Virgin Media looks to beef up linear HD lineup
Virgin Media's in a pretty big hole compared to Sky on the HD front. As it stands, VM has a single linear high-def station (BBC HD), while Sky delivers 29. Pretty easy choice, right? Virgin Media's CEO Neil Berkett, in a presentation to the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference in New York, noted that it was looking to "level the linear content playing field versus Sky," and also mentioned a "plan to add linear high-definition channels." Unfortunately, he failed to elaborate on a quantity or time frame for delivery, but at least we know it's on the front burner. In fact, a company spokesperson added after the conference that it was "in ongoing discussion with a number of broadcasters with regard to new SD and HD channels and [that it was] currently evaluating HD plans for 2009." Here's hoping "evaluating" turns to "results" in the not-too-distant future.
