BSkyB buys Virgin Media Television for £160 million
Virgin Media Television, which includes the channels Living and Bravo, has been bought by BSkyB for £160 million.
The deal, which was completed today between Sky and Virgin Media, will see Sky assume responsibility for selling advertising for the channels from January 2011.
Other channels purchased by Sky as part of the deal include Challenge and Virgin 1, however Sky said it will not licence the Virgin brand and will announce new branding for the channel in due course.
The acquisition eliminates the carriage fees Sky currently pays for distributing Virgin Media Television on its TV services.
Jeremy Darroch, chief executive of BSkyB, said: “Virgin Media Television is an attractive investment opportunity which complements are existing content business and delivers strategic and financial benefits.”
As part of the deal, Sky and Virgin Media have also entered into new carriage agreements which will see Virgin Media, for the first time, have the option to carry any of Sky’s basic HD channels and all of its Sky Movie HD channels.
To contact the Stage news team email newsdesk@thestage.co.uk or call 020 7403 1818, selecting option 2 (editorial) followed by option 1 (newsdesk).
If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".
Follow The Stage on Twitter and Facebook to get the latest entertainment industry news to your desktop or mobile.
Latest news
- Radio 4 commissions Bloomsbury group parody
- Alison Steadman, Miriam Margoyles and Nigel Planner are to star in a new BBC comedy series described as an…
- BBC opens applications for New Comedy Award 2012
- Applications have opened for the BBC Radio 2 New Comedy Award 2012.
- ITV orders 20-part daytime crime drama series
- ITV has commissioned a 20-part daytime police drama that will feature stories inspired by real crimes, with actors in…
- Shoreditch Town Hall to become major arts hub
- Shoreditch Town Hall is to be transformed into an arts centre, which will see the building host regular, ticketed…
- Equity to fight “stuffy, ineffective” image
- Equity has agreed to engage with its critics after warnings that the union is seen as “stuffy, ineffective,…
- Michelle Ryan to play Sally Bowles in West End Cabaret
- Former EastEnders actress Michelle Ryan is to star as Sally Bowles in the forthcoming West End revival of Cabaret.
Content is copyright © 2012 The Stage Media Company Limited unless otherwise stated.
All RSS feeds are published for personal, non-commercial use. (What’s RSS?)
