Virgin 1 goes 24 hours on Freeview

Well, we’ve seen a number of changes to the Freeview platform over the past few weeks.  I’ll provide an up to date EPG list on my Ident City blog shortly, but here on Viewpoint, I’ll catch you up on the recent changes that have taken place.

You know about Quest’s “non-arrival” on channel 47.  I posted on that earlier this week.  Suffice to say that at this time, the slide is still airing, and we still do not know when the channel will properly launch.

ITV4 is now on channel 24, broadcasting 24 hours a day.

Dave ja vu (I hate that name!) is now on channel 25.

Home (the new name for UKTV Style) is now on channel 26.  Frankly, these channel names that UKTV have come up with are really bad, and they do nothing in that sense to identify the channel.

ITV2+1 is now on Channel 27.

E4 and it’s timeshift station, E4+1 are on 28 and 29 respectively.

Fiver is on 30 with sister station Five USA on 31.

Smile TV is on channel 32 broadcasting between 3am and 7am. (why?  Seems pointless to me!)

Smile TV 2 has re-appeared on channel 33, broadcasting Babestation programmes between Midnight and 5am.

Setanta Sports 1 hasn’t moved,l they’re still on channel 34.

And new today is Virgin 1+1, which broadcasts between 6pm and 6am, using the old Virgin 1 multiplex space.

Go over to Ident City, and you will find a complete EPG list for Freeview. 

UEFA Champions League coverage on radio. Why the same match?

Radio is my usual home for news, sport and music, although I watch TV news and ues the web too. Tonight, 3 British teams were involved in UEFA Champions League action. Television had them all covered. Manchester United vs Roma was on ITV1, Steaua Bucharest vs Arsenal was on ITV4, whilst Rangers vs Lyon was on Sky Sports 2.

Radio did not serve the listeneing public nearly as well. BBC Radio 5 Live had the Manchester United vs Roma match, as did TalkSport. Five Live Sports Extra was supposed to be on the air covering a Coca Cola Championship match, but was off air when I checked. TalkSport could have covered the Arsenal match, rather than Manchester United, and instead of a Championship match, perhaps 5 Live Sports Extra should have aired coverage of Rangers vs Lyon.

In this case, the poor radio listener had no choice about which match to listen to. Only 1 was available. Come on BBC and TalkSport. You CAN do better than this.

I'll be noting what you guys will be covering tomorrow. 3 more British teams will be in action tomorrow night. Celtic will be hosting AC Milan. Liverpool will be hosting Marseille whilst Chelsea are away at Valencia. After tonight's shameful performance, I don't hold much hope for tomorrow night. Which one of those three will get covered by both Five Live and Talksport?