Ginx Esports TV has terminated its contract with Virgin Media TV and will no longer be on the platform from October 22nd.
It comes after a bit of a spat between Ginx and Virgin Media over plans to broadcast the channel in HD.
The decision to terminate the contract was taken following an internal review by Ginx. The channel concluded that Virgin ‘did not adhere to the spirit’ of the initial channel carriage contract, which foresaw a launch of the channel in HD.
Michiel Bakker, CEO of GINX Esports TV, said: “It’s a shame Virgin Media has not honoured its originally stated intention to launch GINX TV in HD. Our viewers are increasingly asking us for HD, given the detail in video-game graphics, and our contract contained all necessary provisions to facilitate this transition.
“We have helped Virgin Media, a broadband company, establish an initial foothold in esports and are disappointed by their unwillingness to deliver on what they promised. We believe that asking us to effectively pay for SD distribution whilst also charging its customers substantial fees for TV channel packages is unfair to both us and customers.
“We will continue to extend the reach of esports into mainstream sports audiences.”
“We have helped Virgin Media, a broadband company, establish an initial foothold in esports and are disappointed by their unwillingness to deliver on what they promised.”
Michiel Bakker, Ginx Esports TV
In a separate announcement, GINX Esports TV announced it launched on Swisscom earlier this week, which represents the first launch in Switzerland for the channel.
Michel Siegenthaler, head of offers & marketing for Swisscom, commented: “We’re delighted to have GINX Esports TV on board as an esports channel that provides regular, up-to-date reporting on the most important esports news as well as interesting insights behind the scenes of the gaming world.”
GINX Esports TV first launched on Virgin Media in July 2013. Ginx also launched on Sky back in June 2016, as a 24-hour TV channel and a joint venture between Sky and ITV.
Ginx said it’s now available in more than 50m homes, across more than 50 territories in 10 languages.
GINX Esports TV remains available in the UK on Sky (channel 433), TV Player, on Twitch and via its own player on ginx.tv.
Earlier this year, Ginx Esports TV began inviting external content creators and streamers to produce content from its London studios.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
