Yes, you read that correctly! From Sunday all UKTV channels and programming will no longer be available on Virgin TV.
That means that anyone who uses Virgin Media will no longer receive the following TV channels: Drama, Really, Yesterday, Home, Gold, W, Alibi, Dave, Eden and Good Food. This includes +1 and HD channels, as well as On Demand and TV Go content.
In discussions over a new contract, the two companies have so far been unable to reach an agreement after Virgin Media requested a significant cut in the fees that it pays to UKTV. The existing agreement will expire at midnight on Saturday 21 July. Without a new agreement, UKTV's ten channels, including Dave, Gold, Alibi and Drama will no longer be available on the Virgin Media platform.
The proposed price cut comes despite UKTV's offer to provide additional value to Virgin Media and its customers. As part of a new deal, the broadcaster is proposing to offer Virgin Media an increased range of on demand catch-up and boxsets, enhanced distribution rights, and an additional channel, Gold HD.
Darren Childs, Chief Executive of UKTV, said "We want to continue to provide our channels to Virgin Media, but the huge cut in fees that Virgin has requested doesn't reflect the value we bring to customers. UKTV's channels account for over a quarter of pay entertainment channel viewing within Virgin Media's basic subscription pack, while our on demand viewing has grown by over a third in the last year. The money we receive from platforms helps to pay for our record investment in high-quality programmes, which we increased to more than £150 million in the last year. If our 10 channels, including Dave, W, Gold and Alibi, are no longer available through Virgin, we will be hugely disappointed for the millions of customers who will lose out. We'll keep working with other platforms to bring viewers the drama, comedy and documentaries they love."
Personally, I really hope they can figure something out. Many of my favourite shows are on the channels being dropped, so this is devastating news that I will no longer be able to watch some of the most popular channels in the UK. I remember a similar thing with Sky a few years ago where we lost all their channels. That was bad enough. Please do not let the same thing happen again!
What are your thoughts on this? Please, do share them below. I look forward to reading them.
Written by TonyMayhew on Jul 20, 2018
i must say not having UK Gold was starting to irk me a bit, glad they've finally settled their differences.
VIRGIN Media customers have received a big boost today after it was revealed that UKTV channels like Dave, Gold and Alibi are available once again. “On top of this, the channels recently added to Virgin TV will remain. The new agreement will also see more than five times the amount of on-demand programming available on Virgin TV.
CAME BACK FROM HOLIDAY TO THIS NEWS NOT AMUSED THE REPLACEMENT CHANNELS ARE THE SAME AS WHAT WE ALREADY HAD JUST DUPLICATED OR IN HD OR PLUS ONE....DIDNT WATCH THEM IN THE FIRST PLACE....WHAT A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE FORGETTING THOUGH IS WE ARE ALREADY PAYING FOR THESE CHANNELS THROUGH THE TV LICENCE AS UKTV NOW IS OWNED BY THE BBC SO WHY DO WE HAVE TO PAY TWICE
The channels are being replaced, in some cases with channels that people have been pestering VM to carry. This will please some & annoy others, but at the end of the day there are alternative suppliers out there that do carry the channels. We are all being hounded with adverts to change suppliers so the choice is yours.
So, it has happened. As of this morning, all the UKTV channels are no longer broadcasting on Virgin Media. Am gutted at the loss of some of my favourite channels :(
What I don't get is why this only came to light to the general public last night. Both sides obviously knew when the contracts were due to expire, so how hasn't anything been sorted out? Sure, many people will prolly switch over to $ky but that is not a choice for me as I am not allowed to put a dish up where I live.
I'm not that bothered about the FTA channels, as those I will still get via my tv aerial (Not in HD tho), but I will really miss Gold, Alibi & Eden.
So Virgin media want to pay UKTV less for all the contents they offer, whiles charging it's customers more in subscription fee. I know mine is due to go up by 3 pound's a mouth. Shame on you Virgin media. If the two companies can't make a deal I can see alot of angry customer's demanding refunds or leaving. To loose one or two channel's without some kind of monthly refund is one thing, but if there is no agreement virgin media customers will be loosing 17 channels that's if you include all the plus one's.
My final thoughs: Sort it out Virgin Media
I'm guessing Virgin Media is the one dealing from a weak position. It's subscribers will be tying up the phone lines & email complaints box screaming about the loss and either demanding a rebate/reduction in their monthly fees and/or canceling the service and moving to another provider. If they try to boost subscription fees too much to cover the "extra costs" for UKTV the subscriber base may also go looking for a cheaper alternative.
In the end though it, as always, comes down to two corporations making gazillions of Dollars/Pounds/Euros fighting over who gets to keep more of the consumers cash ... with the consumer coming out on the short end of the stick no matter what happens.