Sky Buy TV Channels From Rival Virgin As They Buddy Up
Sky and Virgin get into bed together
Satellite broadcaster Sky have payed rival tv network Virgin Media $250m (£160m) in exchange for a selection of television channels in a deal that also sees Virgin coming out with new HD TV content for their subscribers.
Agreed yesterday , the deal gives Sky the Virgin Media Television channels such as Bravo, Living and Virgin 1. Although Virgin 1 will not unexpectedly be rebranded.. Additionally, Virgin can now give their subscribers access to Sky HD high definition tv channels such as Sky Sports HD 1 and the Sky Movies HD range. It is expected that the deal will also let Virgin stream the tv channels content over the net.
Currently Virgin already screens several Sky channels such as Sky 1, Sky News and Sky Arts,. This deal will be extended and Virgin can still show the channels it has sold to Sky. Virgin are however now concentrating on distributing channels rather than providing them.
The deal also gives Virgin customers more HD channels which are all the rage right now, and is said to be the reason for Sky’s continued growth. The deal means Sky saves around £30m each year that it pays Virgin for transmission rights.
Neil Berkett, the Virgin chief executive, said: “It will allow us to focus more closely on our strategy of exploiting Virgin Media’s super-fast connectivity to offer our customers a range of the very best content”. Jeremy Darroch of Sky said:- “We are pleased that, through commercial negotiation, we have been able to ensure wide distribution of our channels to a growing pay TV universe.”
The move is a warming of relations between the rivals who havefought bitterly in the past over access to each other’s channels, and Sky are currently appealing against a ruling by Ofcom, the broadcasting regulator, that it must cut the prices it charges Virgin and others for premium channels such as Sky Sports. Virgin, BT and several smaller operators.
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sky and virgin media, SKY Network TelevisionRelated posts:
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