[MovedGoalPosts]

This actually makes a lot of sense for VM. They can concentrate on what they should be doing, providing a good distribution network for content, leaving others to be providers of the content. It's great news for customers too that at last there is going to be accces to Sky's coveted HD premium content for movies and sports. I do wonder though if VM safeguarded access to any future premium stuff for example 3D channels (if they happen).

The risks are perhaps long term when carriage agreements come up for renewal. If a content provider has an increasing monopoly, as Sky will undoubtedly have, who is to influence the pricing? In the standoff only a couple of years ago when Virgin stopped carrying any Sky basic channels, VM placed a lot of reliance on their Virgin1 TV channel. I hope that someone has thought it all through, for the long term and not just a short term cash flow.