Monday 24 October 2011

Virgin Media streaming PARTY DOWN

Monday 24 October 2011
I just thought I'd mention that Party Down is now available on Virgin Media in their VOD "TV Choice" area. Both seasons of the cancelled Starz series are available in SD and HD. (I believe the show's only available to XL and VIP subscribers.) This is exactly the kind of acquisition I like to see, as the show hasn't aired on any UK channel, making it a Virgin VOD exclusive.

Now that Sky have the rights to most of HBO's archive, hopefully Virgin will start chasing other US cable shows, and network shows that haven't made it over here for inexplicable reasons. Would it be too much to ask for Virgin to start streaming Community and Parks & Recreation? It may even be worth buying The League, The Middleman and Men Of A Certain Age. TV shows that don't have much of a natural home in the UK, but would make good streaming-only options for subscribers who value that service.

In general, it's a shame Virgin don't advertise their VOD service more. The only reason I found out about Party Down is because their EPG plays a "VOD preview" video, and it happened to draw my attention (which is a rarity). Naturally, Virgin are currently more focused on selling TiVo's just now, but the cable company have a history of failing to champion their natural superiorities over satellite-based Sky—and the biggest is how Virgin's fibre optic network can deliver a massive library of video on-demand.

So anyway, if you have access, give Party Down a whirl. And browse Virgin's on-demand area while you're at it, because there are often some hidden gems to be found (like every season of Fringe in the "Warner TV" section).