Sky responds to Virgin court action

Mike Darcey, Sky’s chief operating officer, has said that Virgin Media is putting its own financial interests before giving customers the service they want.

His comments come in response to yesterday's move by Virgin Media to take Sky to the High Court due to an ongoing dispute over the carriage of Sky's basic channels on the cable platform.

Darcey said: "This action is without foundation and is an obstacle to bringing back Sky’s basic channels for Virgin Media customers. The best and quickest way to give customers what they want is to resume negotiations and we’ve invited Virgin Media to return to the table."

Sky removed its basic channels from the Virgin Media service on March 1, after both sides could not agree on the price Virgin Media should pay to carry the channels.

Sky claims that "for a cost of just 3p per customer per day," Virgin Media could offer a "bigger and better choice of Sky channels than ever before."

"Virgin Media is saving money as a result of this dispute but it hasn’t reduced prices. Millions of customers have lost access to the shows they enjoy and it is clear that many resent paying full prices for fewer channels."

"Increasingly, customers will ask whether Virgin Media is putting its own financial interests before giving them the service they want," Darcey added.

In some cases, Virgin Media has allowed customers to end existing contracts if they are unhappy with the lack of Sky channels, with most being offered new 'retention' deals to stay with Virgin.