Virgin Media cuts Sky channels prices

Virgin Media has confirmed plans to slash the cost of Sky's premium sport and movies channels for cable television subscribers.

From July 1, new and existing Virgin Media customers taking the M+, L or XL TV packages can add or keep a single Sky Sports channel (Sky Sports 1 or 2) or Sky Movies channel (Sky Movies 1 or 2) for £13.50 per month, offering a saving of up to £9.

Virgin Media will offer the entire Sky Sports Collection - Sky Sports 1, 2, 3 and 4 - to its customers for £20.50 per month, representing a discount of £42 a year on current prices.

The cable operator is also offering the Sky Movies Collection - Sky Movies 1 and 2, plus Sky Movies Premiere, Sky Movies Premiere +1, Sky Movies Showcase and Disney Cinemagic - for £19.50, delivering an annual saving of up to £84.

The combined Sky Sports and Sky Movies Collection will be available in one package for £27.50 per month, offering a saving of up to £72 per year.

The new pricing arrangement follows a few key developments in Virgin Media's relationship with Sky, starting with the introduction of Ofcom's new wholesale must offer model.

In March, Ofcom ordered Sky to offer Sky Sports 1 and 2 to rival operators for £10.63 per subscriber per month for each channel on a standalone basis, representing a reduction of 23.4%. A bundle of both channels, which most service providers prefer to offer, was trimmed by 10.5% from £19.15 to £17.14.

Sky reached an interim agreement in April with Virgin Media, BT Vision and Top Up TV for the new pricing arrangement to come into force.

The price reduction in the Sky Movies channels follows a range of carriage agreements between Virgin Media and Sky as part of the sale of Virgin Media Television to the satellite broadcaster.

However, Virgin Media has lodged a legal challenge at the Court of Appeal against Ofcom's pricing model for not directly including Sky Sports 3, 4 and the Sky Movies channels.