Virgin Media and Setanta Sports have agreed a significant distribution deal that will place six Setanta channels in Virgin Media’s big basic XL TV package. The cablenet has stressed that the pricing is a permenant fixture and not a limited. Subscribers to Virgin’s M and L packages can get the Setanta package for an additional £8 per month. The operator says that viewers will pay £110 less than with Sky.
“When we launched Virgin Media last February, we said we were going to shake things up, provide something unique and give our customers superior offerings,” said Virgin Media’s CEO of content Malcolm Wall. “Today we’re making a down payment on our promise by giving our customers the very best sporting action combined with unbeatable value.”
It is unlikely that Virgin will be worried about possible spindown from the Sky Sports premium channels given the small margins that the cablenet makes on the Sky-branded premium channels. Sky Sports has four packages from the Premiership compared to Setanta’s two and the Virgin agreement is likely to boost audiences for Setanta’s coverage that begins when the new season starts next month.
