Are you a subscriber to Virgin Media / NTL / Telewest or whatever they're calling themselves?

Are you missing Sky One, Sky News and other channels?

Virgin don't think that it's worth paying a few pence per day so that you can have these channels.. even though Sky One is the most popular non-terrestrial channel according to official figures from BARB.

This has happened basically because Virgin Media threw its toys out of the pram after a row with Sky. Virgin owns a number of fairly unpopular channels such as Living TV and Bravo - when Virgin tried to sell them to Sky, Sky offered them less than Virgin thought they were worth. That upset Virgin, so that when Sky asked for more money for its channels, Virgin walked away from the negotiations.

As a result, Virgin Media subscribers can no longer watch shows such as 24, Lost, Nip/Tuck, The Simpsons, Battlestar Galactica, Stargate and many other popular shows. Virgin claims that their channels such as Bravo and Living TV, plus their dedicated repeats channel makes up for the loss of new drama from the US.

Virgin Media are having a laugh.

And here's the thing.. Virgin Media isn't cheap. Many subscribers pay £60 per month or even more for a TV service that cannot even deliver Sky One. And Virgin Media won't offer a reduction in price for the loss of these so-called "expensive" channels. Why? Because Virgin Media doesn't care about the customer.. this is all about profits.

Sky said that they want to charge 3p per day for these channels per subscriber. Virgin say that they want 6p. So, even if you're paying £60 or more per month, then Virgin thinks that the 6p/3p or whatever a day is too much for them to pay out of your subscription.

Don't stand for it.

What can you do?

One simple way of registering your displeasure is to vote in Virgin Media's poll. Although they've done a good job at ignoring your customers so far.. but at the time of writing this, 48.21% of customers say that they are going to leave Virgin Media.

Contact Virgin Media's cancellation line (see here for the numbers) and explain that you are thinking about cancelling your account due to the withdrawal of these channels. Either demand a discount there and then, or simply downgrade your package to the one you want. If you just want a basic broadband and TV package that should be no more than £20 per month, rather than the rip-off £60, £80 or more that some customers are charged.

When talking to the Virgin Media agent: remember - be polite but firm, it's not the fault of the person on the other end. The Retention Department is authorised to make you an offer to keep you, which could be a reduction of £10 per month or more.. if the agent can't help you, then ask to speak to their supervisor who will probably have more options.

If they resist.. and there is no doubt that Virgin Media staff will have been given instructions to try to keep you, then suggest that withdrawing the most popular nonterrestrial channels may be a breach of contract. Remember, Sky One has always been heavily advertised as part of any NTL / Telewest / Virgin Media package and removing it is a fundamental change to the service, and the service you receive is no longer as advertised.

And although Sky is not the greatest company in the world (neither are Virgin), you'll find that they are actually cheaper.. although be aware that for some of these services you'll need a BT line for which line rental will be payable.

Virgin Media needs to grow up

This dispute is nothing to do with the customer - Virgin Media are having a row with Sky which they can't sort out, so they've put the customer in the firing line. This is not acceptable. Virgin Media have demonstrated that they care nothing about their customer base, they care purely about their bottom line.

According to a recent poll, about one in six customers may walk away from Virgin Media.. that's around half a million subscribers. Perhaps if Virgin Media spent more money on their service rather than crappy ads with Uma Thurman then we wouldn't be in this mess.

If Virgin Media were a professional outfit, they'd ensure that customers weren't impacted, and would take the matter up with the OFT or OFCOM. Yes, Sky are to blame as well.. but for cable customers, it is Virgin Media who have let them down.

Seeing past the spin

Virgin Media say that Sky has "picked up its ball and gone home": But Sky say that Virgin Media walked away from the negotiations, and there's some evidence to back this up.

Virgin Media say that they offered to go to arbitration: fair enough, but they left it far too late.

Is this is a sudden decision to cut the channels? No, Virgin Media and Sky have been negotiating for months and have failed to reach a deal. Virgin Media have known about this cut-off for months, but have chosen not to tell customers.

Virgin Media say that other channels compensate for the loss: Virgin are touting "Virgin Central" (a tired old repeats channel), Bravo and Living TV. These channels are nowhere near as popular as Sky One.. and for good reason.

Virgin Media say that they will carry "Lost" and "Nip/Tuck": in fact, Virgin Media will carry repeats of these shows. Series three of Lost won't be available until after the autumn.. possibly not until the end of the year.

Virgin say that they are not prepared to see customers being ripped off: but they are offering no price reduction for the loss of these "expensive" channels.

Virgin Media say that it's all the fault of Sky. Sky say that it's all the fault of Virgin Media. Frankly, neither company has done its reputation much good.

Virgin Media say that Sky has abused its dominant market position: there is probably a lot of truth here, but that's a matter for the OFT or OFCOM. Why should the customer suffer?

Virgin Media say that customers won't be held to their contacts if they are not happy: but this appears to be customers with digital TV packages only - if you've bought a bundle (e.g. TV/phone/broadband) then is appears that Virgin will not treat you in the same way.

So.. how can you see you favourite TV shows?

To be honest, your choices are limited. Your legal options are to get a Sky dish or wait on the offchance that Virgin Media might realise that customers are voting with their feet.

We do not recommend taking illegal options such as using a BitTorrent client (for example, Azureus) and a torrent tracker (for example The Pirate Bay) to download pirated copies.

virginmediasucks at virginmediasucks dot com

Trademarks are owned by their respective owners. I am not affiliated with anyone, just pissed off Virgin Media subscriber. Note to lawyers: I am very well aware of WIPO regulations and trademark laws so please don't send any pointless threatening letters.