Virgin Media and Sky bosses discuss return of channels

Since then, Berkett took over at Virgin in March and Darroch took over at Sky in December.

While Sky has already revealed it has been talking to Virgin about a resolution, Berkett's words yesterday indicate talks are continuing at the highest level.

According to the Daily Telegraph, Berkett said: "We are in dialogue. Both Jeremy Darroch and myself are saying that we'd like to do a deal. The unfortunate thing is we don't have a conclusion. I'd love to do a deal but we haven't done one yet."

A speedy agreement looks unlikely at this stage. The loss of the channels, particularly the entertainment channel Sky One, led thousands of Virgin subscribers to leave and switch to Sky.

Discussions may also cover the possibility of a new deal covering what Sky is paying to carry Virgin Media-owned channels. Sky slashed the amount it paid Virgin ahead of the impasse over Virgin carrying Sky channels.

Berkett was speaking at the presentation of Virgin's first quarter results, which showed it had added 37,000 cable TV customers during the first three months of the year.

News of the talks follows weekend speculation that BSkyB could be one of the bidders for Virgin Media Television, which Virgin Media is considering selling off.

Virgin Media TV includes the channels Virgin Television, Bravo, LivingTV and the UKTV channels, of which the BBC has a 50% interest.

BBC Worldwide is another possible bidder for the Virgin channels. It is considering partnering private equity to make a bid.