BSkyB ups the ante on Virgin in channels row

Sky has accused Virgin of an "apparent reluctance to negotiate" after it rejected Sky's latest offer for carriage of the Sky channels on its cable network.

Sky had originally demanded £48.4m for Virgin to carry its channels in 2007, an increase from £23.6m in 2006.

It further piled the pressure on its beleaguered rival with rumours of a surprise bid for broadband provider Tiscali, a rival to Virgin, which would give Tiscali's customers access to the basic Sky channels at the heart of the dispute through its Homechoice broadband network.

Meanwhile, Sky has reduced the amount it pays to carry Virgin¹s channels from £35.6m in 2006 to £5.1m in 2007, after twice offering to pay nothing.
Virgin agreed to the lower amount early this year, but has tried to reopen negotiations as part of the dispute over the carriage of Sky channels on Virgin.