Virgin Media News

[COOPERMAN]

When is this all supposed to launch? So there's no chance of getting the SKY channels back?

[mertle]

Originally Posted by havaska

There are two more, the 'Small World' in the far north west of England and South Scotland, and Wight Cable which is only available on the Isle of Wight.

thanks for that. Not much left then for them to own every thing.

Whether VM interested in blanket ownership is another matter.

[grabbi]

I believe Wight Cable is available in some areas in the North West.

Dunno where I heard that, but apparently it is. (Only a few places though)

[havaska]

I believe Wight Cable is available in some areas in the North West.

Wight Cable North, which is what you are referring to, is what is now known as 'Small World'

[grabbi]

Thanks.

Thought I was going mad!

[TV Boy]

Last night Sir Richard Branson admitted that he might consider buying back Virgin Radio.

In The Big Listen live debate on the future of commercial radio last night, Branson was quizzed on whether he would buy back Virgin Radio, which he sold to Chris Evans in 1997.

He replied: "I don't know. It's certainly a possibility. It's not something which we're looking into immediately but we had some exciting days when Chris Evans was involved. And it has perhaps lost some of the gloss that it had once… We're always interested in new challenges."
News from Broadcast.

[grabbi]

Well, apparently Virgin Media want that to add to the portfolio, so with Branson undecided I guess that Virgin are the front runners for that.

In the mean time, I know that this isnt Virgin Media NEWS, (Although Virgin Media do use the product in Question) FaceBook and Sky are dealing with each other.

What gets me is Sky are dealing with Facebook, een though Sky is affiliated with MySpace!

Could it be that Sky want to remove FaceBook?

[TV Boy]

Virgin Media is on the verge of selling international distribution arm Minotaur and is understood to be in exclusive talks with Target Entertainment for a price estimated to be between £6m and £7m.

This is not the first time rumours about a deal between Minotaur and Target have circulated.

The pair were thought to have held discussions about a possible merger in the past.

News of the potential acquisition comes just weeks after the Digital Rights Group acquired Portman Film and Television, ID Distribution and the distribution arm of Zeal and further represents a move towards consolidation within the distribution sector.

Minotaur was set up in 1995 by Jane Lighting, now chief executive of Five.

She sold the company to Flextech Television, now Virgin Media Television, in 1999.

Minotaur, whose catalogue includes programmes such as Taggart and Rebus, had a turnover of £5.7m in 2005, according to Broadcast's 2006 distribution survey.

Target was set up by Alison Rayson in 1998.

It had a turnover of £7.9m and a pre-tax profit of £1.02m in 2005.

Virgin refused to comment.
Info from Broadcast.

[TV Boy]

Mike Darcey, BSkyB's chief operating officer, speaking yesterday at the IEA conference on the Future of Broadcasting, could not resist a dig at Virgin Media.

He said Virgin Media had spent £40m on its new Virgin One channel, more than would have been required to retain the Sky channels.
"Time will tell whether Virgin Media's customers view this is a good choice," he said.

News from the Telegraph.

---------- Post added at 15:28 ---------- Previous post was at 15:23 ----------

Virgin Media Television has appointed David Clarke to the newly created post of channel controller Bravo, Bravo2, Challenge and Trouble.

Reporting directly to Celia Taylor, director of programmes for Virgin 1, Bravo, Bravo 2, Challenge and Trouble, he begins this role with immediate effect. He will oversee the direction of each brand and help drive the programme strategy while supervising all commissions and acquisitions.

Clarke joined Virgin Media Television in 1998 and was appointed channel editor for Bravo in June 2003, before being promoted to managing editor Bravo and Bravo2 in September 2006. He has been integral with revitalising the Bravo brand, including working on the rebrand last year to tie in with its 21st anniversary.

During his time with Bravo, Clarke has been responsible for bringing the likes of Blade: The Series and David Mamet’s US drama The Unit to the channel. He also brokered exclusive rights deal to Football Italia in 2005, Virgin Media Television’s largest sports acquisition to date.

Celia Taylor, director of programmes, said: "Dave’s passion and enthusiasm is a real asset and it’s great to have such smart and dedicated people to work with. I’m delighted that Dave will play such an important role with the growth of Bravo, Trouble and Challenge."

Elsewhere in the programming team, Ronan Hand has been appointed acquisitions manager for Bravo and Bravo2. Formerly acquisitions executive, Hand has been integral with negotiations around cult series Dog The Bounty Hunter, now in its fourth season on Bravo, Monster Trucks and TNA Wrestling.

Info from Broadcast.

[LiamTG]

Nice one!

Sky having a bit of a laff then. Let's hope that VM, when it pulls its socks up, will wipe the smile of his greedy fat face!

[grabbi]

Wouldnt it be great to have Living and Bravo in HD - Exclusive to Virgin Media?

[McYorkie]

It would - but they'd still need the audiences that Dsat provides to get ad revenue and in to help pay for the cost of running them, as well as viewers. Otherwise they'd have pulled the SD versions as a tit for tat in the Sky battle - and VM can't afford to lose 8 - 10 m Sky homes for distribution.

Cable exclusive channels have been tried before time and again by ntl and its predecessors and all of them have failed, the most recent being a couple of years ago - "The Studio" I seem to remember, which was a movie channel JV with Universal Studios.

In any case, Virgin One very likely isn't going to have a HD channel simulcast, so why expect a HD variant of Living or Bravo? Virgin management don't have the imagination to think that way - or the inclination to even turn the existing channels widescreen in SD.

[grabbi]

Do you think that VM or Sky will start issuing equipment that automatically adjusts to whatever the TV is?

Like Xbox 360's, they make HD games downscale to go on normal Scart Recieving TVs. Thatd eliminate the need for more channels, and the same channel with the same number would broadcast in HD and SD formats?

[TV Boy]

Sky files Virgin court response

BSkyB has filed its defence against Virgin Media in the High Court, stating that the cable company's accusation of anti-competitive behaviour is "without foundation".

In a statement issued today, Sky said Virgin Media customers deserved to know that the reason they were without of the basic channels was because the cable operator's management team "chose to stop negotiating months ago".

It added that the compromise offer made by Sky to Virgin Media in May - "which was rejected by Virgin with no counter-offer", had requested a like-for-like increase of just 6% in the cost of carrying Sky basic channels.

Two months later "Almost two months have passed since then and Virgin has yet to put forward an alternative proposal," Sky said adding that Virgin Media's legal claim did not fit with either its public criticism of the quality of the Sky basic channels or its admission that it chose not to carry them for commercial reasons.

The statement said: "In February, Sir Richard Branson called Sky One programmes 'pretty rubbish' and, only last week, Virgin Media boss Steve Burch publicly confirmed that it was a 'business decision' not to carry the Sky basic channels.

"The fair thing to do is for Virgin's management to put customers first and do a deal."

Change of ownership Referring to Virgin Media's potential change of ownership, following the cable operator's admission yesterday it had been approached by a bidder, understood to be the Carlyle Group, Sky said: "If there is a change of ownership at Virgin Media, we hope that any new management would take a more rational and credible approach and return to serious commercial negotiations with the aim of restoring Sky basic channels to Virgin Media customers within days".

"Our response shows that Virgin Media's claims are without foundation."

Sky was given three extensions by which to submit its defence to the High Court.
Info from Broadcast.

[gadge]

Originally Posted by TV Boy

Sky files Virgin court response

BSkyB has filed its defence against Virgin Media in the High Court, stating that the cable company's accusation of anti-competitive behaviour is "without foundation".

In a statement issued today, Sky said Virgin Media customers deserved to know that the reason they were without of the basic channels was because the cable operator's management team "chose to stop negotiating months ago".

It added that the compromise offer made by Sky to Virgin Media in May - "which was rejected by Virgin with no counter-offer", had requested a like-for-like increase of just 6% in the cost of carrying Sky basic channels.

Two months later "Almost two months have passed since then and Virgin has yet to put forward an alternative proposal," Sky said adding that Virgin Media's legal claim did not fit with either its public criticism of the quality of the Sky basic channels or its admission that it chose not to carry them for commercial reasons.

The statement said: "In February, Sir Richard Branson called Sky One programmes 'pretty rubbish' and, only last week, Virgin Media boss Steve Burch publicly confirmed that it was a 'business decision' not to carry the Sky basic channels.

"The fair thing to do is for Virgin's management to put customers first and do a deal."

Change of ownership Referring to Virgin Media's potential change of ownership, following the cable operator's admission yesterday it had been approached by a bidder, understood to be the Carlyle Group, Sky said: "If there is a change of ownership at Virgin Media, we hope that any new management would take a more rational and credible approach and return to serious commercial negotiations with the aim of restoring Sky basic channels to Virgin Media customers within days".

"Our response shows that Virgin Media's claims are without foundation."

Sky was given three extensions by which to submit its defence to the High Court.
Info from Broadcast.

This intresting aswell the group if they buy virgin will end the sky spat.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/mai...nvirgin203.xml