The basic Sky channels stopped airing on Virgin Media (formerly ntl:Telewest) at midnight on February 28th after weeks of talks between the two companies failed to find a better solution.According to Virgin Media, Sky had demanded double the previous fees for these channels, despite a 20 percent decline in performance of the programming (according to Virgin Media). Click here for more information on Sky TV and Virgin Media packages
What does this mean for Virgin Media customers?
If you’ve just signed up for Virgin Media or you’re a former ntl:Telewest subscriber, you’ll no longer receive the basic Sky channels: including Sky One, Sky Two, Sky Three and Sky News.
The Sky Sports and Sky Movies subscription channels are unaffected.
Chris Eagle, commercial manager at DigitalChoices.co.uk, says: “In the short term, this is bad news for Virgin Media customers, particularly those who signed up recently for big shows like Lost and are still bound by a 12-month contract. But Virgin Media is planning replacements for these channels which could be even better.”
I’m with Virgin Media – should I switch to Sky?
Unless you’re really fussed about particular Sky programmes or channels, don’t make any rash decisions right now. Virgin Media is using the money saved to acquire the rights to some major shows over the next 12 months, and will be more than doubling the amount of programming available on demand.
And bear in mind if you are a Virgin Media customer you risk losing your broadband connection if you choose to switch to a Sky bundle, and may have to pay £120 to reactivate BT line get broadband services.
Bob de Bilde's Comment:
I was SO pissed off this morning, watching Richard Branson being interviewed on GMTV from HIS PRIVATE ISLAND in the Pacific Ocean, telling dopey Fiona Phillips that he had to make a stand against SKY, when to the external observer, it was Branson's sheer greed that caused the problem.
As I see it, Virgin pay SKY a certain amount of money per customer for SKY basic channels, based on 2005 customer numbers. As the numbers had increased almost exponentially, recently, SKY were asking for a larger payment to reflect this. This was not a revision, but an appropriate and fair request at the regular contract negotiating time.
What is Branson playing at?
I will now be missing the final two episodes of Stargate SG-1 because of the greed of one already wealthy man...
