Virgin Media gets back Dave, Gold and other UKTV channels

After an uncertain couple of weeks, Virgin Media and UKTV have reached a long term agreement which will restore all of UKTV’s channels and services to Virgin TV.

These will return as soon as possible. Dave HD and Gold HD channels will be added to Virgin Media’s Mix bundle and above.

The affected channels were removed in late July and included Dave and Gold as well as several others including Alibi and Eden. Both sides blamed each other.

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On 21 July, UKTV posted a tweet with a video message from UKTV's Steve North saying that Virgin were proposing to pay "significantly less" for the channels than previously. 

We’ve worked with @virginmedia since its launch in 2006. We’re so sorry for any viewers who are missing our channels, but we couldn’t afford to take such a huge pay cut. We are still available on @SkyUK, @BT_UK, @FreeviewTV, @Freesat_TV, @TalkTalkTV and @NOWTV. pic.twitter.com/FRnghOs72u

— Official UKTV (@UKTV) July 21, 2018

UKTV says its services are still available on Sky, BT, Freeview, Freesat, TalkTalk and Now TV. 

But that was part of the problem. Dave and several other UKTV channels are freely available over Freeview and Freesat so Virgin encouraged viewers to ask UKTV why it has removed these channels in addition to other services which are paid-for.

It's unclear whether Virgin had to pay for the channels that are free elsewhere, or whether the dispute is solely over the pay TV channels but UKTV was so incensed it decided to remove the lot. 

We want to keep UKTV’s free channels, like Dave, on Virgin TV.
These channels are freely available over the air and on the internet, but UKTV has decided to cut off Virgin Media customers.
Join us in asking @UKTV why… pic.twitter.com/nQLr6F2bR1

— Virgin Media (@virginmedia) July 21, 2018

According to a statement from Virgin, the new agreement with UKTV will also see more than five times the amount of on-demand programming available on Virgin TV, including more catch-up hours and significantly more boxsets for Virgin TV Full House customers.

UKTV’s programming on Virgin TV Go will also return so customers can watch programmes out of the home and on the move.

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