[Clean Feed]

Virgin Media Four launches tomorrow in Ireland.

It'll be on channel 110 on Virgin Media cable and channel 7 on Saorview.

The Saorview platform is currently broadcasting test card and tone on channel 7 - generated by the DTT platform operator, 2RN.

www.youtube.com 

Bill Malone, Virgin Media Television director of content said: "Virgin Media Four forms an integral part of Virgin Media Television’s new channel strategy.

"Virgin Media One is our flagship channel and home to VMTV's biggest brands from Ireland AM to Virgin Media News; Virgin Media Two is now clearly a youth focused channel, which has just enjoyed a ratings bonanza thanks to the strong performance of Love Island; Virgin Media Three has a particular focus on drama and now Virgin Media Four has joined our portfolio of channels as a General Entertainment channel with a mixture of home produced and top international content."

[ACTV]

It will be interesting to see what they do with VM2 as it becomes a youth channel. It was one when it was known as 3e but the rebrand to VM2 really wiped it and Be3 of any distinctive identity.

[Clean Feed]

Just the one ident for Virgin Media Four as far as we can tell.

Some continuity from this evening:

www.youtube.com 

[Lyric]

What on earth is going on with the announcer in the idents? It's only in the left channel!

[Clean Feed]

What on earth is going on with the announcer in the idents?  It's only in the left channel!

It's virtually impossible to hear the announcer over the initial seconds of the ident - unless you're listening on headphones.

As for the lack of audio on one channel - no idea why that's happening.

[bkman1990]

Virgin Media Ireland have nabbed the rights from RTÉ to show the Autumn Nations Series Rugby tournament from this November for the very first time. The coverage of these matches also include Ireland 'A' vs New Zealand and Munster vs South Africa.

https://www.virginmediatelevision.ie/solutions/latest-news/irelands-autumn-internationals-live-on-virgin-media-television-for-the-very-first-time

Ireland's Autumn Internationals live on Virgin Media Television for the very…
Virgin Media Solutions is the new advertising sales operation of Virgin Media Te…
  Source: www.virginmediatelevision.ie

I would assume this new agreement with World Rugby and Virgin Media is in place as both Virgin and RTÉ currently share the Six Nations rights for Irish viewers.

[rick]

What a shame for the majority of viewers in ROI who wil have gone from seeing the matches in HD on RTÉ to crappy sub-par SD on Virgin Media.

[Ballinagrappa]

What a shame for the majority of viewers in ROI who wil have gone from seeing the matches in HD on RTÉ to crappy sub-par SD on Virgin Media.

Virgin Media's channels (One, Two, Tree and Four) are all available in HD. The only one that isn't is Virgin Media Extra, but this is an exclusive to Virgin Media customers.

I quite like some of the Christmas pres on Virgin Media channels, but think they've been used for a good few years.

I know VM broadcast (and simulcast) a lot of ITV programming (not just that from ITV Studios, but from a number of other independents as well), as well as the BBC, and its good to see some of the older ITV stuff that's not been on in the UK for a good few years. This morning we were treated to the Stephen Mulhern gamshow, Pick Me! and last night we had the 2020 Royal Variety Performance. I'm not sure but the Soap Quiz that goes out annually seemed to be edited slightly different on VM than it was on ITV as a reference to Emmerdale's lockdown episodes was edited out.

[chinamug]

What a shame for the majority of viewers in ROI who wil have gone from seeing the matches in HD on RTÉ to crappy sub-par SD on Virgin Media.

Virgin Media's channels (One, Two, Tree and Four) are all available in HD. The only one that isn't is Virgin Media Extra, but this is an exclusive to Virgin Media customers.

I quite like some of the Christmas pres on Virgin Media channels, but think they've been used for a good few years.

I know VM broadcast (and simulcast) a lot of ITV programming (not just that from ITV Studios, but from a number of other independents as well), as well as the BBC, and its good to see some of the older ITV stuff that's not been on in the UK for a good few years. This morning we were treated to the Stephen Mulhern gamshow, Pick Me! and last night we had the 2020 Royal Variety Performance. I'm not sure but the Soap Quiz that goes out annually seemed to be edited slightly different on VM than it was on ITV as a reference to Emmerdale's lockdown episodes was edited out.

They're not available on Saorview in HD. If you don't have SKY or Cable (or other pay services) you don't have Virgin Media in HD. That's about 35% of the households in Ireland, give or take a few per cent. About 10% of Households only have Saorview, so the other 25% have Freeview overspill or Freesat/Free to Air Sat. (about 2% of Households only have UK TV) You can be sure a lot of them aren't watching the blurry pictures of Virgin Media when they can Access ITV 1,2, 3 and 4 on HD on Satellite. The lack of choice on Virgin Media can be shocking, Occasionally The Chase is on Virgin Media 2, 3 and 4 at the same time! There are 16 episodes of the Chase or the Chase Australia on across the 4 channels over the next 24 hours, and probably one is new if you're lucky.

[rick]

Made even more obvious now that TG 4 is HD on Saorview, VM One not being in HD makes it stand out like a sore thumb.