Virgin Media rolls out free V6 box upgrade
David Farnor | On 24, Jan 2018
Virgin Media is offering existing Virgin TV customers a free upgrade to its V6 set top box. In what is one of the largest customer upgrade programmes ever carried out in the UK, Virgin Media is accelerating the rollout of its high-end box and will end the year with the majority of its TV customers using the next-generation, 4K-ready V6.
The V6 box is half the size of the previous TiVo box with 10 times the power and allows people to record six programmes while watching a seventh recording or stream. Virgin TV V6 boxes support 4K Ultra-High Definition (UHD) TV with Netflix and YouTube already available in 4K.
Customers with a TV and broadband bundle will be able to upgrade at no additional cost and with no re-contract requirement – eligible customers will be contacted in the coming weeks with details of how to request their V6 box, which can, in most cases, be self-installed without an engineer visit.
The rollout is a rare display of loyalty to existing costumers in a sea of companies competing for new sign-ups. It also highlights Virgin’s growing confidence in its own TV platform. The upgrade programme comes as Virgin Media installs its millionth V6 box TV customer; just over one year since it was first launched.
V6 box users spend, on average, 2 hours longer watching TV each week and are more than twice as likely to watch a Box Set and record twice as many programmes as customers using a TiVo box. V6 customers are also three times as likely to launch Netflix and twice as likely to launch iPlayer – proof that Virgin, as a content aggregator, can include its cord-cutting subscription rival on its platform and strengthen its own position.
Virgin Media also continues to invest in a growing library of exclusive series, with nine box sets now available on-demand for Virgin TV Full House customers – ranging from comedy horror series, Ash vs Evil Dead to Good Behavior starring Michelle Dockery. Working in partnership with parent company, Liberty Global, Virgin Media will also release new original programming in 2018, with more details to be announced soon.