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Last Updated: Monday, 26 February 2007, 17:43 GMT
24 viewers hit by cable TV fault
Kiefer Sutherland as Jack Bauer
24 is one of Sky's top attractions
Fans of TV thriller 24 have complained after technical problems marred the latest episode on Sky One on Sunday.

Some Virgin Media cable subscribers suffered a distorted picture, with many of those also hearing audio commentary intended for the partially sighted.

This comes as BSkyB is locked in a dispute with Virgin Media over how much it should pay for BSkyB's programmes.

Virgin said 400 people were affected, while Sky acknowledged the problem but said it was not down to the Sky feed.

Virgin Media chief commercial officer Ernie Cormier blamed the disruption on a "technical issue".

'Frustration'

"Some of our digital TV customers experienced poor broadcast quality on Sky One and some other channels last night," he said.

"We rectified the glitch at around midnight and would like to apologise to those customer affected for the frustration caused."

Some viewers used internet message boards to blame at the dispute between the companies.

The firms have been negotiating how much Virgin Media should pay to keep showing BSkyB's basic channels, including Sky One and Sky News.

Talks between the two firms broke down last week and Virgin Media accused BSkyB of "bullying" and "arrogance".

Virgin Media was formed from the merger of NTL and Virgin Mobile.


SEE ALSO
Virgin spat may hit BSkyB profit
26 Feb 07 |  Business
Q&A: Sky and Virgin Media TV row
23 Feb 07 |  Business
Virgin slams BSkyB in TV dispute
23 Feb 07 |  Business
How to keep up with TV drama 24
12 Jan 07 |  Entertainment

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