Quote:
Originally Posted by batchain
Same applies if the channels do return, since it will mean UKTV accepting a lower offer from Virgin while Sky presumably pays them more under their current contract. So either way, UKTV are screwed.
Liberty Global's CEO Mike Fries said today that the impact of the UKTV channels being removed from Virgin has been 'minimal' and the Virgin/LG position on retransmission fees remains 'intact' after the ITV deal which will instead deliver more HD, 4K and non-linear rights at an attractive price.
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If the UKTV channels do return and VM get them at the lower price they wanted, i'm sure that Sky and BT will use this as a reason to expect a similar reduction in carriage fees. As you say, either way UKTV are screwed. The only way they won't be is if UKTV returns to VM at the original cost, which is looking very unlikely.
If this is how things pan out, maybe it will be tried with other channel providers.
As for ITV, it's interesting that no retransmission fees were paid after ITV ramped up the pressure. I'm pretty sure that ITV will have got a good deal to compensate for this in other ways, whilst VM can still claim to have stood firm with regards to refusing to pay this extra charge.
For example, there was a public outcry that the Queen was exempt from paying Income Tax, so she started paying it. However, she also started paying an equivalent amount less to the treasury than she had been doing under another agreement so, in effect, paid no more or less! The Government could then legitimately claim that the Queen had started to pay Income Tax like everyone else.