Virgin Media Televison

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/digitaltv/news/a223495/sky-agrees-deal-for-virgin-tv-channels.html

I see this has been confirmed.

A good move for Virgin Media customers in my opinion. Whilst it seems the channels will be still available in some shape or form (even if just the content on a Sky channel), VM customers will also get Sky programmes on on-demand (something I will particularly enjoy) and HD offerings.

Why would they end up with just them? There are other broadcasters out there

Yes, it allows Virgin Media to concentrate on their core business and at the same time makes their cable packages more attractive through the addition of Sky's content.

£160 million is a heck of a lot for a handful of TV channels, I think the predictions of them closing down anything more than Virgin 1 are way off the mark. you don't pay £40 million for a channel brand just to close it down!

I've not read the ins and outs of this deal, but will it mean Living HD is coming to Sky? I understand it's already on Virgin?

Although some stuff will be more than welcome - especially in sport with Football First, the non-UK Champions League games and over flow events such as foreign cricket.

What's more, Virgin Media will be able to deliver some of these, e.g. Football First, better than Sky with their Video on Demand services.

If Virgin now secure the Sky Sports HD & Movie channels, to me they would have an unequalled platform in terms of HD offering and video on-demand.

I'm sounding like a fanboy but I love my cable.

I too love my cable. It is impressive. Many have said so.

I guess if Sky own it, it'll almost certainly be added to Sky's line-up.

I'm quite surprised that they've given the option for Virgin to carry Sky's HD channels. The larger HD offering on Sky has been one of their main competitive advantages over Virgin of late. I would have thought they would have done all they could to protect that.

Presumably, that's why this deal took so long to thrash out. Virgin will have wanted to make sure that they got a decent guarantee about access to channels; otherwise they would've left themselves at quite a disadvantage - having no channels of their own with which to bargain in any future carriage negotiations.

AIUI, the new carriage deal is for quite a length period, rather than the usual 2 or 3 years. That gives Virgin a stability and assurance that they probably haven't had for quite a while - and some money in the bank for investment or debt reduction.

Do you really think their channels really gave them much clout when it came to regular carriage negotiations? Living, Challenge, Bravo and Virgin1 vs Sky Sports, Sky One, Sky News and Sky Movies.....? When Sky left cable a few years ago it did cause many people to move over to Sky... how many would do that if Living suddenly disappared from satellite?

You're right though that the security they've bought now for the company is a very good thing. Personally I'm surprised they got the deals and the money

Virgin need Sky Sports as much as Sky need Virgin to offer it.

Sky Movies could be quite easily copied if ever there was the need.

Sky Movies certainly isn't the draw it once was, even less so on cable with on demand