Jordan O'BrienVirgin Media has confirmed plans that it is working on a 4K set-top box to take on the likes of the Sky Q and BT’s YouView-powered box, both of which boast Ultra HD broadcasts. It’s not yet known whether it will use TiVo’s 4K technology that shipped with the Bolt however.
While Sky and BT both have Ultra HD boxes on the market, only BT’s 4K support is currently live to end-users. Sky has promised to release its support for the resolution later this year however, putting the two largest pay-TV providers in the UK in a head-to-head battle.
Virgin Media confirmed its Ultra HD set-top box in a statement to What Hi-Fi. It also added that it will be making improvements to the current generation of TiVo boxes, with a new menu system and more picture-based UI promised.
Sky is still the king of the pay-TV market in the UK; in 2015 it held a 64% share, with Virgin media in second and BT in third. Virgin Media did struggle in comparison to its competitors in 2015 however, with the company adding less subscribers than both BT and Sky. Virgin Media is hoping to fix that by expanding its reach, currently only 55% of UK households can access Virgin’s network – something the company is investing heavily to increase.