What are my media options?

dunroving

Augh. I will be moving house in the near future and wonder what my media options are. I am pretty tech-savvy but am a bit bamboozled by all the options for how to get phone, TV and interWeb. Being a Moneysaver, I don't want to spend a load of money on new kit if not needed, or for TV channels I can get for free! Note that this is a techie question initially; not asking who is the cheapest service provider per se at the moment.

My current situation is as follows (Glasgow area):
BT interWeb, copper wiring, 20MB, does fine for me. Able to get streaming video (Amazon Prime, iPlayer, etc.)
BT landline, linked with above.
Three Freeview connections linked to traditional aerials (Freeview gives about 25 channels here) - all obviously free of charge, and tellies have Freeview tuners
Four Freesat connections, linked to an old Sky dish, about 200 channels, again all free.

My new home will be in south Birmingham. From Google Streetview, I see almost no houses have satellite dishes; quite a few have traditional aerials, but not all of them, by a long way.
From online, I note that the area gets about 90 Freeview channels. I presume that Freesat would be approximately the same number of channels as in Glasgow, other than regional variations.

From other research, the area is served by Virgin Media, whose various "bundles" I notice give over 70, over 150, over 230 and over 260 channels respectively.
As all their bundles include weekend calls, I am guessing this area still requires copper for the last part of the interWeb signal.

Here are my initial questions, I am sure there will be others to follow!
Will my two Freesat tuner/PVRs become redundant unless I install a dish?
Will I have to pay for a Virgin tuner/recorder gadget to receive Virgin TV (and presumably one for every room I want TV)?
Am I paying for Virgin-specific channels with the cheaper bundles, or am I simply paying Virgin for the pleasure of receiving Freeview type channels via Virgin equipment?

My initial gut feeling is to try to replicate my current provision - a 4-feed dish, with 2 outlets in the living room, 1 in the main bedroom, and one in the garage (don't ask). Also install a traditional aerial for Freeview in the kitchen/diner.

Other than the question of who provides the cheapest service (cost per month, after initial offers expire), the Moneysavingexpert in me says that if Freeview and Freesat are free (after initial installation of the dish/aerial), why would I pay every month for TV from Virgin?

JJ_Egan

<From other research, the area is served by Virgin Media, whose various "bundles" I notice give over 70, over 150, over 230 and over 260 channels respectively.
As all their bundles include weekend calls, I am guessing this area still requires copper for the last part of the interWeb signal.>

No not Virgin .

DoaM

Well technically yes - it is copper. However is it copper coax rather than twisted pair copper. But a Virgin connection doesn't use any of the BT infrastructure direct to the property (which is what I suspect the OP was meaning).

DCFC79

Here are my initial questions, I am sure there will be others to follow!
Will my two Freesat tuner/PVRs become redundant unless I install a dish? Virgin don't use a dish, they provide a box you use to record.
Will I have to pay for a Virgin tuner/recorder gadget to receive Virgin TV (and presumably one for every room I want TV)? Yes, its called a box, you may get a discount for each box you buy, would need to speak to them.
Am I paying for Virgin-specific channels with the cheaper bundles, or am I simply paying Virgin for the pleasure of receiving Freeview type channels via Virgin equipment? No really Virgin specific channels afaik.

The tv list for VM is here

http://www.virginmedia.com/virgin-tv-edit/tips-and-tricks/virgin-tv-channel-guide.html

If your happy with Freesat/Freeview then stick with it, compare the channels from Virgin on what VM call the Player bundle to whats available on the 2 free alternatives, not much difference with Freeview.

You dont mention it but do you record to watch later ?
If you dont but would like to you can buy a box that would record on Freesat or go with Virgin you get 1 supplied.

Sky most likely cover the area too.

AndyPix

1. yes they will
2. yes you will
3. You would be paying virgin for a mix of premium channels they offer (shy one etc) along with the extra "freeview type"ones.


Just because the area is "serviced by virgin" - that just means that it is an option available to you.
Not that you have to choose that.


You can still choose sky if you wish, and undoubtedly there will be a copper connection to the premises to enable you to sign up with whichever broadband/phone company you like

dunroving

Thanks for all the replies.

My comment regarding copper was related to whether a landline is necessary. There was an article on this in the Sunday Times. Where I live, even if you get fibre optic Broadband, the last part of the supply is still via BT/Openreach copper so you still have to rent a landline even if you don't use the phone.

I already have a Humax PVR, and use recording facility a LOT. Although I understand that companies like built-in obsolescence, I hate the idea of my fantastic Humax going to waste, and/or having to pay for a Virgin box.

I'm very reluctant to pay for any channels - with Freesat, and my Amazon Prime subscription, there already aren't enough hours in the day to watch all the available content. But I suppose if I am no longer paying £18 pcm for a landline, that might offset the additional cost of the Virgin TV channels.

I'm thinking my ideal world would be:

Not paying for a landline.
Getting TV via Freesat and/or Freeview (and occasional one-month NowTV special offers if there is a rugby tour going on)
Getting BB via fibre optics straight to the house (i.e., not requiring a landline).

My only start-up costs, equipment-wise would then be having dish and aerial installed ... anyone see any flaws in my thinking?

DCFC79

dunroving wrote: »

I'm very reluctant to pay for any channels - with Freesat, and my Amazon Prime subscription, there already aren't enough hours in the day to watch all the available content. But I suppose if I am no longer paying £18 pcm for a landline, that might offset the additional cost of the Virgin TV channels.

I'm thinking my ideal world would be:

Not paying for a landline.
Getting TV via Freesat and/or Freeview (and occasional one-month NowTV special offers if there is a rugby tour going on)
Getting BB via fibre optics straight to the house (i.e., not requiring a landline).

My only start-up costs, equipment-wise would then be having dish and aerial installed ... anyone see any flaws in my thinking?

Nothing wrong with your thinking.
Many people have a similar setup, Im thinking of similar when I move.

dunroving

I meant to add that I looked at the list of Virgin channels for the first two levels of TV package (Player and More), and wasn't seeing anything extra (that I can't get on Freesat) that made me go Wow.

My brother lives in Brum and has VM so will see what he has when I visit next week. I have a funny feeling that when I looked through his on-screen TV guide last time I wasn't especially impressed.

I'm hoping if I get aerial and satellite, that the cables can be run into the house a bit more securely tastefully than around where I live currently - TV cabling whipping around in the strong winds because it's just been laid over the top of the roof and down the other side. It's an eyesore - though it doesn't seem to affect the quality of my signal!

DCFC79

dunroving wrote: »

I meant to add that I looked at the list of Virgin channels for the first two levels of TV package (Player and More), and wasn't seeing anything extra (that I can't get on Freesat) that made me go Wow.

My brother lives in Brum and has VM so will see what he has when I visit next week. I have a funny feeling that when I looked through his on-screen TV guide last time I wasn't especially impressed.

I'm hoping if I get aerial and satellite, that the cables can be run into the house a bit more securely tastefully than around where I live currently - TV cabling whipping around in the strong winds because it's just been laid over the top of the roof and down the other side. It's an eyesore - though it doesn't seem to affect the quality of my signal!

Yes ideally the cables should be run down the wall then along to the entry point, well that's how the houses are done near so I presume its the standard.

takman

dunroving wrote: »

Getting BB via fibre optics straight to the house (i.e., not requiring a landline).

My only start-up costs, equipment-wise would then be having dish and aerial installed ... anyone see any flaws in my thinking?

If the house doesn't already have Fiber then it may be expensive to install directly into the house. Also it may mean you won't need a landline but i doubt it will be cheaper as Fiber to the Home is for people who want a super fast connection.

If your happy with your 20 Mb connection then it will cheaper to have similar connection in your new home.

dunroving

takman wrote: »

If the house doesn't already have Fiber then it may be expensive to install directly into the house. Also it may mean you won't need a landline but i doubt it will be cheaper as Fiber to the Home is for people who want a super fast connection.

If your happy with your 20 Mb connection then it will cheaper to have similar connection in your new home.

Thanks, yes I realise this and was only meaning this if the fibre optic goes direct to the house (definitely wouldn't pay for this to be installed - even if that was a possibility). I had surmised because all of the VM packages include free weekend phone calls that must mean fibre optic does *not* run to the house but someone earlier said this was incorrect.

I'm moving closer to friends and family, and may take a lodger, so faster BB might be something I'd be looking at, depending on cost differential. Currently I am the only B user in my house so the 20MB speed works fine.