Sky vs NTL
For one thing, don't be fooled by the rebranding shenannigans, it is still NTL who have cable, they just paid to use the Virgin brand name. Secondly, I think that cable have scored a huge own goal, I think they were looking for public sympathy like Branson got against BA etc and it has severely backfired. For one thing, NTL's customer service is absolutely shocking, no amount of rebranding will change the fact it is still as bad and will continue to be. Another point is that when NTL started using the Virgin name your bill went up by an extra £5 per month, so in effect you were paying for the rebranding and indeed this would have covered the cost of the extra Sky wanted to charge.
Personally I have had enough of cables poor service, have switched to Sky and have just switched to a BT line and am in the process of getting ADSL, my account was so bad that NTL were giving me basic digi tv, telephone (unlimited calls anytime and international discount and mobile discount too)and broadband for £19.99 a month, I'm so fed up with it I dont mind paying the extra just to get rid of them. Never again. And no, I'm not a fan boy of any of these companies, they all want your cash end of story, but I have to say that Sky is a better customer experience in my opinion with better content and a very reliable service. But I do think NTL have a cheek fighting Sky, they got an extra £5 per month when they rebranded from everyone without their consent and they still have Sky Sports and Movies.