Virgin revises forecasts

Despite a high-profile dispute with Sky, Virgin Media's subscriber numbers for the next quarter should be higher than originally predicted. Better-than-expected numbers of new subscribers in April and May have led Virgin to revise gloomy forecasts for the second quarter of this year, in spite of losing several channels provided by Sky. "This revises the guidance provided when we forecast negative TV subscriber growth due to the withdrawal of Sky's basic channels from the Virgin Media TV platform. This is due in significant part to the wide-ranging mitigating actions we have taken," Virgin Media said in a statement. Back in May, Virgin Media and industry experts were predicting a fall in the numbers of subscribers to its TV services after the spat with Sky. At the time, Chris Frost of price-comparison site uSwitch.com warned that Virgin's measures to stop customers leaving may not be enough. "The short-term incentives such as discounted packages offered by Virgin Media during their public spat with Sky have temporarily served to appease dissatisfied customers, but this may not remain the case over the next few months," said Frost. However, Virgin today painted a brighter picture. "We expect that a series of new and highly competitive consumer propositions exploiting Virgin Media's unique quad-play capability will help to drive new fixed-line telephony and overall subscriber additions," Virgin said. Virgin has instigated legal proceedings against Sky over the carriage deal furore and also reported it to Ofcom over its stake in ITV. www.virginmedia.com

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