Virgin Media customers risk losing access to the Saturday lunchtime Premier League match if negotiations with TNT Sports do not reach a satisfactory conclusion.
TNT, a JV between BT and Warner Bros Discovery, are said to be in “hot dispute” as Virgin looks for a “significant” price reduction on a new three-year deal while TNT is trying to hold onto the existing terms.
The Daily Telegraph, which first reported the story, said Virgin is understood to have argued that its cost per subscriber has risen sharply due to declining viewing figures on the channel. There is however still a month to go under the present contract and discussions are continuing.
TNT Sports, which last year rebranded from BT Sport, also has rights to Premiership Rugby, Autumn Nations Rugby, and International Cricket played in Australia, New Zealand and the West Indies.
Sister channel Eurosport is not a part of the negotiations.
Last year, TNT Sports was taken out of Virgin’s pay-TV bundles, and is now a paid-for ad on.
Both Virgin and Warner Bros have previously been part of protracted carriage disputes, in 2018 Virgin Media failed to reach agreement with UKTV, while a year early Discovery was involved in a series of disputes with Scandinavian broadcasters.
Virgin Media and TNT Sports declined to comment.
