BSkyB and Virgin Media - a pair of broadcasters who together hold a 42 per cent share of the UK's digital TV - have today agreed new channel carriage deals that will see Sky's basic channels return to Virgin Media's cable service.
Back in March 2007, Sky withdrew its channels from Virgin's service in the wake of a well-publicised and bitter falling out. However, in the face of an ongoing Ofcom consultation, Sky's agreement with Virgin will see the likes of Sky 1, Sky 2, Sky 3, Sky News, Sky Sports News, Sky Arts 1, Sky Arts 2, Sky Real Lives and Sky Real Lives 2 return to Virgin Media.
The new agreement runs until June 12th 2011, and an existing agreement for Virgin's basic channels to air on Sky has been extended until the same date.
It's good news for viewers, but the channels aren't all free of charge. Sky 3, Sky News and Sky Sports News will become part of Virgin Media's free "M" TV package. At a cost, Sky 1 and Sky 2 will be part of Virgin Media's "L" package and Sky Arts 1, Sky Arts 2, Sky Real Lives and Sky Real Lives 2 will be part of Virgin Media's "XL" package.
Neil Berkett, Virgin Media's CEO, said:
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 VMTV channels until June 2011.
