back. The application version my set top box is now running is ‘13.100.1_ukcable’ (ex-NTL area). To get the update, you should just need to turn your set top box off at the wall socket and then power it back up. A message should come up on the screen saying it’s updating itself. As Virgin Media usually stagger the release of updates between regions, the update may not be available in your area yet. The update appears to add the following;

- When you switch subtitles on and off from the mini guide bar it prompts you to make sure you want to turn the subtitles on/off

- This update seems to convert all the channels that were originally using analogue (888) subtitles to the digital format (so they are selectable from the Subtitles option on the mini guide bar

- Reminders can now be unset via the OK button with the mini guide bar up

- The programme information popup is much bigger giving more room to fit in long programme descriptions and names

- If you hold the power button in on the front of the set top box, it will restart the box (you no longer need to switch it off by the wall to restart it)

- It seems to flick through the channels faster when using the left and right arrows

- All the menus (including iPlayer via the red button on any BBC channel) just seem to load quicker

‘Picnic’ service not launching anytime soon

Paul — Thu, 15 May 2008 19:58:44 +0000

The proposed pay TV service from Sky called ‘Picnic’ doesn’t look likely to launch on DTT anytime soon as the Ofcom consultation continues, and delays any plans. If ‘Picnic’ were to launch, it would replace their existing free channels on Digital Terrestrial and they would likely be replaced by Sky One, Sky Movies and Sky Sports. The Guardian say the ongoing Ofcom consultation “would appear to make it unlikely that Sky could launch its DTT pay-TV service - if it were given permission to do so - before the summer of 2009″.

‘Rabbit’ placeholder appears; Teletext Cars removed

Paul — Thu, 15 May 2008 19:55:04 +0000

Teletext Cars - the interactive service from Teletext - has been removed and replaced with a placeholder message for the new interactive dating service ‘Rabbit’ on channel 102. ‘Rabbit’ is thought to be launching this month. Teletext Cars had been dormant on Freeview for a while.

BBC Parliament to be removed for the Olympics

Paul — Thu, 15 May 2008 19:49:36 +0000

BBC Parliament will be temporarily removed from Freeview for the duration of the 2008 Olympic Games this August. The freed-up video stream will mean more Olympic coverage can be provided for Freeview viewers. MediaGuardian is reporting “BBC Parliament’s Freeview capacity will be used to enhance the quality of the interactive TV streaming the BBC is planning to use for the Olympics, which take place between August 8 and 24″. BBC Parliament will return to Freeview after the Olympics have finished. UK parliaments and committees are likely to be in recess for the duration in August anyway, so BBC Parliament shouldn’t be missed too much and will mean better interactive video services for those viewers on the Freeview platform.

Free Setanta Weekend

Paul — Sat, 03 May 2008 13:52:34 +0000

The Setanta Sport channels are free for the entire Bank Holiday weekend (2nd-5th May). You must be subscribed to the M or L TV package for this offer. XL TV customers already get them for free, so they will see no change. The Setanta channels are, Setanta Sports 1, Setanta Sports 2, Celtic TV, Rangers TV, Arsenal TV, Setanta Golf and Liverpool TV.

BBC iPlayer has launched on Virgin TV

Paul — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 21:52:41 +0000

The catchup service from the BBC - iPlayer - has ’soft launched’ on Virgin TV. The service can be accessed by pressing the red button on any BBC TV channel. BBC iPlayer on Virgin TV works in a similar way to the online service at bbc.co.uk, but streams programmes off servers - like Catch Up TV and TV Choice On Demand - instead of downloading it to the box via a broadband connection.

The existing BBC section of Catch Up TV (in the On Demand menus of Virgin TV) remain in place at the moment, as this is just a ’soft launch’ of the iPlayer, to make sure everything works as it should before it’s fully unleashed into the Virgin TV On Demand menus some time this summer. There’s a useful ‘Search’ function available on the iPlayer service, which makes finding programmes much easier.

At the moment, only TV programmes are available on the new iPlayer service on Virgin TV, but this should expand to radio programmes and high definition programmes in due course.

Click here to read more about the service.

(Pictures are from www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcinternet)

Five Life rebranded as Fiver

Paul — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 09:52:31 +0000

Five Life has now been rebranded as Fiver on the Freeview and Virgin Media EPGs. Freeview viewers will need to rescan their box if it doesn’t pick up the new channel name automatically. Virgin Media customers may need to restart their set top box for the channel name to change.

Teachers TV added to Anytime

Paul — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 22:51:42 +0000

Teachers TV programming can now be ’subscribed’ to on Top Up TV Anytime. The short amount of time the channel broadcasts on Freeview will be automatically recorded to your Anytime box if you choose to do so. Teachers TV remains free, and still broadcasts on its normal channel.

BBC News 24 rebranded as BBC News

Paul — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 12:42:29 +0000

BBC News 24 has dropped the ‘24′ from its channel name as part of the overhaul of BBC News services. Freeview viewers will need to rescan their boxes to pick up the new channel name. Virgin Media customers should automatically see the new channel name on their boxes, but a set top box reboot may be required.

Virgin Media price increases in June

Paul — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 18:49:00 +0000

By the 1st June, Virgin Media will be increasing the price of some of their services. The XL TV package will cost an extra £1.50 a month, TV Choice On Demand content will go up by £2 a month (it stays free for XL TV subscribers) and calls will increase to 4p a minute to other UK landlines. Read more on Cable Forum.