Virgin Media, which once said it lost money on every Sky premium subscription it sold, has announced plans to reduce the cost of the Sky Sports and Sky Movies channels.
The reduction – equivalent to an annual saving of £108 (€129) – comes in the wake of the interim settlement with the Competition Appeal Tribunal and the recent carriage fee deal made with BSkyB itself.
It is possible for Virgin Media subscribers to take one of the Sky Movies channels for £13.50 per month on top of their current cable TV package, a saving of £7 for lower and mid-tier customers, and £3 for high end subscribers.
Sky Sports 1 or 2 are now priced at £13.50 per month, while the complete Sky Sports bouquet of four channels is now set at £20.50 per month, saving £3.50 for mid and lower tier customers.
Those subscribers taking the combined Movies and Sports bundles can make a saving of £6, paying £27.50 per month in line with those on the higher tier.
Last month BT, which like Virgin had fought a regulatory battle to have Sky reduce its wholesale charges, said it wanted to price the Sports package at around £20.