Liberty Globals Virgin Media & UKTV End Carriage Dispute
British pay-TV operator Virgin Media and UKTV, a joint venture between Discovery and BBC Studios, ha..
British pay-TV operator Virgin Media and UKTV, a joint venture between Discovery and BBC Studios, has ended its carriage dispute.
The dispute, which lead to the blackout of all UKTV channels on the Liberty Global-backed service, has been one of the most high-profile in the UK and has lasted for weeks.
However, the two companies have reached an agreement that will see channels free-to-air networks Dave, Drama, Home, Really and Yesterday, as well as pay channels Gold, Alibi, Eden, Good Food and W restored to the service.
It will also mean five-times as much on-demand content will be available via Virgins platform – a major sticking point for negotiations.
David Bouchier, Chief Digital Entertainment Officer at Virgin Media said: “Reaching this agreement reaffirms our longstanding partnership with UKTV and is fantastic news for our customers.
“They can enjoy channels like Dave and Gold once again, including in HD, and also get more UKTV on-demand programming than ever before. On top of this, the channels weve recently added to Virgin TV will remain.
“We are sorry for what we know has been a frustrating time for our customers, but are pleased that our TV bundles are now even bigger. Our unwavering commitment to investing in incredible programming remains.”
Simon Michaelides, Chief Commercial Officer, UKTV, said: “Viewers are at the heart of UKTV and we want to thank them for all of their support. We know this has created real disruption for some of our viewers and were so sorry for this, but we are thrilled to be back, broadcasting our channels and shows to customers of Virgin Media once more. “
