Virgin Media 2011 Annual Report Download - page 11

and 50 Mbit/s. Our customers within each of these tiers also benefit from unlimited downloads (subject to our
fair usage and traffic management policies), advanced security software, including anti-virus and anti-spyware
protection, and online data backup for no additional charge.
Television
We offer a wide range of television services to customers on our cable network. As of December 31, 2011,
we provided cable television services to approximately 3.76 million residential subscribers.
Our digital television, or DTV, service includes access to over 175 linear television channels, advanced
interactive features, and a range of premium subscription-based and pay-per-view services.
We offer a free-to-air digital television service, or Free TV, to certain customers on our cable platform. Our
Free TV service provides access to approximately 45 linear TV channels such as Dave, E4, Yesterday, and Five
USA as well as radio services. In addition to our linear television services, which allow our customers to view
television programming at a scheduled time, our DTV and Free TV customers also have access to certain digital
interactive services, including one of the most comprehensive VOD services in the U.K. See “Virgin TV On
Demand” below.
Our cable network enables us to deliver a broad range of digital interactive services, including games, news,
entertainment and information services, from an on-screen menu. We also offer interactive “red button”
applications from the BBC and other commercial broadcasters. “Red button” functionality in the U.K. permits
television viewers to press a red button on their remote control handset to receive additional interactive services,
including multiple broadcasts. For example, in a Wimbledon tennis broadcast, a customer can press the red
button and choose which match they wish to watch.
Virgin TV On Demand
Our VOD service, Virgin TV On Demand, provides our customers with instant access to a wide selection of
premium movies, television programs, music videos and other on-demand content. Content is available in
broadcast standard definition, high definition, and in 3D. Our HD content is available to all of our TV customers
(excluding ATV customers) who have a HD box at no additional charge. Viewers can watch programs instantly,
without the need for buffering, and can freeze-frame, fast-forward and rewind the content at will. This gives our
customers increased control over the content and timing of their television viewing. Additionally, our cable
network enables us to provide VOD content to our customers with no concurrent degradation of their broadband
speed. In 2011, our VOD usage increased to 90 million average monthly views in the fourth quarter, up from
85 million average monthly views in the first quarter. In total, there were more than one billion on-demand
streams through our set-top boxes in 2011. As a result, we believe that customers who use our VOD service are
less likely to churn.
The primary categories of content which are available within Virgin TV On Demand are television
programming, movies (on a pay-per-view and subscription basis) and music videos. A selection of content,
including our ‘catch-up’ television service, is available free of charge to all of our DTV customers. The BBC
iPlayer is the largest service we offer, enabling viewers to view approximately 700 hours of BBC programs.
Virgin TV’s Catch Up On Demand service also includes content from 4OD, Demand Five and ITV plc, or ITV,
one of the largest commercial broadcasters in the U.K.
We also offer our television customers a subscription VOD package, or TV Choice. In October 2011, Sky
Anytime was added to the TV Choice package allowing our customers to access approximately 1,000 hours of
television content from across Sky’s range of basic channels. Other content providers for TV Choice include
WarnerTV, BBC Worldwide, NBCUniversal, Starz, Viacom and AETN.
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