Virgin Media eyes more content app launches

Virgin Media is open to adding more content apps to its platform after striking a partnership with Netflix in November, according to CEO Tom Mockridge.

Speaking at Cable Congress in Amsterdam, Mockridge said that allowing Virgin TiVo customers to access Netflix direct through their set-top was “experimental” but seems to be “working for all parties involved.”

“We feel today that’s been a win for our consumers, it’s been a win for Virgin, it’s been a win for Netflix. It’s early days, but that’s the beginning of another form of optionalities. We’ve already crossed that threshold,” said Mockridge.

He said that though Virgin has to make a call about the breadth of its offering, it would like to look to further options to expand its service in this way.

Speaking on a panel about content, Mockridge stressed that though Virgin Media offers television and telephony packages, it sees its “core business as broadband”.

“In summary, I suppose the message is no broadband, no apps,” said Mockridge.

“The core service is broadband, which increasingly is becoming the mode of delivery for video. But that put’s us in a great position. So our big challenge is to keep pace with demand for this broadband.”