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Virgin Media proving its own worst enemy

Posted in Media, Oliver Milman, Latest reporters' blogs July 6th, 2007 by Oliver Milman

It’s not often that you are in nudged into siding with self-appointed media and moral emperor Rupert Murdoch, but this grisly prospect has been realised this week by the courtroom hari kari committed by his latest nemesis, Virgin Media.

Virgin Media has managed to not only shoot itself in the foot in its battle with Murdoch’s BSkyB, it has kneecapped itself and is frantically attempting to fire off a self-inflicted, and fatal, head shot.

The company no doubt believed it would be seen as the ethical underdog crusading against the tyrannical BSkyB when it very publicly rejected a price rise for carrying Sky channels showing the likes of Lost and 24.

A bitter war of words in both the press and advertising has followed, severely denting Virgin Media’s image among consumers, according to a YouGov poll published by mad.co.uk this week.

Now the company is taking BSkyB to court, accusing its rival of crushing competition in the digital television market.

While Murdoch and his fellow News Corporation executives certainly need to be asked several pertinent questions over competition, this is not the time, place or battle for Virgin Media.

While many may have initially admired Virgin Media’s stand against BSkyB, that goodwill is in danger of being wiped out by an exodus of subscribers wanting Sky shows and the collateral damage of a failed court case.

A BSkyB spokesman claimed this week that Virgin Media has refused to return to the negotiating table or put forward alternative proposals for “months”, highlighting suspicions that the attempt to sue BSkyB is little more than an exercise in publicity and vanity.

Sir Richard Branson, a man rightly admired for his entrepreneurial nous, must be careful before his company’s reputation is tarnished even further – his continued anti-BSkyB tirade is making him look like an ever bigger egotist than Murdoch. Which is quite some feat.