5 November 2008
Virgin Media and Sky have ended their ongoing feud and signed a digital TV deal that will see Sky channels broadcast on Virgin's cable platform. The row began at the beginning of last year when the two sides were unable to reach agreement over how much Virgin would pay to broadcast the basic Sky package. Subsequently, channels including Sky One and Sky News and Sky Sports News have been unavailable to Virgin Media subscribers. But the two pay TV providers have now settled their dispute and Sky's basic channels will return to Virgin from November 13th. A second agreement has also been reached that will see the continued broadcast of Virgin's basic offerings on Sky. These are Living, Living Two, Bravo, Bravo Two, Trouble, Challenge and Virgin One. However, both Virgin and Sky are now facing increased competition from free-to-air TV services as consumers look to cut down their spending in the face of a looming recession. Figures from Ofcom show that 900,000 UK households now have a free satellite service.