Following UK comms regulator Ofcom's March ruling on the wholesale price that BSkyB could charge rival operators, and the recent deal between carriage and channel sale agreement between Sky and Virgin Media, the cable operator is to pass on savings to customers this summer, by offering Sky's premium channels at simple, newly reduced prices.

From the 1st July, Virgin Media customers – both new and existing – will be able to save up to £108 per year on Sky Sports and Sky Movies packages. Subscribers wishing to add or keep a single Sky Sports (Sky Sports 1 or 2) or Sky Movies (Sky Movies 1 or 2) package, the cost is now only £13.50 for Virgin Media TV customers on M+, L or XL TV packages – offering regular savings of up to £9 per month.

Ofcom ordered Sky to offer Sky Sports 1 and 2 to rival operators for £10.63 per subscriber per month for each channel on a standalone basis, representing a reduction of 23.4 per cent. A bundle of both channels was reduced by 10.5 per cent from £19.15 to £17.14.Despite the agreement, Virgin Media has lodged a legal challenge at the Court of Appeal against Ofcom’s pricing model for not directly including Sky Sports 3, 4 and the Sky Movies channels. Sky has also appealed the findings, but reached an interim agreement in April with Virgin Media, BT Vision and Top Up TV for the new pricing arrangement to come into force.

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