Virgin Media sues ‘abusive’ Sky

Virgin Media, the cable TV operator, has submitted a 33-page complaint to the High Court as it looks to sue its “abusive” rival BSkyB over anti-competitive behaviour in the latest round of the public spat between the media giants.

Virgin says Rupert Murdoch’s BSkyB was “abusive” by engineering the withdrawal of Sky One and other channels from Virgin’s cable network – a move it claims led to a drop in subscribers.

The documents were filed following a public row over how much Sky wished to charge Virgin to renew its distribution contract for a package of basic channels. They went off air in February after attempts to resolve the situation failed, leaving Virgin customers without hit shows such as Lost.

Virgin Media based its proceedings on a section of the UK Competition Act 1998 and an EU Treaty article which forbids a company from abusing its dominant position.