View Full Version : Virgin VoD vs. Sky Anytime - Content
Well, Ive been meaning to go on the Sky Anytime site for a while now, but couldnt be arsed, but boredom crept in tonight, and gave me the time to do so, so I did.
I thought to myself, I wanted to compare the two and see whats good and what the other side are getting. I know we shouldnt call Sky Anytime a VoD Service, but we have to let them have at least one god point, dont we? ;)
So Ill get right to it:
Sky Anytime's Latest TV content is supplied by:
Boomerang (Part of Cartoon Network)
Disney Channel (Hmmm... I wonder...)
National Geographic Channel (FOX and BSkyB)
The History Channel (BSkyB and A&E Networks)
Sky One
Sky Arts
Sky Movies (not sure if its just previews)
Sky Sports
Not bad, really, is it? Although the last 6 are all Sky owned, and its pretty obvious they are going to offer their own stuff, and we already get Disney stuff anyways.
So, apart from the reliability, you could boast that you have the biggest and best selection of VoD programming available in the UK! :D
You know, we have some people who complain and all that, and yea, when it fails, complain, but when you look at those numbers up there, and look at how many content deals Virgin Media have, its not really a bad little Cable Network is it? And its still growing! (You have to wonder how far Sky's can grow, and if it will ever be available to those who have a normal box, or if Sky can even make a PROPER VoD service.) :)
Im not gloating about the content I have thanks to the Cable company... honest!
PS: You Sky folk reading this need to shell out at least £150 for a second rate PVR called Sky+ before you can get any of the above mentioned, whereas normal STBs can have it on this side.
Mick Fisher
19-10-2007, 01:45
PS: You Sky folk reading this need to shell out at least £150 for a second rate PVR called Sky+ before you can get any of the above mentioned, whereas normal STBs can have it on this side.
In my case it was VM's fault that I had to shell out £129.00 for my Sky+ box and installation because VM could not deliver a fit for the purpose DTV service. I kept the BB because it was solid, but alas it has gone the way of my DTV and nowadays browsing is like wading in treacle and I no longer see 10meg on my 20meg service during the day and only see 12-15meg at 02.00 in the morning. It seems to degrade slightly daily. :(
FYI. Sky Anytime is a complete and utter waste of HDD space as most of the content they see fit to lumber you with is stuff you cannot watch if you are not subscribed to that channel. The rest, well, if you were in the least interested you would have watched it when it was aired.
Thats my ONLY gripe about Sky+. Sky Anytime does not incur extra cost so is not a biggie although Sky do reserve 80 of the 160gig HDD for a service that to date I have not heard of any subscriber wanting.:dozey:
As far as VOD on VM, from my experience of it, it is a great concept marred by dismal application. I found that it rarely worked. Content seemed to vary by the day. Catch-up TV was not updated for days on end then completely filled up and not updated again for more days on end.
Now as far as second rate PVR's are concerned my Sky+, in 3 or 4 months now, has, after a particularly violent storm, needed to be rebooted ONCE.
It has never needed a defrag.
It has never needed a reformat.
It is silent.
It has never lost a series link.
It has never made a corrupt recording.
In fact it just does what it says on the tin with a minimum of attention.:p:
In my case it was VM's fault that I had to shell out £129.00 for my Sky+ box and installation because VM could not deliver a fit for the purpose DTV service. I kept the BB because it was solid, but alas it has gone the way of my DTV and nowadays browsing is like wading in treacle and I no longer see 10meg on my 20meg service during the day and only see 12-15meg at 02.00 in the morning. It seems to degrade slightly daily. :(
FYI. Sky Anytime is a complete and utter waste of HDD space as most of the content they see fit to lumber you with is stuff you cannot watch if you are not subscribed to that channel. The rest, well, if you were in the least interested you would have watched it when it was aired.
Thats my ONLY gripe about Sky+. Sky Anytime does not incur extra cost so is not a biggie although Sky do reserve 80 of the 160gig HDD for a service that to date I have not heard of any subscriber wanting.:dozey:
As far as VOD on VM, from my experience of it, it is a great concept marred by dismal application. I found that it rarely worked. Content seemed to vary by the day. Catch-up TV was not updated for days on end then completely filled up and not updated again for more days on end.
Now as far as second rate PVR's are concerned my Sky+, in 3 or 4 months now, has, after a particularly violent storm, needed to be rebooted ONCE.
It has never needed a defrag.
It has never needed a reformat.
It is silent.
It has never lost a series link.
It has never made a corrupt recording.
In fact it just does what it says on the tin with a minimum of attention.:p:
Give it 9 or 10 months.Only joking no sky+ is a great piece of kit the two years we had it we probably had about 11 failed recordings which isnt bad.
sprattgraham
19-10-2007, 10:19
Sky Anytime is a total waist of time, bit like our box goes into standby to save power, no it doesn’t it downloads content at night so when the HDD isn’t normally on it is now.
Had Sky since 1998 gave up in July, Support is crap, Bill was always wrong had three Sky HD Boxes.
Had plenty of failed recordings with Sky HD funny I haven’t had any with the V+ yet.
Apart from some issues with Channel 5 it’s been ok.
Mick Fisher
19-10-2007, 15:45
Sky Anytime is a total waist of time, bit like our box goes into standby to save power, no it doesn’t it downloads content at night so when the HDD isn’t normally on it is now.
Had Sky since 1998 gave up in July, Support is crap, Bill was always wrong had three Sky HD Boxes.
Had plenty of failed recordings with Sky HD funny I haven’t had any with the V+ yet.
Apart from some issues with Channel 5 it’s been ok.
I think it's early days for HD who ever you are with.
I have a decent LCD TV that enhances the SD PQ significantly. Of the little HD I have seen on friends I perceive very little difference. In any case it will do for me until such a time as there is very much more HD content available and the HD service does not attract a premium charge.
I won't mention the fact that their is little HD on VM to record with your V+. Oh dear I've said it.
Sorry couldn't resist. Just in fun. :)
You Sky folk reading this need to shell out at least £150 for a second rate PVR called Sky+ before you can get any of the above mentioned, whereas normal STBs can have it on this side.
What - I paid £49 for mine installed. Currently they're offering it for £99 + £30 install but it'll come doen at Christmas.
Saying that my Sky+ works - DTV from Ntl never worked. When we gave them a second chance they couldn't get a working box in three weeks. :rolleyes:
If it's not Sky subscribers starting a ruck it's VM subscribers starting a ruck...:rolleyes:
The phrase grow up springs to mind.As does give it a rest,put a sock in it and give it up...:td:
If it's not Sky subscribers starting a ruck it's VM subscribers starting a ruck...:rolleyes:
The phrase grow up springs to mind.As does give it a rest,put a sock in it and give it up...:td:
Would that be you saying the VM Subscriber, which must be me, is starting a ruck?
I didnt amake this for that reason at all!
All Im simply stating is that for all the complaining that people do about Virgin's VoD service, the biggest supplier of TV, being Sky, doesnt supply something that can even be close to what we would call VoD.
I soon have the intention of making a comparison between VM and BT Vision's offering too.
Although I may have been a little harsh on Sky's Sky+ service, Mr. Fisher below got it spot on by saying its "in the early days of HD, no matter who you are with" and its to my belief that Virgin decided to skip the PVR and go straight for a PVR/HD box.
Sure, Sky is gonna have its problems with the HD service, and that can be compared to the currentl problems that Virgin has with the V+ service. On paper, though, you have to say that Virgin should win that war too, even if once you try out both, the problems can be seen.
I cant believe, also that Sky will only allow you to record 40 Hours of programs if Anytime is used. Not really putting the customer in control.
On the other hand, the PC and Mobile offerings are very good, if its what I think it would be like, but I cant see it all being free or cheap, and then you have your GPRS charges and so forth.
The main focus was, though, on content, which shows Virgin lead the race.
Its quite obvious Sky have their bonus points, but instead of constant bombardment of Cable, let us have a little sunshine?
Alanmelon
19-10-2007, 21:14
My Sky Anytime is bloody awful. All of the content is from channels I'm not subscribed to (cynical marketing ploy?) so I can't watch any of it. Just seems like a waste of electricity.
I like your avatar... hehe...
Tezcatlipoca
19-10-2007, 21:24
I've only briefly used VM VOD before, when it was still ntl, back when I was in a cabled area.
Seemed quite good, & that was early on.
Sky Anytime... wast of HDD space IMO. I'd rather be able to use the entire capacity of my Sky HD box, than have some "reserved" for something I don't use.
My Sky Anytime is bloody awful. All of the content is from channels I'm not subscribed to (cynical marketing ploy?) so I can't watch any of it. Just seems like a waste of electricity.
As soon as my box upgraded to Anytime I turned it off so it wouldn't download programs that I couldn't watch.
Heres my OnDemand ratings
Virgin's VOD 8/10
Sky+ Anytime 0/10
Virgin would get 10/10 if the service worked all the time and yes I'm still a happy Sky+ Customer.
Would that be you saying the VM Subscriber, which must be me, is starting a ruck?
Yep!And it won't be long before this descends into a VM v Sky thread.:erm:
Not that I really care I'm quite happy with VM on the whole..just bored about the constant comparisons being made with Sky.
It isnt a Virgin vs. Sky spat thread, just something to maybe help people, if thats what they want from a provider.
Would that be you saying the VM Subscriber, which must be me, is starting a ruck?
I didnt amake this for that reason at all!
All Im simply stating is that for all the complaining that people do about Virgin's VoD service, the biggest supplier of TV, being Sky, doesnt supply something that can even be close to what we would call VoD.
I soon have the intention of making a comparison between VM and BT Vision's offering too.
Although I may have been a little harsh on Sky's Sky+ service, Mr. Fisher below got it spot on by saying its "in the early days of HD, no matter who you are with" and its to my belief that Virgin decided to skip the PVR and go straight for a PVR/HD box.
Sure, Sky is gonna have its problems with the HD service, and that can be compared to the currentl problems that Virgin has with the V+ service. On paper, though, you have to say that Virgin should win that war too, even if once you try out both, the problems can be seen.
I cant believe, also that Sky will only allow you to record 40 Hours of programs if Anytime is used. Not really putting the customer in control.
On the other hand, the PC and Mobile offerings are very good, if its what I think it would be like, but I cant see it all being free or cheap, and then you have your GPRS charges and so forth.
The main focus was, though, on content, which shows Virgin lead the race.
Its quite obvious Sky have their bonus points, but instead of constant bombardment of Cable, let us have a little sunshine?
Vm's offering seems to have more content than BTvision (well it seemed that way there was more on virgins that interested me anyway)
also virgins is free for catchup tv where as BT's isn't you have to either subscribe or pay per episode.
I have BTvision in the bedroom and i've not actually watched the VOD on it yet, I had a browse though and there was nothing i wanted to watch on there, The PVR side of it is quite good though.
Parents have VM cable and i've used their vod a couple of times I was hoping to catch Reddwarf series2 on my vision since i watched series1 on their VM vod but vision only had series1 last time i checked :(
Mick Fisher
20-10-2007, 00:24
I cant believe, also that Sky will only allow you to record 40 Hours of programs if Anytime is used. Not really putting the customer in control.
Just to make a point of order :) Sky nab 50% of your HDD space even if you choose not to activate Anytime. Sky's take on this outrageous situation is that earlier boxes that cannot use Anytime were only 80giggers anyway.
---------- Post added at 00:24 ---------- Previous post was at 00:13 ----------
If it's not Sky subscribers starting a ruck it's VM subscribers starting a ruck...:rolleyes:
The phrase grow up springs to mind.As does give it a rest,put a sock in it and give it up...:td:
As I have mentioned before, I think it is good to discuss the virtues of different services. I also don't think there is any harm in a little tongue-in-cheek leg pulling or even the odd bit of sticking the tongue out.
So far I think this has been a very good natured thread that is really setting the record straight on the virtues, or not, of the Anytime service for those who don't use the service.
I see no rucking whatsoever.
TheBlueRaja
20-10-2007, 00:31
VM VOD is the best thing going in the VOD market bar none. If they could sort our the shocking PQ though it would be even better.
Sky Antytime is woeful by comparison and i'd much rather have the disk space.
Saying that, VOD is the ONLY feature that VM has over Sky and its nowhere near enough to make me want to swap, HD content anyone :D
MovedGoalPosts
20-10-2007, 01:07
Thread moved to Sky discussion area - It seems to be mostly about what the Sky service offers, not VM.
tucker61
20-10-2007, 10:27
I am thinking of Sky Anytime instead of VOd, is there any chance that sky might show some itv programmes, or bbc in future ?
I think that Sky Anytime is pretty pointless really. Since it only downloads programmes of channels that you are subscribed to. I would think that the user would rather hand pick which programmes they want off their subscribed channels than waste hard disk space on what Sky want to put on. Virgins on demand service is very good, the catch up tv is good, especially if you don't have a V+ box but if you do have a V+ box then its not as useful as you can just choose what you want to record so that you don't miss it. Top Up TV Anytime is better than Sky Anytime because you can't watch a programme when it is on because of the bandwidth shortage on freeview. The problem again is that this eats up all the disk space that you might want for your own personal recordings. All 3 services have there pros and cons which most services do. But with the PVR's I think that providers should give options for different sized hard disks especially with HD content coming out or enable the USB Ports on the boxes so that external hard drives can be hooked up.
Mick Fisher
13-01-2008, 00:51
I think that Sky Anytime is pretty pointless really. Since it only downloads programmes of channels that you are subscribed to. I would think that the user would rather hand pick which programmes they want off their subscribed channels than waste hard disk space on what Sky want to put on.
Actually Sky Anytime downloads shows selected from across the full spectrum of Sky DTV Channels but you can only watch shows from channels to which you are subscribed. This of course leads to half of your HDD being filled up with shows you cannot watch which is doubly annoying. It is purely a marketing tool and not a very good one at that because of it's high annoyance rating. For instance although I know it won't regain any HDD space I have turned it off purely out of spite. This service is, regrettably, a negative point to what is otherwise almost a flawless service.
Virgins on demand service is very good, the catch up tv is good, especially if you don't have a V+ box but if you do have a V+ box then its not as useful as you can just choose what you want to record so that you don't miss it.
VM's VOD idea was good but let down by poor implementation. In my case it was quite regularly unavailable or crashed the STB. When I did get in I found the content extremely haphazard with eps missing or duplicated or complete series just disappearing and even complete sections just becoming completely devoid of content. After a while I just gave up on accessing it.
As for catchup TV, well I found, more often than not, it wasn't even updated for days and days on end. The choice of shows available was also completely catch as catch can. IMO it has a very limited worth and is really just in the realms of a gimmick.
Of particular annoyance was the number of shows on both services that were marked as WS but which in fact dispayed as 4:3. A bit of crafty BW frugality on VM's part I presume.
Top Up TV Anytime is better than Sky Anytime because you can't watch a programme when it is on because of the bandwidth shortage on freeview. The problem again is that this eats up all the disk space that you might want for your own personal recordings. All 3 services have there pros and cons which most services do. But with the PVR's I think that providers should give options for different sized hard disks especially with HD content coming out or enable the USB Ports on the boxes so that external hard drives can be hooked up.
Agreed, current HDD space is going to be quite insufficient for HD.
TheBlueRaja
13-01-2008, 12:05
Actually Sky Anytime downloads shows selected from across the full spectrum of Sky DTV Channels but you can only watch shows from channels to which you are subscribed. This of course leads to half of your HDD being filled up with shows you cannot watch which is doubly annoying. It is purely a marketing tool and not a very good one at that because of it's high annoyance rating. For instance although I know it won't regain any HDD space I have turned it off purely out of spite. This service is, regrettably, a negative point to what is otherwise almost a flawless service.
VM's VOD idea was good but let down by poor implementation. In my case it was quite regularly unavailable or crashed the STB. When I did get in I found the content extremely haphazard with eps missing or duplicated or complete series just disappearing and even complete sections just becoming completely devoid of content. After a while I just gave up on accessing it.
As for catchup TV, well I found, more often than not, it wasn't even updated for days and days on end. The choice of shows available was also completely catch as catch can. IMO it has a very limited worth and is really just in the realms of a gimmick.
Of particular annoyance was the number of shows on both services that were marked as WS but which in fact dispayed as 4:3. A bit of crafty BW frugality on VM's part I presume.
Agreed, current HDD space is going to be quite insufficient for HD.
Cant argue one bit with this post :tu:
My opinions? Both have good points, and both have problems.
VM's pros are conveniance, and amount of content (especially if you don't mind paying). Also, quick (sometimes near instant) access to everything.
cons: The service *can* be unreliable. As pointed out above, it can cause crashes. There are also problems with some programmes being missed. Major pain in the behind there. Especially if you are following a serial. Also, the service doesn't currently include ITV (not a major problem for me, but a lot of people do watch it).
Now, I can't comment too much on Sky Anytime, as I haven't used it much, but here is my opinion.
Pros: Includes every channel you subscribe to.
cons: Uses up half your hard drive space. Anything you want to watch that isn't on the hard drive requires you to start up your PC, and download it from their P2P service (which may take a while).
Chrysalis
16-01-2008, 03:42
skys vod is bad I have it turned off so at least my hdd is of overnight.
The point of sky+ boxes is not anytime however its the recording facilities and live rewind etc. The vod is just an extra freebie on it.
My opinions? Both have good points, and both have problems.
VM's pros are conveniance, and amount of content (especially if you don't mind paying). Also, quick (sometimes near instant) access to everything.
cons: The service *can* be unreliable. As pointed out above, it can cause crashes. There are also problems with some programmes being missed. Major pain in the behind there. Especially if you are following a serial. Also, the service doesn't currently include ITV (not a major problem for me, but a lot of people do watch it).
Now, I can't comment too much on Sky Anytime, as I haven't used it much, but here is my opinion.
Pros: Includes every channel you subscribe to.
cons: Uses up half your hard drive space. Anything you want to watch that isn't on the hard drive requires you to start up your PC, and download it from their P2P service (which may take a while).
I agree with the Virgin stuff, to a tee. It is unreliable (especially at night) but the content is really good and keeps coming.
I want to stress that I didnt create this to slag off any company.
If Im honest, I did it for myself also, to see how much money Im saving/a better deal etc. And Im quite happy to see those highlighted in this.
I think, also, that it was right to move it to the Sky forum. It is about Sky's content (or lack there-of).
It does come down to both having strong points and weak points. But in this day and age, with IPTV (Vision and Tiscali) coming into the VoD market, I think we all need to be aware of where we can get a better deal.
I hope I managed to stay un-biased because, at the end of the day, I dont hate Sky, and Love Virgin.
They are TV Companies that offer stuff to customers... and I dont want to see myself get overpriced etc, and that is why, if I could, I would do one for BT and Tiscali, on content.
Unfortunatly, Ive looked, and cant really find much information. Plus they are only early players. Personally, I see Sky being 4th in that market now, simply because of the lack of technology for Sky to offer this service, something I feel for Sky Subs. because VoD is definetly the future.
---------- Post added at 01:51 ---------- Previous post was at 01:49 ----------
And the ITV content... I believe that is needed on all platforms, as should BBC content and others.
Maybe a takeover would make that happen. And to add that to the VMTV Portfolio would give Cable that edge. Then, to make money, a profit, offer to other companies, and also get the company in other companies good books, so they can deal in future friendly.
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