Pricing Feud Causes Rift Between Virgin Media and Sky TV

1:14 am on February 26, 2007 | Category: Business, Telecom Services, Television

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CEO, Steve Burch, of Virgin Media has accused UK satellite provider, BSkyB of “bullying” and “arrogance” in recent price negotiations between the two companies.

Virgin Media is now planning to drop the Sky Basics TV package from its cable television lineup, after BSkyB allegedly tried to “nearly double” the content fees it was charging the popular cable operator.

Sky, which recently ran commercials encouraging customers to demand that Virgin Media not drop its content, claims to have negotiated in good faith and “shown flexibility on price.”

“We categorically reject their claims that we have broken off negotiations or that we are seeking to more than double the price of these channels,” the broadcaster said in a statement.

Virgin Media — which was formed earlier this month by the merger of NTL, Telewest, and Virgin Mobile — will lose some of its most popular content, including shows like “24” and “The Simpsons,” if no last minute agreement can be reached with Sky.

The company says that its cable offerings will still be competitive, however, due to its recent content agreements with the likes of Time Warner, Buena Vista, and HBO.

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    Edited by Jeremy Maddock