Virgin Takes on Sky with New Package

LONDON, February 15: Virgin Media is undercutting BSkyB with its new sports package, delivering Sky Sports 1, 2, 3 and Xtra, along with 39 other digital channels, including E4, CBeebies and ITV2, for a total monthly subscription of £26 ($51).

The Sky Sports offer is open to anyone with an ?11 Virgin Media phone line. An equivalent package from Sky, based on its basic TV package with Sky Sports and a BT phone line, costs £45 a month.

In addition to the linear channels, subscribers can also access the quad-play company’s on-demand offerings, featuring more than 500 movies and thousands of hours of episodic TV.

Commenting on the new offer, Steve Burch, the company’s president and CEO, noted: "At last week’s launch of Virgin Media, we said we would to live up to the Virgin promise by giving consumers great products, more choice and better value. We also said we would use our product portfolio to deliver on that promise and help consumers who may be getting a raw deal from our competitors. These new services deliver on both counts. They will not be the last that do so."