General : Virgin TV (2024)

[Media Boy UK]

Is Virgin set to launch a new HD Channel soon?

From UK Cable TV Changes:

E! HD - Placeholder - End of Service.
- Moved from SID 1710 to placeholder SID 1760.
The move to a placeholder SID frees up SID 1710 for re-use.
The placeholder is due to be deleted at the end of the month if the traditional retention period applies.
This change taking place with such a short time left for the placeholder could indicate that Virgin TV has plans for a new service to use SID 1710 imminently.

See March 15th on link: https://ukcabletvchanges.blogspot.com/2024/03/

If Virgin is set to launch a new HD Channel I feel it can be any of the following:

-CNN HD
-DAZN 1 HD
-Baby TV HD
-Create & Craft HD
-MUTV HD
-Nick Jr. HD

[Itshim]

Originally Posted by RobboEdin

Of course, 1p for each hour you previously watched these channels. Call 150 from your Virgin Media landline, choosing option 7 to request this discount. Don’t worry we know how many hours you previously watched of the channels.

Didn't even know they existed

[Media Boy UK]

Virgin Media UK are tonight testing THREE unknown HD Channels on it Network.

I have tonight been told by someone "In the know":

"On all links you will see the top of the graph is no longer flat.

That means a new service has been added to the IP stat-mux at distribution level.

Maybe more info on them later this week."

HD Channel 1 is on SID 1710: https://www.digitalbitrate.com/dtv.p...ve=209&lang=en

HD Channel 2 is on SID 24??: https://www.digitalbitrate.com/dtv.p...ve=209&lang=en

HD Channel 3 is on SID 25??: https://www.digitalbitrate.com/dtv.p...ve=209&lang=en

[epsilon]

A bit of an anti-climax as the extra HD channels turned out to be replacements for Nick Junior & Al Jazeera (English & Arabic) channels.
Technical details of these changes and new details of changes to the pre-launch channel numbers of various FAST channels at:
https://ukcabletvchanges.blogspot.com/

[SonicMaster]

HD replacements for Paramount's remaining free SD channels would be welcome:

5USA
5STAR
5SELECT

We already have Channel 5 HD and 5ACTION HD.

[epsilon]

Originally Posted by SonicMaster

HD replacements for Paramount's remaining free SD channels would be welcome:

5USA
5STAR
5SELECT

We already have Channel 5 HD and 5ACTION HD.

Indeed, that's what I was thinking.

[RichardCoulter]

Originally Posted by epsilon

A bit of an anti-climax as the extra HD channels turned out to be replacements for Nick Junior & Al Jazeera (English & Arabic) channels.
Technical details of these changes and new details of changes to the pre-launch channel numbers of various FAST channels at:
https://ukcabletvchanges.blogspot.com/

It says that the purpose of the HD flag is to have the channel put into the HD channel list on the EPG. Do you know if BBC4 erroneously has this missing as I often find that their programmes don't appear in this list. I like to easily find & view HD programmes first to free up more disc space.

[Media Boy UK]

Originally Posted by SonicMaster

HD replacements for Paramount's remaining free SD channels would be welcome:

5USA
5STAR
5SELECT

We already have Channel 5 HD and 5ACTION HD.

Originally Posted by epsilon

Indeed, that's what I was thinking.

Due to them only being on Sky Glass or Sky Stream boxes.

I feel they will only launch on Virgin Stream boxes.

[epsilon]

Originally Posted by Media Boy UK

Due to them only being on Sky Glass or Sky Stream boxes.

I feel they will only launch on Virgin Stream boxes.

That would be a departure from the norm, at the moment Virgin don't have Stream exclusive channels.

---------- Post added at 13:55 ---------- Previous post was at 13:21 ----------

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter

It says that the purpose of the HD flag is to have the channel put into the HD channel list on the EPG. Do you know if BBC4 erroneously has this missing as I often find that their programmes don't appear in this list. I like to easily find & view HD programmes first to free up more disc space.

All versions of BBC4 have the HD flag and the flags are either always on (HD channels) or always off (SD channels etc). I think that only the old sports channel content flags switched between 0 (off) and 1 (on) on a regular basis and they (thankfully) disappeared when legacy boxes were removed from the network. The HD flag is only used to add an "HD" option to the "Show Channels" filter on the EPG.

Do you mean programmes don't show in "HD Recordings" in "My Shows"? That's a completely different process.

[ozsat]

On a V6 on BBC4 - the purpose of the HD flag in the episode is to indicated if the programme was made in HD. Older programmes like Top of the Pops should not have the HD flag on BBC4 HD as they are not sourced in HD - just upscaled.

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter

It says that the purpose of the HD flag is to have the channel put into the HD channel list on the EPG. Do you know if BBC4 erroneously has this missing as I often find that their programmes don't appear in this list. I like to easily find & view HD programmes first to free up more disc space.

[Media Boy UK]

Originally Posted by epsilon

That would be a departure from the norm, at the moment Virgin don't have Stream exclusive channels.

Will Sky viewers can only watch the following channels in HD on Sky Glass or Sky Stream.

5SELECT HD
5STAR HD
5USA HD
Baby TV HD
Sky Replay HD
Cartoonito HD

To get more Virgin viewers to get Virgin Stream - Virgin Media UK may follow.

[epsilon]

Originally Posted by Media Boy UK

Will Sky viewers can only watch the following channels in HD on Sky Glass or Sky Stream.

5SELECT HD
5STAR HD
5USA HD
Baby TV HD
Sky Replay HD
Cartoonito HD

To get more Virgin viewers to get Virgin Stream - Virgin Media UK may follow.

Time will tell but I would think that it would be more likely to attract more customers with things such as a multi-room option.

---------- Post added at 15:00 ---------- Previous post was at 14:57 ----------

Originally Posted by ozsat

On a V6 on BBC4 - the purpose of the HD flag in the episode is to indicated if the programme was made in HD. Older programmes like Top of the Pops should not have the HD flag on BBC4 HD as they are not sourced in HD - just upscaled.

Quite. That's an HD "Events" flag rather than the HD flag in the SDT which just acts as a pseudo-genre for "Show Channels".

I've nudged UKCTVC to update their description of the HD flag, on the blog, to make it (hopefully) less ambiguous.

[RichardCoulter]

Originally Posted by epsilon

That would be a departure from the norm, at the moment Virgin don't have Stream exclusive channels.

---------- Post added at 13:55 ---------- Previous post was at 13:21 ----------


All versions of BBC4 have the HD flag and the flags are either always on (HD channels) or always off (SD channels etc). I think that only the old sports channel content flags switched between 0 (off) and 1 (on) on a regular basis and they (thankfully) disappeared when legacy boxes were removed from the network. The HD flag is only used to add an "HD" option to the "Show Channels" filter on the EPG.

Do you mean programmes don't show in "HD Recordings" in "My Shows"? That's a completely different process.

Yes.

[epsilon]

Originally Posted by RichardCoulter

Yes.

I thought so, that's why I asked UKCTVC to update the description. The HD events flag within the actual EPG will determine whether or not programmes appear in "HD Recordings". As ozsat pointed out, programmes which are upscaled from SD won't have that flag and there are quite a few of those on BBC 4. Unfortunately, the flag is also missing for native HD content on some occasions, not just on BBC 4. Events flags can be a bit hit and miss e.g. the first showing of a programme may not be marked as "new" and, if a series link is set to only record new episodes, it may be missed.

Nothing to do with the HD flag in the SDT though, which just creates the HD pseudo-genre for the "show channels" filter.

[ozsat]

The 'new' flag in the episode data is again just a display flag - the series link 'new' selection is based on the original air date although some older programmes get a new date so is also not 100%.

The 'new' recording seelction goes something like - if the original air date is within the last 28 days and the programme has not been recorded before - then record as new.

Some channels flag the episode as 'new' meaning new to the channel - although it may have aired recently on a different channel.