Finally! Virgin Media and Sky have reached an agreement in their long-running carriage dispute, where Virgin accused Sky of unfairly doubling the price of their channels in March '07. The argument resulted in Virgin Media subscribers losing Sky channels from their packages, like Sky1 and Sky News. But now, after months of renewed discussion, an agreement has been reached...
From 13 November, Virgin subscribers to the "M" package will find Sky3, Sky News and Sky Sports News available; Sky1 and Sky2 will become available in the "L" package; and Sky Arts 1, Sky Arts 2, Sky Real Lives and Sky Real Lives 2 will join the "XL" line-up. Sky subscribers will find they have access to Living, Bravo, Trouble and Virgin1.
Virgin Media CEO, Neil Berkett:
"We are pleased to bring our carriage negotiations with Sky to a successful close. I believe this agreement represents a fair deal and is the right thing for our customers. We recognise the quality and popularity of Sky's channels and look forward to welcoming them back to Virgin Media's TV service. We are also pleased to secure Sky's continued carriage of the Virgin Media Television channels until June 2011."
Sky CEO, Jeremy Darroch:
"This is great news for Sky and Virgin Media customers alike. We want our channels to be enjoyed by as many people as possible so we're delighted to secure their return to the Virgin Media platform."
