Virgin hitches MTV to media player loveliness

Three screens. When will the madness stop?

World+dog must have a media player to call its own. Not to be outdone Virgin is in on the act as of today with the launch of Virgin Media Player, for mobile and computer use.

The cableco has lined up "hundreds of hours" of content, including various youthie MTV network shows, which already appear on its on-demand TV service.

Virgin is calling this a "three screen line-up". This sounds rather glib to us.

The beta is open to Virgin XL TV customers with a Virgin broadband connection. They can register at virginmedia.com/player.

Virgin Mobile contract customers can use VMP for one hour, free of charge, via the firm's mobile portal.

As well as catch-up TV, the VMP will also run MTV Snax - short snappy clippy things designed for viewing on mobile phones.

Virgin launches VMP in earnest later this year. In the meantime it is gunning for a bust up with Project Canvas, a rival media player backed by the BBC, ITV, BT and TalkTalk, which it thinks is anti-competitive.