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Virgin targets Sky with broadband and TiVo deal

Virgin has beaten BT and can take on Sky with its broadband and on-demand TV technology. says boss Neil Berkett.

The chief executive of Virgin Media claims the TiVo-powered PVR set to replace V+ will unite broadcast and on-demand video for a superior experience.

Berkett told the FT: "Broadband is our natural heritage, so we’ve grown from being just middle of the pack in broadband to being number one. We haven’t done that in video. Sky owns that ground in video."

"What we now need to do is move, as a minimum, to parity with Sky, in terms of video, and we will do that through applications [such as TiVo] as opposed to through exclusive content [such as football]."

Recent financial improvements also mean the Virgin Media channels -
including Living, Bravo and Virgin 1 - don't need to be sold, and it's
possible that Virgin will hold onto its 50 per cent stake in UKTV, which produces Dave, Watch and Eden.

And Virgin is also expecting a favourable resolution to the long-running Ofcom pay-TV investigation, which could see a significant cut in the rates it pays Sky for premium sports and films.

Berkett added that Virgin has already overtaken BT in broadband by offering 50Mbit/s fibre optic connections and was already trialling 200Mbit/s to customers in Kent.

BT is currently rolling out the infrastructure for a 100Mbit/s network, although most customers will only get 40Mbit/s.

http://blog.wotsat.com/page/whatsat?...with_broadband

Some pretty good news, especially the bolded parts.