My mother has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and she is struggling to remember how to change channels. The guide is a definite no no. We have put an orange sticker on the microphone button and tell her to press the orange button and say the channel number. We have given her a list of times and channels. She is still struggling. is there anyway that we can set programmes/channels to automatically turn over when the programme starts. This used to be previously possible. im sure my mother is not the only person in this position. thanks

I’ve just ‘upgraded’ to 360 and not being able to set a reminder that automatically switches to a selected channel for live TV does not feel like an ‘upgrade’ at all.

Thanks,unfortunately I think that this will still cause her problems.its such a shame that it doesn’t change over automatically.virgin, is this something that can be added as for people with dementia a simple task like changing channel is far too difficult for them

Virgin, can you respond to say whether this is possible? Thanks

Hi bd 👋 Welcome back to the community! Thank you for posting. Sorry to hear about these issues for your Mum in terms of changing channel, and that the TV voice control function is not showing to be a work-around for her. As the community have already correctly advised, you can set reminders for a show starting, but she would still need to select 'Turn over' when the reminder appears to get the channel to change. Sadly there is not currently an automated function which gets the channel to change automatically. You can manage what is showing on the TV via TV Control in the TV:GO app which may come in handy for you? 👉 https://virg.in/tvgo . You can also read more about this here 👉 How to use the virgin tv control app | Virgin Media Help I will certainly raise your feedback and request internally, as I believe we should never stop trying to improve our accessibility and services. Please let us know if there is anything else you would like support or advice with! Wishing you and your Mum all the best! 🌞

Thank you Molly_T it would be wonderful if you could raise this point with powers that be.It would be a great addition to the 360 as it is one of the main features of the V6 and Tivo boxes that we enjoyed.Originally you could set a reminder and the channel would change automatically.On the V6 box you had to set a record and remind for it to change automatically.A bit of a faff but still worth the effort .It would be great if that function could be brought out on the 360 boxes.Many thanks in advance......🤞🤞

Auto change TV channel | Virgin Media Community

24 Replies

roy247
Hero
2 years ago
Hi bd,
If you find the programmes on the TV guide you can set reminders but I haven't used it so can't say if it automatically switches channel.
I understand the problems with Dementia as my mother in law had it and couldn't remember how to turn the TV on.
- 1701-e
  Fibre optic
  2 years ago
  I've just tested this. A prompt appears with default option of Turn over or alt option Dismiss
  It remains on screen past the start time.
  - bd
    On our wavelength
    2 years ago
    Thanks,
    unfortunately I think that this will still cause her problems.
    its such a shame that it doesn’t change over automatically.
    virgin, is this something that can be added as for people with dementia a simple task like changing channel is far too difficult for them
- bd
  On our wavelength
  2 years ago
  Thanks for your reply.
  I’ve seen the reminder option but unfortunately it doesn’t turn over automatically.
  - roy247
    Hero
    2 years ago
    I have also just tested this with the same result, without going through all the TiVo patents it could be TiVo patented, I think it did change on the V6, you would need someone with a V6 to confirm this.
nodrogd
Very Insightful Person
8 months ago
It is correct that the V+ was the last box where the channel could be changed automatically with a reminder. This was because one of the three onboard TV tuners was dedicated for viewing only. With the TiVO/V6 onward all onboard tuners could be set to record, meaning there is no longer a "free" tuner to switch over to the channel required. This is complicated by V360 operating on centralised box system.
- verysadbugger
  Tuning in
  8 months ago
  If that is the reason then there is hope that a software update could bring this functionality back. We now have 6 tuners, surly we could assign one to “ live tv “ if that was how it was achieved. Hopefully some clever person can find a software solution to this. Pretty please 🙏
  - nodrogd
    Very Insightful Person
    8 months ago
    verysadbugger wrote:
    If that is the reason then there is hope that a software update could bring this functionality back. We now have 6 tuners, surly we could assign one to “ live tv “ if that was how it was achieved. Hopefully some clever person can find a software solution to this. Pretty please 🙏
    Very unlikely. Horizon, that runs V360 is owned by Virgin's parent company & is now in it's 4th generation. The mini multiroom boxes (you can have 2) cannot record, & rely on the main box both for recordings & live pausing of more than a few minutes. Therefore 6 recording tuners is a real must have with V360.
DHCPete
Tuning in
8 months ago
I’ve just ‘upgraded’ to 360 and not being able to set a reminder that automatically switches to a selected channel for live TV does not feel like an ‘upgrade’ at all.
Mr_K
Knows their stuff
8 months ago
It's possible to change channels remotely with Alexa/Sky. Used to use it for my Mother who had similar issues.
https://helpforum.sky.com/t5/Sky-Q/Hi-Can-Alexa-control-my-Sky-Q-box/td-p/4415041
- Matthew_ML
  Forum Team
  7 months ago
  Thank you for posting this, please remember the 360 does have a voice control button which can also be used for this.
  
  However with the Alexa this would depend what is built inside your TV.

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Auto change TV channel

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