Virgin 1 prepares for its maiden voyage
Thursday, August 30th, 2007Exclusive US drama and free weekend football from Virgin
Virgin Media have rolled out the red carpet for their new soon to be launched flagship channel - Virgin 1. The logo, a red monolithic ‘1′ surmounted by the traditional Virgin lipstick calligraphy, has been designed around a concept of capitalising on the brand strength of Virgin, or as Jon King of Virgin Media TV says, “reclaiming red”, the “colour forever associated with the iconic Virgin brand”.
This new channel, which will directly compete for ratings with Sky One, launches later this month on Freeview and Sky as well as cable. Since the carriage fees farce, Virgin have been busy shilling out for a range of entertainment and sci-fi to compete with Sky, and have so far racked up an impressive roster of shows including hotly anticipated Terminator spin-off The Sarah Connor Chronicles, the entirety of the Star Trek franchise to date, and all the Bond movies. LA-based legal drama Justice rubs shoulders with Las Vegas-based casino drama Viva Laughlin, itself based on the BBC3 show Viva Blackpool, and also making the line-up is The Riches, which stars Minnie Driver and Eddie Izzard as Irish con artists.
The worryingly titled Crime Invasion: Britain’s New Underworld, which documents the rise of foreign gangs in the UK crime will also feature, and sounds like its set to milk people’s intolerance glands into overdrive.
Virgin have also made a push for Sky territory with football allies Setanta at their side by allowing TV customers free access to selected Setanta channels (Setanta Sports 1, 2 and Setanta Golf) over the weekend. This is available to all Virgin Media TV customers regardless of which Size TV package they have. This weekend sees Manchester United take on Sunderland on Setanta, and hopefully will be a big draw for punters.
