‘Hot dispute’ over broadcasting fees threatens to deprive viewers of Premier League matches
Virgin Media customers risk losing access to Premier League football matches amid a row with TNT Sports over broadcasting fees.
Executives at Virgin Media O2 are locked in negotiations with TNT, which is jointly owned by BT and Warner Bros Discovery (WBD), about renewal terms for their contract.
One source said the companies were in “hot dispute” as Virgin Media was seeking a significant price reduction for the new three-year deal, while TNT is trying to maintain the existing terms. Virgin Media is understood to have argued that its cost per subscriber has risen sharply due to declining viewing figures on the channel.
If the two sides fail to strike a deal, Virgin Media customers will lose access to TNT Sports when the current deal expires at the end of July.
TNT, which rebranded from BT Sport last year, owns the rights to Premier League and Champions League football matches, as well as Premiership Rugby games. The channel, which combines BT’s sport offering with WBD’s Eurosport, also offers a host of other sports, including MotoGP, WWE, French Open tennis and this year’s Olympic Games in Paris.
It is understood that access to Eurosport is not affected by the negotiations, meaning the Olympics will still be available to viewers regardless of the outcome.
Virgin Media customers can watch TNT thanks to a so-called carriage deal between the two companies, which sees the pay-TV provider pay a fee to offer the channel to subscribers.
However, Virgin sparked anger last year when it removed the channel from its TV bundles, meaning it is now a paid add-on.
If the companies fail to renew the contract, Virgin could risk losing customers, although sources insisted that TNT could still be accessed through other subscriptions.
It is not the first time Virgin has been locked in a dispute over broadcasting fees. In 2018, customers lost access to UKTV channels – including Dave, Gold and Drama – amid a row over on-demand rights.
The channels were restored a month later after Virgin reached an agreement with UKTV, which is owned by the BBC’s commercial arm.
Virgin has also previously clashed with ITV and Sky over broadcasting fees.
Carriage deals were once a key source of revenue for channel owners, but their significance has declined as media giants instead focus their resources on streaming services that deliver programming directly to consumers.
Virgin Media O2 and TNT Sports declined to comment.
