[Vic.]

I was on the BT website and there's no comprehensive list of channels, just some crap trailer which tells you nothing.

This is all the site really says: "Your favourite UK and US TV – from drama and comedy to documentaries and more"

Is sky 1, living TV, animal planet, national geographic on it? or anything along those lines?

Anyone know? BT's failure to tell you what's on, worries me

[Mark387]

No actual channels other than ESPN but they have ON DEMAND content from a lot of companies (BBC, Living, History, Warner TV, National Geographic, Discovery on Demand, Chaminals, Battlefield TV, Comedy Central, MTV, Disney, Cartoon Network, HBO, CBS etc)

[Vic.]

Mark, sorry to be a bore, but what exactly does this on demand mean? is it the ability to watch old stuff/episodes whenever you want, but it doesn't show new stuff, stuff that would be on sky 1?

[Mark387]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vic.

Mark, sorry to be a bore, but what exactly does this on demand mean? is it the ability to watch old stuff/episodes whenever you want, but it doesn't show new stuff, stuff that would be on sky 1?

In essence yeah a lot of On Demand content from the non Terrestrial channels (Sky etc) is at least a year out of date but most of it is even older

I can't remember Vision showing anything from sky within 6 months of the original air date

EDIT - I can't remember Vision showing ANYTHING off Sky 1/2/3

[Vic.]

Thanks Mark. My neighbour is with sky and is having difficulty installing skyHD because the engineers won't stand on her recently installed perspex roof (safety regulations or something). Anyhow, she asked me to find out what's on BT vision TV, but it seems she would be wasting her time getting that as she'll probably be paying for stuff she's already seen.

Is there anyone competing with Sky on live TV, new programs?

[wwwebber]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vic.

but it seems she would be wasting her time getting that as she'll probably be paying for stuff she's already seen

But with Sky you pay for stuff you dont want to see.

Try this :-

http://www.btvision.com/search-a-to-z/

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vic.

Is there anyone competing with Sky on live TV, new programs?

Yes - BBC, ITV etc etc etc


I expect Matterhorn / Archie will be along soon but ...

[noise747]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vic.

Mark, sorry to be a bore, but what exactly does this on demand mean? is it the ability to watch old stuff/episodes whenever you want, but it doesn't show new stuff, stuff that would be on sky 1?

You want Sky one, then you get Sky, simple as that really.

BT Vision is not like Sky or to be honest any other system available in this country as far as I know. The point about Bt vision is that you can pick what you want to watch, when you want to watch it. Great idea.

But, there is always a but. as you found out there is very little info available to tell you what is on the system to pick from, how many, how often they are updated. 99% of the content will be what you have seen or may have seen, there is very little new content if any, but this is the same with all pay T.V

The other problem is that it relies on ADSL and that can be hit and miss, certainly with Bt so called second generation broadband.

I love the idea, but it needs a different transport system and Bt needs to tell people what the content is so they can decide.

I have seen the content and to be honest a lot of it is not what I would watch, but then I just think T.v in this country have gone downhill anyway.

[the_sheepman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wwwebber

But with Sky you pay for stuff you dont want to see.

Try this :-

http://www.btvision.com/search-a-to-z/

I've always found the official BTV search to be pretty poor. This is a good site kept up to date by a BTV user.

http://btvision.brinkster.net/showListing.aspx

[the_sheepman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vic.

Mark, sorry to be a bore, but what exactly does this on demand mean? is it the ability to watch old stuff/episodes whenever you want, but it doesn't show new stuff, stuff that would be on sky 1?

In essence, think of BTV as a Freeview box for watching the usual channels (you can see what's available for your postcode through the Freeview website) PLUS...

...easy access (via your TV remote) to stuff that you can get on your PC through BBC iplayer and 4OD etc PLUS...

...a pile of old TV programmes and series PLUS...

...essentially a Blockbuster video shop attached to your TV so you can watch all the films without nipping down the road to get a video or DVD on a cold wet night PLUS...

...a pretty good PVR with all the usual functions (pause live TV, series record etc).

Costs? You don't pay for anything unless you download it. So, want to watch an old programme? Call it up from the library, press "yes" and it starts playing and they charge you about 80p.

Want to watch a film? Same again - call it up, press "yes" and an old film (18 months+) will probably cost £2-£2.50 and a new one (released at the same time as Sky Box Office) will cost £3.50-£4).

There are packages if you want which makes viewing cheaper but I use my BTV service quite happily, watching a couple of downloads a month and paying a huge bill of about £2!

As the meerkats would say..."simples".

[intercept]

An excellent description

The only thing I'd add is that its cheaper for a new user to get the equipment if they opt for a monthly subscription to one of the packages. Buying a package means that some of the On-Demand content incurs no extra cost per viewing. The more expensive packages include more "free" stuff. Buying a package also gives the option of ESPN for a one-off £10ish fee.