This morning Virgin Media customers have lost six of BSkyB's basic TV channels after last-minute talks failed between Sky and Virgin.

Signals of Sky One, Sky Two, Sky News, Sky Travel, Sky Travel Extra and Sky Sports News have all been switched off on the Virgin Media platform. An apology message stating the channel is not available has been displayed on screen.

According to MediaGuardian last-minute telephone negotiations between Sky and Virgin left the two sides further apart than ever today.

Sky had been airing adverts on its channels on Virgin Media warning viewers that their channels maybe dropped if an agreement could not be reached.

Yesterday, Sky said it wanted to sell its channels directly to Virgin customers if it could not agree a deal through the cable network.

"We believe absolutely in the quality of our channels and their strong appeal to customers, but we've offered a simple alternative if Virgin really doesn't think they're worth 3p per customer per day," said a Sky spokesman.

"At no cost or risk to Virgin, we'll retail our basic channels directly to cable customers on the Virgin Media network to ensure that no one misses out on the TV they enjoy."

Updated: 00:25

Related links:
Time running out for BSkyB/Virgin deal
Sky to pull major channels from Virgin Media
Sky warn Virgin Media viewers
Sky want better carriage deal on ntl:Telewest