Virgin V Sky - (Virgin Staff Notice)

johnsta2007

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Hi all

bit info for you on the recent Sky V Virgin thing thats going on...

Here's a statment for Virgin employees, of course its Virgin Biast, but make of it what you will, it gives no dates etc for a release of the sky channels back on the platform...

Message from Neil Berkett - Sky update

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Hi everyone

In May I updated you on the situation with Sky and what we've been doing in response to their actions over the past months. As you may know, we recently filed our case against them as part of the court action we're undertaking. Yesterday, in response Sky filed their defence.

Their response will cause some media interest and some information has already hit the headlines, so I wanted to drop you all a line to let you know the facts, not the fiction.

The defence that Sky has submitted fails to offer a credible response to our claim. It looks to portray their anti-competitive behaviour as normal commercial behaviour, but what it actually shows is an entirely irrational approach to how they value channels.

When you couple this with continued use of their dominant market power to suppress competition from other providers and competitors, it simply reinforces the fact that we can't stand by and do nothing whilst they rip us and consumers off.

For example, their defence fails to explain why Sky slashed the amount it pays for our channels by 85%, while another comparable broadcaster (UKTV), with similar recent growth in viewing figures, actually received an increase in the amount they were paid for their channels. This action is all the more bizarre given that both negotiations were conducted at the same time, by the same negotiating teams.

I'm also aware that we've been the target over recent weeks of a particularly focused marketing campaign by Sky. The messages from Sky continue to be aggressive.

We're frequently asked how we're going to respond. My answer as always is, we're not going to get drawn into a tit-for-tat battle with Sky in the press. In fact our research shows that people are getting tired with all of Sky's posturing and mud slinging.

They've spent in the region of £17 million on their latest campaign, just for the last seven weeks. That's more than four times the amount we spent in the same period and more than half of what Sky normally spends a year on press adverts. In fact Sky's spending is increasing by £8 million this year just in response to the arrival of Virgin Media.

I'm sure their campaign will continue, but remember this; we don't think Sky are getting any real benefit from their activities. They're simply trying to "stir the pot" with this campaign and it's not working, and that's thanks to you for your continued response and hard work.

As the dominant player in retail pay TV, Sky has a special responsibility not to harm competition. That's inconsistent with their actions and their defence they've put forward.

We're going to continue to send the message to Sky that they can't do what they want, when they want and behave as they wish. It's clear that both the removal of their basic channels and the negotiations with Virgin Media TV were abnormal, extreme and uncompetitive. Nothing in their defence justifies that, given Sky's obligations under competition law.

That's all for now, but as soon as I have another update I'll make sure you're fully updated.

Thanks and keep up the great work.

Neil Berkett
COO
 
not sure how much of this will mean anythink in the next few weeks, with the news that virgin could be getting taken over by a pvt group.
 
It will mean absolutley nothing.

The company won't change, it would just go from a public company to a private company. NTL:Telewest didnt sell out to virgin, they just allowed Richard Branson to put his name to the company by buying shares.

NTL:Telewest bought a 25 year lease on the virgin brand name, and this would remain in place after any private take over bid

Hope this helps too!
 
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