I tried Virgin Stream...

[Ed.B.]

I have Sky Stream at my flat, but my gf has Virgin Media so I thought I'd try Virgin Stream as the cost for Sky Sports is only £18.75 and you don't have to pay for a hundred channels you won't watch...

Actually getting one was an amazing ball ache - despite calling them, filling in the 'call me back' form on their website and actually raising a complaint it took nearly a month to get a puck delivered.

But now it's here, it's like going back ten years in terms of quality. 

Unless I'm mistaken, there's no way to watch from start on most channels. BBC jumps to the iPlayer, or itv channels that go to itv X. On sky stream when you select a channel you can always press a button to watch ANY PROGRAMME from start from sky's servers. I use this feature CONSTANTLY on stream, mostly for the golf but also for MTV etc so I can wind through adverts and eventually catch up with live. 

Worse though, is that the picture quality is truly appalling. How they can call this HD I have no idea! 

On channel 4 news last night, the sky stream picture is pin sharp - you can see the logos on the politician's tie clearly, but virgin stream is barely focused and far darker.

I got the Virgin puck to get sky sports cheaper, but I'm loathe to give virgin a penny more if the quality is so awful.

The tv thinks it's receiving a uhd picture at 3840x2160, so the quality issue is clearly Virgin's. 

Even the TV guide is kind of fuzzy!

These two issues are absolute deal breakers, which, after the ball ache I've had getting the puck, has made me even angrier than before!

So I'll come back to Sky, but I can't seem to get them to recontract me at the £43 currently available on the website for sky entertainment, sports and netflix. They want £66!

  

[MarkGoldsmith]

You need to have been away from Sky for at least 18 months before you would be seen as a "new customer" and thus eligible for any new customer deals they have on their website.

[Ed.B.]

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@MarkGoldsmith wrote:

You need to have been away from Sky for at least 18 months before you would be seen as a "new customer" and thus eligible for any new customer deals they have on their website.

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I've been a sky customer for nearly 30 years, and recontracting used to be simple and often I'd get a better deal than a new customer. 

With stream, however, it's like they aren't interested in retaining my business. It's weird.

[MarkGoldsmith]

It's just the change in business model since Comcast took over.

For these types of industries the majority of companies tend to only focus of new subscribers and don't really care about the small percentage of customers who leave at the end of their minimum term to another provider. They then hope to attract that customer back on a new customer deal when their time with the alternative provider comes to an end.

Not saying I particularly like that approach but it is quite common in this industry and similar service based industries. Ultimately at this time all consumers need to keep on top of minimum term contract expiries and be prepared to swap providers every 18-24 months.

[Ed.B.]

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@MarkGoldsmith wrote:

It's just the change in business model since Comcast took over.

For these types of industries the majority of companies tend to only focus of new subscribers and don't really care about the small percentage of customers who leave at the end of their minimum term to another provider. They then hope to attract that customer back on a new customer deal when their time with the alternative provider comes to an end.

Not saying I particularly like that approach but it is quite common in this industry and similar service based industries. Ultimately at this time all consumers need to keep on top of minimum term contract expiries and be prepared to swap providers every 18-24 months.

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I was 'happy' to swap provider based on price, but Virgin is just appalling in terms of quality and functionality.

Worst case i suppose I sign up as a new customer at the gf's house, but it's just silly and must cost Sky in the long run

[Padam_Padam]

@Ed.B. 

Which image is Sky Stream and which image is Virgin Stream?

Difficult to judge them as they're not identical frames. Both have issues to my eye. 

[Ed.B.]

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@Padam_Padam wrote:

@Ed.B. 

Which image is Sky Stream and which image is Virgin Stream?

Difficult to judge them as they're not identical frames. Both have issues to my eye. 

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The top one is Sky, but it's taken from my camera 4m from the TV and downscaled by the forum so not really something on which to judge the actual broadcast. 

But believe me, once you've watched content on Sky Stream, Virgin will be unacceptable

[Padam_Padam]

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@Ed.B. wrote:

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@Padam_Padam wrote:

@Ed.B. 

Which image is Sky Stream and which image is Virgin Stream?

Difficult to judge them as they're not identical frames. Both have issues to my eye. 

---

The top one is Sky, but it's taken from my camera 4m from the TV and downscaled by the forum so not really something on which to judge the actual broadcast. 

But believe me, once you've watched content on Sky Stream, Virgin will be unacceptable

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The Sky Stream puck is a better upscaler than the Virgin Stream box, but if you switch the output of the Virgin box to 1080 you'll likely see that they're much closer in terms of native HD output. 

[Ed.B.]

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The Sky Stream puck is a better upscaler than the Virgin Stream box, but if you switch the output of the Virgin box to 1080 you'll likely see that they're much closer in terms of native HD output. 

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I did that, but the picture is still very smudged compared to the sharpness of Sky puck. 

[MarkGoldsmith]

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@Ed.B. wrote:

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@MarkGoldsmith wrote:

It's just the change in business model since Comcast took over.

For these types of industries the majority of companies tend to only focus of new subscribers and don't really care about the small percentage of customers who leave at the end of their minimum term to another provider. They then hope to attract that customer back on a new customer deal when their time with the alternative provider comes to an end.

Not saying I particularly like that approach but it is quite common in this industry and similar service based industries. Ultimately at this time all consumers need to keep on top of minimum term contract expiries and be prepared to swap providers every 18-24 months.

---

I was 'happy' to swap provider based on price, but Virgin is just appalling in terms of quality and functionality.

Worst case i suppose I sign up as a new customer at the gf's house, but it's just silly and must cost Sky in the long run

---

To be honest, with all the data and modelling Comcast can do I'd expect that they have figured out this model is currently the most profitable for them.

Profitability and new customer metrics is king for these publically traded media giants at the moments to help their share price and return for shareholders.

[Jporch316]

@Ed.B. 

I have a virgin stream box ..... thing is tiny 🤷🏻‍♂️

[Ed.B.]

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@Jporch316 wrote:

@Ed.B. 

I have a virgin stream box ..... thing is tiny 🤷🏻‍♂️

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It is, and my TV thinks it's an Apple TV box. 

But I'd rather have the Sky Stream picture quality than a smaller box

[Padam_Padam]

I'd love to try a Virgin Stream box but don't have Virgin broadband. 

It's easy to fall down the rabbit hole of picture quality comparisons. I used to be a sucker for it but then when we started watching most content via apps (most of it in 4K HDR from the likes of Apple TV+, Netflix, Disney+ and Prime) we now can't watch any UK free-to-air TV on any platform without thinking how poor it looks in comparison. 

The Freeview HD image quality on my Panasonic OLED is the best we found when comparing my old Sky Stream puck, and an external Freeview box, but to be honest we now end up watching most free-to-air content (the little we do watch) via the relevant catch-up apps on the Apple TV 4K box.

If you watch a lot of content on free to air channels and those on the Sky Entertainment EPG then a Sky Stream puck outputting 2160P will generally give an excellent image quality across the board.   

[Ed.B.]

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@Padam_Padam wrote:

I'd love to try a Virgin Stream box but don't have Virgin broadband. 

It's easy to fall down the rabbit hole of picture quality comparisons. I used to be a sucker for it but then when we started watching most content via apps (most of it in 4K HDR from the likes of Apple TV+, Netflix, Disney+ and Prime) we now can't watch any UK free-to-air TV on any platform without thinking how poor it looks in comparison. 

The Freeview HD image quality on my Panasonic OLED is the best we found when comparing my old Sky Stream puck, and an external Freeview box, but to be honest we now end up watching most free-to-air content (the little we do watch) via the relevant catch-up apps on the Apple TV 4K box.

If you watch a lot of content on free to air channels and those on the Sky Entertainment EPG then a Sky Stream puck outputting 2160P will generally give an excellent image quality across the board.   

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I don't generally watch TV - just sport. So the broadcast picture has to be top notch for the fast moving ball

[bemak187]

Bit off topic but Virgin stream is a bit of an odd one.  It has always seemed like a sort of experiment/hobby and uncertain if it will be the future for them.  I know VM are working to go full fibre and have a few different delivery methods on the go like HFC, RFoG and XGS-PON.  The issue with XGS-PON is there is no coax involved so VM will need to come up with something more perm as their other boxes all need a coax connection even the their minis.