Virgin Media denies Setanta deal

Virgin Media has denied reports that it is teaming up with sports broadcaster Setanta to launch a rival to Sky Sports News, one of the channels pulled by BSkyB from the cable network. 

A Brand Republic report yesterday claimed that Virgin is "in early talks" with Setanta with a view to launching a sports news channel. 

A Virgin spokeswoman dismissed the report as "pure speculation", but did not rule out the possibility that Setanta and Virgin Media may work together in the future.

"We are not launching a channel with Setanta," she said. "But we have a really good relationship with them, and we are always talking to them."

Sky owns the rights to broadcast two-thirds of live Premiership football matches for the next three years. Setanta, which owns the remaining third, recently won the rights to screen the PGA golf tour, breaking Sky's 10-year hold on the event.

Sky pulled Sky Sports News and Sky One, Two and Three from the Virgin Media platform earlier this month following a dispute over retail fees.

Virgin Media replaced Sky One with a video-on-demand channel offering shows such as Nip/Tuck, Spooks and, from August, Lost.

Virgin Media and Setanta were among firms which complained to regulator Ofcom earlier this month over Sky's alleged anti-competitive behaviour.