Virgin set to take Sky to the courts this week
Tuesday, April 10th, 2007The Branson/Murdoch Jr. battle extends to the courtroom
Virgin Media is set this week to submit a plea to the High Court over the decision made by Sky, to pull its premium channels from the cable TV platform.
A statement released by Virgin in March read that “Following Sky’s withdrawal of its basic channels from Virgin Media’s TV service, Virgin Media has formally advised Sky that it will pursue action in the high court if their carriage disputes are not resolved within 30 days.” It is believed that Virgin will make good of its legal threat – after seemingly have given a Sky an Easter weekend reprieve – by the end of this week.
The expected legal action is the culmination of a bitter struggle between Sky and Virgin the loss of Sky channels from the Virgin Media cable platform. The fierce advertising battle has seen an extensive Sky billboard campaign deriding Virgin’s lack of hit shows such as The Simpsons and Lost, and Virgin taking out huge 4-page pullout advertisements for its services in the Sky-affiliated Sun newspaper.
Each company has accused the other of acting unreasonably in attempts to agree a new deal which sees Virgin pay Sky a carriage fee for its more popular channels such as Sky News and Sky One.
Virgin’s claim is that Sky wanted double the amount for carrying the channels than previously charged under a deal which expired this February; Sky has insisted that it only wanted 20% more.
Sky spokespeople have stated in the past that the company is prepared to “defend itself vigorously should Virgin Media decide to extend its PR campaign to the courts,” and Virgin seem equally committed to drag Sky through the courts to end what they see as a “systematic abuse of dominance” of the pay-TV market.
