A carriage dispute between Virgin Media Ireland and eir has left viewers unable to watch coverage of the Champions League.
In a statement issued over Twitter on Thursday evening the broadcaster said “We have suspended our supply of Virgin Media Sport and Virgin Media Sport Extra to eir Sport because, eir has failed to pay the contracted distribution licence fee.”
The dispute relates to whether the platform should pay the full cost for the channel for the months when live sport was absent.
A spokesperson for Virgin Media told Broadband TV News the company was disappointed. “While we appreciate these are challenging times for all businesses amid the COVID-19 crisis, the Champions League and Europa League competitions are being played to a conclusion in the next few days and it is a real shame for eir Sport customers to be denied the chance to watch these matches.
“Virgin Media has made every effort to resolve this dispute, but eir Sport have failed to pay the contracted distribution licence fee and despite lengthy discussions, we have been unable to come to an agreement on this issue.”
An added dynamic to the stand off is a reciprocal agreement between the two companies who are both platforms and broadcasters.
Under the deal, struck last August, Virgin Media Sport is available to eir customers as part of the eir sport pack and in turn, eir sport is available to Virgin Media TV customers.
Broadband TV News has approached eir for comment.
