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Virgin Media Takes Sky to Court

Virgin Media (VM) has taken Sky to court in the latest step in the ongoing public row between the two companies.

Sky and Virgin Media fell out at the beginning of March over the price to be charged for the carriage of the Sky Basic Channels by the cable TV provider. The two sides failed to reach an agreement before the previous contract expired and as a result VM customers lost the Sky Basic Channels, including Sky One, Sky News and Sky Sports News.

The very public fall-out and subsequent channel loss led to customers of Virgin Media both criticising and supporting their own digital TV provider. Some of those who ended up disappointed at losing such channels immediately cancelled their contracts and switched to Sky, whilst others who showed their loyalty to VM were rewarded with discounted contracts and extra services.

However, despite no agreement being reached between the two companies, Virgin Media threatened to take Sky to the High Court to resolve the row and now has done so claiming Sky was abusing its dominant market position. Sky has denied doing so and has said that the action was “without foundation” and called on Virgin to resume negotiations. VM claims that Sky tried to double its prices for the Basic Sky Channels. However, Sky says the increase would have cost VM just 3 pence per customer per day.

It is not just the price of the Sky Channels which is being challenged. Virgin Media is also challenging the rates imposed by Sky for carrying Virgin’s TV channels. It is believed that Sky recently renegotiated the price it would pay for carrying channels such as LivingTV, Challenge and Bravo, before it announced that the price for its own channels to VM would be rising. Virgin Media is hoping that it will be able to get the Sky Channels at a lower price than is being asked for and at the same time increase the price it charges Sky for its own channels to bring them more in line with current market trends.

Virgin Media brought the action under the UK Competition Act 1998 and Article 82 of the EC Treaty.

“Sky, which accounts for almost 70% of the country’s pay TV subscribers, is dominant in the UK Pay TV market and has engaged in a strategy to stifle competition by using its dominance against Virgin Media,” the company said in a statement.

Sky denied the claims and its chief operating officer Mike Darcey said that they had invited VM to return to the negotiating table and that the services Sky was offering for the higher fee would have meant a “bigger and better choice” for customers. Sky say that along with the Sky Basic Channels they had offered to include Sky Three and Sky Arts along with On Demand and High Definition services to VM customers for the increased fee.

“Virgin Media is saving money as a result of this dispute but it hasn’t reduced prices. Millions of customers have lost access to the shows they enjoy and it is clear that many resent paying full prices for fewer channels,” Mr Darcy added.

The case is ongoing.

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Do I Need A New Sky Remote?

Most people that own a Sky box will know that the Sky remote control operates the basic functions of their TV, what happens though if the remote stops operating the TV but still operates the Sky digibox… is it time to get a new one?

 

Well to be honest, in some cases yes a replacement remote is required, but more often than not all you need to do is re-enter the correct Sky remote code to operate your particular brand of TV, this would have originally been done by the Sky engineer when he/she installed the system.

 

Early remotes manufactured for Sky were done so with a preset code already programmed to operate Sony TVs, later models were manufactured to work straight out the box on a Philips TV.  This is the same no matter if it is a standard Sky remote for the Sky box, a Sky plus remote for the Sky plus box or the Sky HD remote for the HD box.

 

So, to make things simple without going in to whether or not your remote is an early or late version the best thing to do is re-enter the correct code for your TV, even if it’s a Sony or Philips.

 

Don’t forget it is only the basic functions of the TV the remote will operate, this includes functions such as volume control, putting the TV in to standby and cycling through the AV channels of the TV by pressing the “Help” button on the remote.

 

The list of codes available for the Sky remote is extremely long so I would suggest taking a look at the Sky digital support section at http://www.thedigiboxshop.com, here you will find the most common codes as well as the instructions below, if the codes available at the above Website do not work you can perform a search for your brand of TV by pressing the “Sky Interactive” button on your remote.

 

Please note: The following instructions are relevant to all Sky remotes, including the “Plus” and “HD” versions.

 

How to enter the four digit code.

 

1. Turn your Sky Box, Sky Plus Box or Sky HD Box and TV on.

 

2. Press TV on your Sky / Sky Plus / Sky HD remote control.

 

3. Hold down SELECT and the RED button together for about two seconds, until the RED LED on the Sky / Sky Plus / Sky HD remote control blinks twice.

 

4. Press TV on the remote control again.

 

5. Key in the four digit code for your brand of TV. The light on the remote blinks twice. If the light blinks once only, recheck the code for your brand of TV and start again at Step 1.

 

6. Press the STANDBY button on your remote. If your TV switches off, press select. The RED LED on the remote blinks twice (code stored). If your TV does not switch off, press TV, then press the STANDBY button. Repeat this (press TV, then STANDBY) until your TV turns off, then press SELECT (stores code).

 

If at this point the RED LED on the remote control blinks three times then all possible codes for that make of receiver have been checked. Repeat from step one, ensuring that you enter the correct manufacturer code.

 

At the end of the sequence, if you see the TV Guide screen, the remote control setup process is complete. If you did not see the TV Guide screen, you must now complete the following steps.

 

8. Press TV on your Sky / Sky Plus Sky HD remote control.

 

9. Hold down SELECT and the GREEN button together for about two seconds, until the RED LED on the remote blinks twice.

 

10. Key in the number of the channel on your TV that you use for watching Sky TV.

 

11. Press SELECT on your remote. The RED LED blinks twice. The remote control setup process is complete.

 

How to enter the three digit code

 

1. Turn your Sky Box, Sky Plus Box or Sky HD Box and TV on.

2. Press TV on the Sky / Sky Plus / Sky HD remote.

3. Hold down SELECT and the RED button together for approximately two seconds until the RED LED on the remote blinks twice.

4. Enter one of the three digit codes from the list (early versions now flash twice).

5. Press SELECT to confirm, the RED LED will flash twice if a valid code has been entered

6. Now press the STANDBY button and test other functions.

7. Repeat if necessary until the correct code is found.

 

If once you have entered all the codes from the list the remote still fails to operate your TV then you should consider purchasing a new remote as the remotes are continually being updated to operate the later TVs being produced.

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