Hmmmmm I dont quite understand who is the loser in this arrangement. Its obviously not the customer, its a great bonus for them. But either Virgin are completely wiping out any chance of profit from the XL pack, or Setanta are set to lose millions by offering it to Virgin at a very reduced rate.

Of course its a kick in the teeth and the only way both companies can hurt Sky tbh, but one of them, or maybe both of them, are going to lose potentially millions of revenue or profit due to it, so its not really much good kicking Sky if you actually lose out financially lol.

Also, on Sky, there is 9 Setanta channels, which will become 10 in September, why is there only 6 on Virgin Media??

Great deal for Virgin Media customers, but either one of or both Virgin and Setanta are set lose a LOT of money just to stab Sky lol.

Also, if its something to do with Setanta lowering the price, Sky will have a case with the competition commission as premium channels featuring major events such as Premiership fixtures are protected the all-format rate card... Hence the price of Sky Sports is virtually identical on both Sky and Virgin Media.

Digital Spy Report

i just want virgin media to upgrade me broadband - everywhere else has been done :| lol

changed to sky+ for tv tho n got rid of telewest, now virgin media, a few months ago lol

Woo Hoo, lots of free sports for me, hmmmmm, I dont even like sports that much tho, DOH!

just ficked through the sentana channels on VM and they arn't even broadcast in widescreen. looks very budget to me, lets hope they use widescreen for the footy.

Lol they are sort of "as cheap as possible to run" channels. They are going to lose millions over their Premiership deal, and to be honest, I hope they do and can't wait till Sky get ahold of the rights again in a few years. They are apparently getting Des Lynam in for the Premiership coverage, and spending millions on advertising.

Setanta will probably make use of Sky feeds for their live Premiership football, so it will probably be broadcast in widescreen (ie. Sky will film the match, Setanta will be the channel broadcasting it).

Setanta have paid out far too much on the Premiership rights for their level of revenue, ITV Digital anyone??

Lol!