Hanway: flexible contracts and FTA broadcasting make sense

Cable strategies need to fit local markets, and in the case of Ireland, Liberty Global has found that flexible contracts and investing in free-to-air broadcasting make sense, according to Tony Hanway, CEO, Virgin Media Ireland.

Speaking to DTVE at the recent Cable Congress, Hanway said that the operator had introduced 30-day contracts because customers don’t like being locked in.

“We felt we could offer 30 day contracts,” he said. He said the company was confident that it could provide sufficient quality of service that incentivized customers to stay with it rather than churn.

Hanway said that Virgin Media had acquired over-the-air broadcasters TV3 because it was available “at a very good price”. He said there were synergies in some areas but that “the juxtaposition of content on the platform and free-to-air” was also creating interesting opportunities. He said that Virgin Media is interested in making more use of data to build an addressable advertising business. “This is potentially a real growth area for cable in the future,” he said, adding that FTA broadcasting is really a B2B advertising business.

Hanway said that the Tv3 business is profitable in its own right but that ownership of this asset could offer significant advantages to Virgin Media going forwards.