Sky makes Virgin offer public

Sky has released details of its offer to Virgin for carrying the Sky-brand channels, disputing Virgin's claims that it has asked for twice as much money.

Virgin immediately claimed that Sky had not revealeda key detail of the offer.

The new figures show a request for 20 per cent more, or 3p per customer per day, but in a complicated two-tier scheme tied to Sky's digital terrestrial ambitions.

But Virgin claims Sky has also asked for a minimum revenue guarantee which doubles the old deal.

The channels have until midnight on Wednesday, February 28, to secure a deal before Sky's channels are removed from the cable service. The dispute does not affect Sky Movies and Sky Sports.

The new offer asks for 73.8p per month per subscriber from Virgin Media, for access to Sky One, Sky Two, Sky Three, Sky News, Sky Arts, Sky Travel and Sky Sports News, with options for HD versions where available.

But the price will go up if Sky is successful in launching its subscription service on digital terrestrial. This would see Sky Three, Sky News and Sky Sports News removed from Freeview - and make them more valuable to Virgin.

The price would rise to around 90p per month per subscriber, which Sky claims is a reduction from the 95p it first offered.

Sky has also suggested it could retail its channels direct over Virgin's platform if the two cannot reach a deal, similar to third party channels on Sky.