ASA Adjudication on Virgin Media Ltd

Ad

A national press ad for Virgin Media claimed "The cheapest place to get Sky Sports isn't Sky". The sub-headline stated "No wonder our phone customers have something to talk about". The body of the text read "For the dream price of £26 a month, you can get Sky Sports 1, 2, 3 and Xtra... All you need is our great value phone service for just £11 a month - the same as BT's standard line rental. (For Sky's basic package with Sky Sports and a BT phone line you'd pay the premiership price of £45 a month.)". The text also stated "To save over £70 a year, turn on to Virgin Media, pound for pound the best sports deal around."

Issue

British Sky Broadcasting Ltd (Sky) questioned:

1. whether the claim "The cheapest place to buy Sky Sports isn't Sky" was misleading, because they believed the total cost of their cheapest Sky Sports package was cheaper than Virgin Media's;

2. whether the claim "The cheapest place to buy Sky Sports isn't Sky" was misleading because it did not make clear that the price of Virgin Media's Sky Sports package was conditional upon paying an additional monthly fee as a Virgin Media phone customer;

3. whether the price comparison in the ad was misleading because the quoted Sky package included a third party charge for BT standard line rental; and

4. whether the ad misleadingly implied that Sky digital subscribers were obliged to have a BT landline by including the cost of BT's standard line rental in the price comparison.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

Response

In response to issues 1., 3., & 4. Virgin Media said they believed Sky's website indicated that a BT line was required when a customer subscribed to one of Sky's 'mixes' plus Sky Sports package. They believed it was impossible to complete the Sky Sports online sales process without having an active phone line. Virgin Media said that, in order to receive a free Sky Box, they believed customers had to enter into an 'Interactive Discount Contract' that required an active phone line for 12 months. Virgin Media believed that once a customer had signed up with Sky, the cost of failing to maintain an active phone line for 12 months was at least the same price as 12 months of Virgin Media line rental. They believed there was no detriment to the consumer if Virgin Media included the cost of line rental in the comparison between Virgin Media's and Sky's premium sports packages.

In response to issue 2 Virgin Media said that, by stating "All you need is our great value phone service for just £11 a month", the advert made clear that in order to get Sky Sports on Virgin Media a phone line was required. They believed that information was important and was clearly stated in the body copy of the ad.

Assessment

1. Upheld

The ASA noted the cheapest total price for a Sky Sports package with Virgin Media was £37 a month. Although the basic price of Virgin Media's Sky Sports package was £26 a month, that price did not include a compulsory charge of £11 a month for phone line rental. In comparison, we noted that the cheapest total price for a Sky Sports package with Sky was £34 a month, and did not require the additional cost of a phone line.  We concluded that, because the total price of Virgin Media's Sky Sports package, including the compulsory phone line, was more expensive than the total price offered by Sky, the claim "The cheapest place to get Sky Sports isn't Sky" was inaccurate and therefore misleading.

On this point the ad breached CAP Code clauses 7.1 (Truthfulness), 15.1, and 15.3 (Prices),18.1 and 18.2 (Comparisons with identified competitors).

2. Not upheld

We noted that the cost of £11 for the phone line, required to take up the offer, was shown clearly in the body of the ad in the same font size as the price of the Virgin Sky Sports package at £26 a month. Although we considered that the claim "The cheapest place to get Sky Sports isn't Sky" was misleading for the reasons stated in point 1 of the assessment, we nevertheless accepted that the ad made clear the cost of the phone service and was, therefore, not misleading for that reason.

On this point we investigated the ad under CAP Code Clauses 7.1 (Truthfulness), 15.1, and 15.3 (Prices),18.1 and 18.2 (Comparisons with identified competitors) but did not find it in breach.

3. & 4. Upheld

We understood that customers who subscribed to a Sky Digital service were not required to have a BT or any other phone line and there was no requirement to do so in the Sky Digital subscription contract. We noted that it was a requirement for customers who subscribed to the Sky free minidish and box offer to sign the 'Interactive Discount Contract' and to connect their Sky box to a telephone line for 12 months. However, we acknowledged those conditions applied to the free minidish and box promotion only and did not apply to a basic Sky Digital subscription contract. We considered that the claim, "For Sky's basic package with Sky Sports and a BT phone line you'd pay the premiership price of £45 a month", was inaccurate because the price included a third party charge for a BT landline. We concluded that the ad misleadingly implied that Sky digital subscribers were obliged to have a BT landline.

On these points the ad breached CAP Code clauses 7.1 (Truthfulness), 15.1, and 15.3 (Prices), 18.1 and 18.2 (Comparisons with identified competitors).

Action

We told virgin Media not to repeat the ad and advised them to seek help for the amendments from the CAP Copy Advice team.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)