Virgin will not stop customers quitting over Sky row

Virgin Media said it believes customers back its battle with Sky but it will not stop them switching to another TV provider if they are unhappy about losing several popular channels.

Hundreds of thousands of customers have been left without Sky One, Sky Travel, Sky News and Sky Sports News after talks broke down over how much Virgin Media - formerly NTL, pays Sky to screen its channels.

Virgin Media chief executive Steve Burch said: “We think our customers will quickly recognise that the improvements we’ve recently made to our TV service, together with other exciting enhancements we’ve got in the pipeline, make Virgin Media’s TV service the most comprehensive and exciting in the UK.

“Over the next month, however, if they don’t agree, we will not use technical legalities to stand in the way of them switching to another service.

“Among both our customers and the public as a whole, we believe there is a significant groundswell of support for our decision to stand up to Sky; we are determined to ensure it is the customer that benefits from our determination to do so.”

Virgin said it plans to cushion the blow of losing Sky channels by announcing a major movie promotion soon.

The National Consumer Council (NCC) said yesterday it may push for a review of the digital television market by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) if the situation is not resolved.

It has until the end of the month to submit a “supercomplaint” if a feature of a market is “significantly harming the interests of consumers”. That can lead to enforcement action by the OFT, the launch of a market study or referral to the Competition Commission.

NCC claims more than three million Virgin Media customers are affected.

Virgin Media welcomed the announcement in a statement which said: “We will fully cooperate with the NCC and the regulators, should they be asked to intervene.”

Virgin said it is not in breach of its contract with customers, even with the loss of several channels, and will allow viewers to cancel their contract at any time up to the end of the month.

Sky One, Sky Travel, Sky News and Sky Sports News disappeared from screens shortly after midnight yesterday, disappointing fans of popular series like 24 and Lost.

Sky has said it is disappointed viewers are missing out, but blamed Virgin Media for rejecting all its offers.

Virgin Media’s problems could get worse as TV installation contractors are threatening strike action over pay.

Last month, 900 engineers employed by Cobra at 19 locations across Britain were given notice that new contracts of employment would be issued this month.

GMB has written to the company to say it must give a minimum of 90-days notice because of the number of employees affected.