In full: Virgin's statement to customers

Virgin Media has issued a statement on its website regarding the withdrawal of Sky's basic channels from its TV service. Get the full story by clicking here; the statement is carried in full below.

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Hello,

If you're wondering whats happened to your basic Sky channels, read on to find out more.

Got Sky Sports or Sky Movies?
Then you can relax, these services are not affected. So you can keep enjoying them - just as you've always done.

What's happened to the basic channels?
- As you may have heard, we've spent the last few weeks trying to make sure that all of Sky's channels remain on Virgin Media.
- But Sky asked us to pay such an unrealistically high price that keeping them would mean asking you to pay the kind of increase that is simply unfair.
- We refuse to stand by and see our customers get ripped off.
- So thanks to Sky, some of their non-premium channels, like Sky One and Sky News have disappeared from our service.

Freeview customers set to lose channels too
Virgin Media customers are not the only people to feel the brunt of Sky's bullying tactics. Freeview customers are affected, too. Sky announced that it will be removing its channels from the Freeview service before the summer.

So what are we going to do?
At Virgin Media we stand up for our customers, making sure you get a better deal and giving you more.

Get more back
We're going to give the money saved back to you in the form of even more of your favourite TV shows and films to watch whenever you want. For example, HBO will be joining our on demand service in April with some great series including The Sopranos, Band of Brothers and Six Feet Under.

Watch the best shows for free
We've launched Virgin Central, our new free service on channel 119, which includes:

- Nip/Tuck
- The O.C.
- Spooks
- Grey's Anatomy

They all start and stop at whatever time you say so. We'll be adding heaps more, too. Just flick to channel 119 and take a look.

The very best in film, music and TV at your beck and call
The good stuff doesn't stop there. We've got over 500 films, 1000s of music videos and hundreds of other great TV shows at your beck and call, too – all through our on demand service.
Worried about losing Lost?

We're planning to add all 3 series of Lost to our revolutionary on demand service. Series 1 and 2 will be available soon and series 3 is coming your way later this year. What's more, since they're all available on demand, they'll be ready for you to watch anytime you like. Watch one, watch them all, back to back – without the ads.

Virgin Media is the only place to get these ground-breaking services and we want to put you in control.
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