auldyin your TV problems are reminiscent of my own.
I put up with it for a long time, it was poor but with daily rebooting, manageable.
However come rebranding and it dipped to unwatchable. The tech said that it was the best I could expect.
I dumped VM DTV and got Sky+ installed and have not had a single problem since. Re-booting is now a thing of the past. Just switch on and watch TV. Just like it used to be before all this digital crap came about.
Good luck with it and hope you get sorted out soon, one way or another.