Sky Channels To Be Removed From Virgin Media
Sky is to remove its major channels from Virgin Media at the end of this month after talks between the two broadcasters broke down.
The two companies had been negotiating a rate which Virgin Media would pay for the satellite broadcaster’s basic channels, which include Sky One, Two, Three, Sky News and Sky Sports News (see Branson Vs Murdoch: Round Three).
In a statement, Virgin Media said: “Following an intensive series of meetings over the last week, we now anticipate a withdrawal of these channels by Sky at the end of February.
“The nature of these negotiations leads us to believe that this outcome has been deliberately engineered by Sky in order to suppress competition and coerce Virgin Media’s customers into switching to its service by denying them access to the basic channels.
“This view is reinforced by Sky’s decision to broadcast, at the height of negotiations on 12th February, a series of promotions claiming that the channels were about to disappear from Virgin Media’s network. This was nothing more than a heavy-handed attempt to exert undue influence on the negotiating process.”
Virgin Media customers will still have access to Sky’s premium sport and movie channels.
A report in the Guardian quotes a Sky spokesman as saying: “We have an agreement that Virgin Media can distribute those channels until the end of the month.
“Virgin cannot distribute from the March 1 if there is no agreement so, sadly for our customers, those channels would not be available.”
Steve Burch, president and CEO of Virgin Media said: “Throughout its history, Virgin has challenged the attempts of dominant corporations to manipulate markets, stifle competition and dictate consumer choice. It has done so simply by giving consumers a better deal and Virgin Media is going to do the same.
“Sky’s behavior is a heavy handed and anti-competitive response to that challenge and consumer choice has been reduced as a result. I’m pleased, however, that at a time when they’re taking content away, Virgin Media is giving people more.”
Virgin Media has recently signed content deals with Warner Bros (see Virgin Media Signs Warner Bros Content Deal), HBO, Buena Vista and Alliance Atlantis, amongst others.
Virgin Media: www.virginmedia.com Sky: 08702 40 40 40 www.sky.com