Virgin Media could sell content division in next few weeks

Virgin Media could begin the sale of its content division within the next few weeks.

A sales memorandum is expected to be issued following a board meeting later this week after publication of its fourth quarter results on Wednesday, said a report in MediaWeek.

Virgin Media’s content division, thought to be worth about £500 million, includes assets such as the company’s 50% stake in UKTV, ad sales house IDS and channels including Living.

According to MediaWeek, interested parties include BSkyB, Channel 4, NBC Universal, RTL Group and several private equity groups.

Lord Carter’s Digital Britain review, published last month (see Broadband for all by 2012), could complicate the sale, as it suggested that Channel should look at ways of partnering with BBC Worldwide.

The broadcaster is in talks with BBC Worldwide about the possibility of taking on some sales contracts from IDS to up its scale, price and power in the market, said MediaWeek.

In 2007, Virgin Media’s content division generated revenue of £348 million and reported a pre-tax loss of £6.9 million.