Virgin Media difference to Sky

[Deleted User] · 18/05/15 - 12:13

Hi all. Im looking at switching to Virgin media from Sky. I am looking to switch to the big Daddy and was wondering apart from Sky Atlantic, what other channels I would lose. Also what is Virgins on demand service like when compared to Sky'?

stuntmaster · 18/05/15 - 15:22

lets not feed the trolls.

I suggest you look at virgins page for channels and look at youtube video's to see how it performs.

then make your own mind up.

[Deleted User] · 18/05/15 - 16:12

Okay..let me rephrase this.

For those of you that have had both Sky and Virgin, how do you compare the both?

swb1964 · 18/05/15 - 16:17

You would lose several channels, but you might not be bothered about any of them, other than, as you say, Sky Atlantic. A lot of them are teleshopping and religious channels, but if you watch a lot of international news channels, or Asian channels, you might want to check what you will lose. For example Russia Today doesn't appear to be on Virgin,nor is Fox News.

Make a list of the channels you watch and check them against the Virgin website.

But if you simply want the most channels and never-mind-the-quality-feel-the-width, than Virgin will never compete with Sky (and they don't try to)

stuntmaster · 18/05/15 - 16:36

yes and lets leave it at that or we will end up with a flamewar full of sky loving trolls.

Aye Up · 18/05/15 - 19:08

Having had both systems (and BT TV), the difference between them is significant depending on how and what you watch.

Broadly speaking you will find the same entertainment channels on both platforms, save Sky Atlantic as already mentioned. There will be some other channels missing that I don't think really impacts on the value of what you get.

Both TiVo and Sky+HD have record and rewind functions, they are identical save a few things. With Sky you can only record two programmes at the same time and you would need to be watching one of them or viewing another recording you have made. VM TiVo you can record upto 3 programmes at the same time, again in a similar manner you have to watch one them if you do that many, or you can record two programmes at one if you watch another channel (so one more than Sky).

The planners are much the same albeit with a different colour, both Sky and VM have a recommendation system in place which suggests other programmes on demand which may interest you. TiVo in this instance is a bit more intuitive, over time it will learn what you like to watch, the kinds of shows, actors, documentaries everything. This maybe a hindrance or a help, I switched it off because it was recording things I didn't like.

Save the aforementioned points, the big difference between the two how how catchup and on demand is delivered. Sky in this instance is a bit more archaic, there is plenty of content as I am sure you know, but you have to download it using your own broadband connection. with VM TiVo you don't have to do any of that, on demand content is just that, it streams the show you are watching in a similar manner to how you view live youtube videos ot iPlayer on your tablet. Because the TiVo system has its own internet connection you won't be waiting the 20 or so minutes it can take for a show to download like on Sky. I should add this caveat, on Sky you select a programme to download from the catchup or on demand section, the programmes don't have many ads if any at all, versus that of VM and TiVo which mandates the viewing of them for commercial channel content. I think the other thing to consider with the VM TiVo is that there are other applications for the platform, if you have netflix it can be viewed through TiVo or even Spotify.

Personally I prefer Sky, its fairly simple and no frill, but that is just me. My time with a TiVo box was ok, all I wanted was to record and watch TV and it did that just as well as any Sky+HD box. I should add that Sky Premium channel content is now fully available on Virgin TiVo, Sports and Movies I believe. So when or if you move, you should find everything much the same, except Sky Atlantic.

moox · 18/05/15 - 19:27

Aye Up wrote: »

Save the aforementioned points, the big difference between the two how how catchup and on demand is delivered. Sky in this instance is a bit more archaic, there is plenty of content as I am sure you know, but you have to download it using your own broadband connection. with VM TiVo you don't have to do any of that, on demand content is just that, it streams the show you are watching in a similar manner to how you view live youtube videos ot iPlayer on your tablet. Because the TiVo system has its own internet connection you won't be waiting the 20 or so minutes it can take for a show to download like on Sky.

Theoretically Sky could do the same - they could stream immediately, like how iPlayer or Netflix works, but for some reason they insist on a system where the box downloads a section of the programme incredibly slowly before letting you begin playback.

(especially since areas with Virgin probably have FTTC too, hence Sky fibre broadband)

[Deleted User] · 18/05/15 - 19:29

Aye Up wrote: »

Having had both systems (and BT TV), the difference between them is significant depending on how and what you watch.

Broadly speaking you will find the same entertainment channels on both platforms, save Sky Atlantic as already mentioned. There will be some other channels missing that I don't think really impacts on the value of what you get.

Both TiVo and Sky+HD have record and rewind functions, they are identical save a few things. With Sky you can only record two programmes at the same time and you would need to be watching one of them or viewing another recording you have made. VM TiVo you can record upto 3 programmes at the same time, again in a similar manner you have to watch one them if you do that many, or you can record two programmes at one if you watch another channel (so one more than Sky).

The planners are much the same albeit with a different colour, both Sky and VM have a recommendation system in place which suggests other programmes on demand which may interest you. TiVo in this instance is a bit more intuitive, over time it will learn what you like to watch, the kinds of shows, actors, documentaries everything. This maybe a hindrance or a help, I switched it off because it was recording things I didn't like.

Save the aforementioned points, the big difference between the two how how catchup and on demand is delivered. Sky in this instance is a bit more archaic, there is plenty of content as I am sure you know, but you have to download it using your own broadband connection. with VM TiVo you don't have to do any of that, on demand content is just that, it streams the show you are watching in a similar manner to how you view live youtube videos ot iPlayer on your tablet. Because the TiVo system has its own internet connection you won't be waiting the 20 or so minutes it can take for a show to download like on Sky. I should add this caveat, on Sky you select a programme to download from the catchup or on demand section, the programmes don't have many ads if any at all, versus that of VM and TiVo which mandates the viewing of them for commercial channel content. I think the other thing to consider with the VM TiVo is that there are other applications for the platform, if you have netflix it can be viewed through TiVo or even Spotify.

Personally I prefer Sky, its fairly simple and no frill, but that is just me. My time with a TiVo box was ok, all I wanted was to record and watch TV and it did that just as well as any Sky+HD box. I should add that Sky Premium channel content is now fully available on Virgin TiVo, Sports and Movies I believe. So when or if you move, you should find everything much the same, except Sky Atlantic.

Thank you Aye up. That was exactly the sort of review of both systems that I was after.

How much difference is there in the amount of content using the demand service is there on Virgin compared to Sky?

Ernie_C · 18/05/15 - 20:58

There is a significant error in the description of the function of TiVo's three tuners.

TiVo can record on all three tuners at the same time as you can watch a previously recorded program.

japitts · 20/05/15 - 18:50

Also, VM OnDemand doesn't enforce watching the adverts on commercial channels. On some you get the "banner" but no ads so it's seamless, on others you just need to fast-forward.

nicklb · 21/05/15 - 16:22

I switched last year, not much difference except the Sky Atlantic(which we miss) and getting BT sport the boxes are really similar but the Tivio operating system is a little clunky toward the sky box however it can record three channels at the same time, I have a vPlus box upstairs which is awful i would not recommend that. On demand is not a patch on sky either however you can add netflix which is pretty good, best part for me though is the broadband it is really fast as I get over 100mb HD loads instantly and no buffering woohoo;-)

Aye Up · 24/05/15 - 21:51

greeners29 wrote: »

Thank you Aye up. That was exactly the sort of review of both systems that I was after.

How much difference is there in the amount of content using the demand service is there on Virgin compared to Sky?

The difference in content is minimal, all CH4, CH5, BBC, ITV catchup content is the same, I believe now since a deal was reached with Sky most Sky content is now available. The other Channels like Fox and Comedy Central among others I am unsure of whether they are available.

Ernie_C wrote: »

There is a significant error in the description of the function of TiVo's three tuners.

TiVo can record on all three tuners at the same time as you can watch a previously recorded program.

If you read my post again you will see I said exactly that.

[Deleted User] · 29/05/15 - 00:32

Persoanally I preferred Sky TV as I couldn't get on with TiVo. Found it too sluggish. However the BB was amazing.
Recently returned to sky and now they have fibre it just made sense to keep it all together.
The only thing I did miss was the apps such as Netflix, but since I ran everything through the xbone it doesn't matter so much

LeeBoy19 · 29/05/15 - 08:34

greeners29 wrote: »

Hi all. Im looking at switching to Virgin media from Sky. I am looking to switch to the big Daddy and was wondering apart from Sky Atlantic, what other channels I would lose. Also what is Virgins on demand service like when compared to Sky'?

Virgins on demand service has always worked well for me on a technical basis in fact it's worked well much better than SKY did, I think that's more to do with the fact that SKY were using BTs broadband service, not sure if that's still the case. In my locale BTs broadband is atrocious particularly if you are looking at streaming material via any of the online watch again type players. My neighbour regularly tries to pull his hair out, luckily he's already bald. So for me at least Virgin is better mainly due to the better broadband here of course where you live BT may well have a good broadband service.

[Deleted User] · 03/06/15 - 02:51

nicklb wrote: »

I switched last year, not much difference except the Sky Atlantic(which we miss) and getting BT sport the boxes are really similar but the Tivio operating system is a little clunky toward the sky box however it can record three channels at the same time, I have a vPlus box upstairs which is awful i would not recommend that. On demand is not a patch on sky either however you can add netflix which is pretty good, best part for me though is the broadband it is really fast as I get over 100mb HD loads instantly and no buffering woohoo;-)

Same set up as me but I prefer the V+ to the Tivo

Hilary22cat · 06/06/15 - 11:59

Rather than starting a new thread - is there anywhere I can access info regarding loss of service of Virgin v Sky for specific areas?

I am exasperated with Virgin now - one local breakdown after another which seemingly takes days/weeks to fix. Even their phone line giving status updates isn't working! I just wondered if its the same with Sky and I am just expecting too much - like more than a few weeks continuous service at a time.

Just noticed that most people in the area have Sky and now I know why!

joshua_welby · 07/06/15 - 03:24

Hilary22cat wrote: »

Rather than starting a new thread - is there anywhere I can access info regarding loss of service of Virgin v Sky for specific areas?

I am exasperated with Virgin now - one local breakdown after another which seemingly takes days/weeks to fix. Even their phone line giving status updates isn't working! I just wondered if its the same with Sky and I am just expecting too much - like more than a few weeks continuous service at a time.

Just noticed that most people in the area have Sky and now I know why!

To get an idea of what channel each platform has look at the following Channel Lists and compare the two

Sky v Virgin Channels

Sky FULL Channel list
www.wildsat.com

Virgin FULL Channel List
https://my.virginmedia.com/content/dam/virgoBrowse/docs/VirginMediaTVChannelGuide.pdf

Hey there!

Quick Links

Virgin Media difference to Sky

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