News - Sky acquisition of Virgin channels confirmed

[HEXUS]

Virgin media will sell is VMtv arm operations to BSkyB for £160 million, Virgin to get more Sky channels.

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[DavidM]

Sky will acquire VMtv, which produces the LIVING, LIVINGit, Challenge, Challenge Jackpot, Bravo, Bravo 2 and Virgin1 channels for £160

I could have possibly stretched to £165 for them!

[scaryjim]

Indeed, £160 sounds like a bargain to me...

[oolon]

Ok great so Sky will control all of the general entertainment channels outside BBC and ITV. I am sure Sky will screw virgin over at some later date now it has nothing to bargin with.

[OilSheikh]

Virgin 1 used to be freeview .. now Sky has got that as well! Dont think will be freeview anymore

[Scott B]

Doh! I've got some kind of mental block over the word "million".

[crossy]

Sky will acquire VMtv, which produces the LIVING, LIVINGit, Challenge, Challenge Jackpot, Bravo, Bravo 2 and Virgin1 channels for £160 and add them to its basic package.

Hmm, £160 for repeats of Star Trek TNG/Voyager/DS9 and those two weird game-related shows on Bravo sounds about right to me.

It won't license the Virgin brand, so Virgin1 will have to be called something else.

RepeatTV perhaps? Shame they couldn't use the old Virgin1 channel to do the stuff that Sky2 used to do, before it became Sky1+1.

Sky will take over ad sales on the VMtv channels from next year.

So guess what they'll be advertising... S_y T_ perhaps? If there's a chance of it removing those damned GoCompare ad's then bring it on.

It will be able to broadcast the full basic Sky package and will have the option of carrying any of its basic HD channels. Virgin will also be able to offer some Sky premium stuff through its on-demand TV service as well a some Internet TV options, including ‘red button' content.

I thought that Virgin customers already got the equivalent of the basic Sky deal - does this mean that we'll see some more channels for no more money*? If so, then I welcome our new Australian overlords...

(* and yes, I realise that come channel deal negotiation time that Sky will probably screw VM rotten)

[stevie lee]

Virgin1+1 seems to have disappeared off freeview at some point in the last week. maybe virgin1 wil go soon like Oilsheik says. who knows?

[Nelsaidi]

Nooooes i want my fresh prince and the guy with the wife and kids!

[Kirano]

Nooooes i want my fresh prince and the guy with the wife and kids!

As do I... and Warehouse 13... and the new series of Chuck.

The signal for Virgin 1 coming from wales has the channel split in two (not sure why, something to do with the fact that we get S4C ) The day time service comes on Virgin 1, which shuts down at about 6pm and the service continues on Virgin1+1... which was pulled last tuesday... So we can't actually watch the good primetime programmes during what little time Virgin1 has left

[Stephen C]

I have Sky HD and all the channels downstairs, with multiroom and a Sky Plus box upstairs.
Does anyone know if I can just purchase a Sky HD box, hook it up in place of the Sky Plus box and receive all the HD channels without any additional fee?