Do Virgin Media use Sky boxes to get the siginal? - Broadcasting

NEWLINEtv · 08-11-2009, 13:14

I was just wondering, do Virgin Media use Sky boxes to get the siginal to distribute to the VM customers?

rewind · 08-11-2009, 13:17

They use the same feed.

NEWLINEtv · 08-11-2009, 13:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by rewind

They use the same feed.

The same feed? I thought Virgin Media had to pay Sky for all the channels?

Sirius · 08-11-2009, 13:24

They don't use Sky boxes as in the ropey boxes we use for DTH reception but they do have some equipment for remultiplexing satellite broadcasts and relaying those over the cable network.

They do not always use these as they use fibre feeds and DTT for some channels.

Ste · 08-11-2009, 13:38

Unrelated to Virgin Media but Liverpool FC TV use a Sky box to feed online broadcast of their channel.

Once when I paid for the e-season ticket and could watch it online all I got was a blue screen and a Sky message saying "No satellite signal is being received". Must have been raining in wherever they feed it from.

alexj2002 · 09-11-2009, 12:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by rewind

They use the same feed.

Not quite true - there are seperate cable/DTT & satellite versions of some channels, usually just with different advertisments shown.

Mark. · 09-11-2009, 13:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ste

Unrelated to Virgin Media but Liverpool FC TV use a Sky box to feed online broadcast of their channel.

Once when I paid for the e-season ticket and could watch it online all I got was a blue screen and a Sky message saying "No satellite signal is being received". Must have been raining in wherever they feed it from.

Setanta used to use a Sky box for the online stream of Setanta Sports News, which was slightly ironic considering the close ties they had with Virgin Media.

I recall one time there was a blue message box on-screen all night, obviously because no-one capable of getting rid of it was watching.

linkinpark875 · 09-11-2009, 13:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by NEWLINEtv

I was just wondering, do Virgin Media use Sky boxes to get the siginal to distribute to the VM customers?

I don't know much about cable but they must have there own streams for cable. A channel like 'Dave' say probably uses one signal from a playout centre so they must send it over DTT, Sky and Cable.

They probably have all equipment in there offices.

Scalper Jack · 09-11-2009, 14:27

I visited Telewest in Edinburgh many years ago. They had big dishes picking up Sky / 28.2 east and other few satellites then re-distributed it. There used to be some channels marked as cable on 28.2 east. Perhaps all changed since.

skipai · 09-11-2009, 15:45

Yeah they have used sky boxes to get some channels. Hence the problem that some mentioned on the internal usenet group that was confirmed by a staff support person that there was Sky's red button stuck on the screen.

Some actually complained about that when they saw it on Sky Arts channels and couldn't get rid of it on their V/V+ boxes as it was being shown via VM's sky box that was being used to grab that channel.

Not sure if that's been fixed or not but was something I remember happening earlier on this year. I didn't check on it as I've kinda got my cable on the lowest free tv package and not using ti but my sky box instead anyways.

Akilduff · 09-11-2009, 18:22

On a slightly different tack, I switched on RTE analogue Saturday morning to be greeted with the famous Sky blue screen on both RTE1 and RTE2.

Considering they had a monopoly for decades, it was a surprising sight to say the least...

Rab C · 09-11-2009, 21:26

They typically use professional receivers from the likes of Tandberg.

www.tandbergtv.com

08-11-2009, 13:14	#1
NEWLINEtv Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 4,053	Do Virgin Media use Sky boxes to get the siginal? I was just wondering, do Virgin Media use Sky boxes to get the siginal to distribute to the VM customers?

08-11-2009, 13:17	#2
rewind Forum Member Join Date: May 2000 Posts: 1,097	They use the same feed.

08-11-2009, 13:24	#4
Sirius Forum Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Scotland Services: Virgin Phone XL, BB XL, Mobile, Sky HD, motorised sat Posts: 3,183 Blog Entries: 1	They don't use Sky boxes as in the ropey boxes we use for DTH reception but they do have some equipment for remultiplexing satellite broadcasts and relaying those over the cable network. They do not always use these as they use fibre feeds and DTT for some channels.

08-11-2009, 13:38	#5
Ste Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2000 Location: Merseyside Services: Sky Digital & Digital+ Sport, DM800, DM500, Slingbox - 85CM Dish 30w - 53e Posts: 1,103	Unrelated to Virgin Media but Liverpool FC TV use a Sky box to feed online broadcast of their channel. Once when I paid for the e-season ticket and could watch it online all I got was a blue screen and a Sky message saying "No satellite signal is being received". Must have been raining in wherever they feed it from.

09-11-2009, 14:27	#9
Scalper Jack Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 4,165	I visited Telewest in Edinburgh many years ago. They had big dishes picking up Sky / 28.2 east and other few satellites then re-distributed it. There used to be some channels marked as cable on 28.2 east. Perhaps all changed since.

09-11-2009, 15:45	#10
skipai Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Havant Services: VM BB XL, Sky HD Posts: 138	Yeah they have used sky boxes to get some channels. Hence the problem that some mentioned on the internal usenet group that was confirmed by a staff support person that there was Sky's red button stuck on the screen. Some actually complained about that when they saw it on Sky Arts channels and couldn't get rid of it on their V/V+ boxes as it was being shown via VM's sky box that was being used to grab that channel. Not sure if that's been fixed or not but was something I remember happening earlier on this year. I didn't check on it as I've kinda got my cable on the lowest free tv package and not using ti but my sky box instead anyways.

09-11-2009, 18:22	#11
Akilduff Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 1,523	On a slightly different tack, I switched on RTE analogue Saturday morning to be greeted with the famous Sky blue screen on both RTE1 and RTE2. Considering they had a monopoly for decades, it was a surprising sight to say the least...

09-11-2009, 21:26	#12
Rab C Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Kingdom of Fife, Scotland Services: Sky HD, Sky Broadband Max (16MBit), DAB Posts: 2,179	They typically use professional receivers from the likes of Tandberg. www.tandbergtv.com