Forum Discussion

flypast's avatar
flypast
Tuning in
16 days ago

Eurosport Cancellation

I feel mistreated by VM over the Eurosport cancellation. I only realized the channels had disappeared after they were removed yesterday from my channel list. I have been watching the cycling on Eurosport since the 90s and feel poorly treated. It was the last reason to remain with VM rather than bail out and cancel.

I received no prior warning from VM of the planned removal.

Interestingly I received an email in June last year saying my existing TNT sport channels which were then included  in my package were to be removed as I never used them. I thought that was fair enough at the time and I could have clicked a link to have them reinstated, but chose not to as I had no interest in the content at that time and thought nothing more of it....fast forward 8 months and Eurosport content has now moved to TNT. Seems to me some underhand tactics here. And now VM want at least £15 a month more for the privilege over watching TNT Sports.

Would someone from VM care to comment?

I can obtain a faster broadband service and all the channels plus TNT with SKY for the same as I currently pay with VM minus TNT. Seems like a no brainer.

  • nodrogd's avatar
    nodrogd
    Very Insightful Person
    16 days ago

    TNT was removed from packages as the new owners, Warner, would no longer allow it to be bundled with other channels. It was also Warner's decision to close the Eurosport channels in the UK & Ireland & merge the content with TNT. In the rest of Europe (apart from Germany) Eurosport is also now a premium service.

    It was all over the press in January:

    https://metro.co.uk/2025/01/28/eurosport-axed-sports-fans-face-huge-subscription-price-hike-22446968/

    The cost of TNT on Virgin is £18 a month, with some packages discounted to £12 a month. On Sky (via SkyQ, which is the direct VM equivalent with recording facilities) it is currently advertised at £29 a month.

    • 592331's avatar
      592331
      Tuning in
      14 days ago

      Well I never saw it in the press.  First I knew I tried to watch my recordings of alpine skiing when I got back from holiday on Saturday and they weren't there. As that was my sole reason for paying for Virgin TV I'll be looking into cancelling as soon as I  sort out my WiFi signal to my TV 

      • flypast's avatar
        flypast
        Tuning in
        14 days ago

        Yes - wasn't in the press I read day to day. I would expect as a customer of VM, they should be contacting me directly anyway. And that did not happen.

        More importantly, the fact that I had the TNT channels where my Eurosport channels would migrate to prior to June leads me to think this was an underhand tactic which has left me with no ski or cycling coverage at all without shelling out another £15-18 per month. 

  • japitts's avatar
    japitts
    Very Insightful Person
    14 days ago

    All of the Eurosport channels had on-screen notifications of "this channel is closing" for around a week or so prior to them doing so.

    • 592331's avatar
      592331
      Tuning in
      13 days ago

      I was away the week before so no message.  Now I've just had a message from Virgin telling me my bill's going ùp by 7.5%.  More important than ever I get Discovery + sorted so I can cancel Virgin. Otherwise I'll be paying through the nose for nothing.

      • Kath_P's avatar
        Kath_P
        Forum Team
        13 days ago

        Hi 592331, 

        Thanks for coming back to us in the Community. 

        Whilst we recognise price changes are never welcome, we always balance our prices with the need to continue investing in our network, products and services for our customers.

        We're seeing growing demand for data, with usage continuing to increase year on year. We invest more in our networks and services to bring you faster, more reliable services. Please see more details here. 

        Many thanks, 

  • Royroy's avatar
    Royroy
    Joining in
    13 days ago

    Another Virgin Media swindle. Price goes up, services go down. I watch a lot of Snooker and Motorbike racing (WSBK, BSBK). Now you have deprived me of both. The mechanism (whose fault) is irrelevant. As an OAP these are important forms of entertainment for me. Now I am deprived of them. BTW I do not use my land line - for which I am paying. How about attaching me to the TNT feed by way of substitute. You won't of course... Media cartels behave just the same way as banking and insurance cartels. Customers are disposable - plenty more where that one came from.

    Disgusting but not surprising. The ball is in Virgin Media's court to surprise me.

    • japitts's avatar
      japitts
      Very Insightful Person
      13 days ago

      Now you have deprived me of both. The mechanism (whose fault) is irrelevant

      Out of interest, do you also blame shopkeepers & retail stores if you have an issue with the taste of a branded frozen ready meal?

      Sorry to be a tad blunt, but this is a very similar concept. Virgin Media is a TV platform operator, who can only carry the channels provided by the broadcasters on the commercial basis they are bound by.

      The closure of Eurosport in the UK is a WBD decision, Sky customers are also affected.

      • flypast's avatar
        flypast
        Tuning in
        8 days ago

        The point of my original post has somewhat been lost here...

        VM didn't alert me when they told me they would remove TNT sports from my package in June 2024 that these channels would in just over 6 months time be receiving much of the Eurosport cycling and skiing feeds that I was viewing. This was well known to VM at that time...though they failed to inform me. This lack of transparency is underhand and now they want to charge me for the privilege of watching it when I had the channels in 2024. If VM had informed me properly of the plans I wouldn't have accepted losing TNT. Poor show. 

        Unfortunately this type of activity is common amongst the private equity behind much of the big media businesses these days. It's all about the profit vs minimal cost. Where does the customer fit in....well I've raise a couple of complaints via chat on this. I'm told that I will receive resolution/contact within a few days but nothing happens. Then last week a chat returns a response that I will get free TNT within a few days as a previous Eurosport customer. When I follow this up after a week of no action this morning the call handling is very poor and I'm told that there is a charge without much explanation for the previous offer of free TNT and then eventually they hang up.