Virgin Media has been steadily growing the number of channels it gives to new and existing subscribers, but for many of the channels there hasn’t been a way to watch them on-demand or or on the go, until now.
The firm has just announced it is making several of its FAST channels available via Virgin Media’s On Demand streaming app or via the Search function on the TV your set top box is hooked up to, all at no extra cost.
FAST stands for ‘free ad supported television’ and is the name given to TV channels that air at no extra cost to the subscriber but have ads between and during shows, much like UK telly watchers will be used to with ITV, Channel 4 or Channel 5.
These channels traditionally air in linear fashion, much like regular broadcast TV, and are not on demand services such as BBC iPlayer or Netflix. But Virgin Media is moving to open up eleven of these FAST channels to Virgin Media customers with a V6, Virgin TV360 or Stream box, plus on mobile devices using the aforementioned On Demand app.
“We’re making unmissable content even easier to enjoy by making linear FAST channel content available on-demand so Virgin TV customers can tune in at any time and at no extra cost,” said David Bouchier, Chief TV and Entertainment Officer at Virgin Media O2.
“From comedy to crime and history to pets, our customers can keep up with it all, with catch-up capability now available for the first time for 11 of our most popular FAST channels.”
Here are the FAST channels you’ll be able to watch on-demand:
- Next Up Live Comedy
- Love Pets
- Haunt TV
- Homes Under The Hammer
- Baywatch
- Real Crime
- Real Wild
- History Hit
- Wonder
- The Chat Show Channel
- TRACE Sport Stars
Virgin added new FAST channel Inside Outside to set top boxes earlier this month, a channel which hasn’t made it to the first raft of streaming options. But its addition continues Virgin Media’s push to include as much extra content for its TV subscribers as possible, with Inside Outside being the 33rd FAST channel to be added.
To find these channels on your Virgin Media service, head to the Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) and you’ll find them sitting alongside all the other channels you have access to through your subscription.
