BBC looks at Virgin Media

The commercial side of the BBC could be looking to form a consortium with a view to bid for the US listed Virgin Media Group.

Virgin Media has become a very diverse group of businesses which include the UKTV group of channels, Living, Bravo, Challenge and the Virgin 1 channels. The BBC already own a fifty per cent stake in the UKTV group of channels.

Such a deal would actually bring some of the BBC’s most popular programmes back into the fold as they are currently being shown on the UKTV group of channels. These programmes include: Casualty, Last of the Summer Wine, Keeping up Appearances, Spooks and Planet Earth.

However the company is estimated to be worth around £800 million, which means that BBC Worldwide will need to find some additional funding from the equity partners. But by doing this, it could put extra pressure on the BBC to succeed on an international scale.

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/bbc-private-equity-talks-virgin/story.aspx?guid=%7B834F30FE-E9C9-44A4-9338-DC62CB4F2029%7D&dist=msr_1

http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2008/04/20/afx4910369.html

Story link: BBC looks at Virgin Media