Broadcast: BT Sport set to strike Virgin Media carriage deal

The following is thanks to Broadcastnow:

Virgin Media is poised to close a deal to carry BT Sport’s three sports channels on its cable TV platform, making them available to a further 4m potential customers.
The two companies have been in negotiations for a number of months but both have been keen to strike a deal ahead of BT Sport’s launch on Thursday 1 August.

BT Sport has the rights to the Scottish Premier League, which begins its season on Friday 2 August,and wanted to have carriage on Virgin in time for its first TV game - Partick Thistle versus Dundee United - so as not to alienate football fans who are VM customers.

The English Premier League season starts on August 17th.

One of the sticking points of negotiations has been whether Virgin will bundle the new channels in with its TV XL premium package - as was previously the case with ESPN - or whether it will charge for them as a standalone product.

It is not clear which route has been taken, but a Virgin Media spokesman said: We’re always looking bring the best possible value and choice of great quality content to our customers and we’re talking to BT about how we could potentially make the forthcoming BT Sport package available.”

Earlier this year, Virgin Media sent an online survey out to customers asking whether they would be willing to pay slightly more for their top package if it were to include Premier League football and Sky Atlantic, which could pave the way for this move.

BT Sport is being sold as a standalone channel on the Sky platform for £12 a month in SD and £15 a month in HD.