Virgin Media pulls ads attacking rival Sky service  Virgin Media
is abandoning the tit-for-tat marketing strategy that has seen
it invest more than £32m in a bitter public battle with BSkyB.
The company is ditching ads attacking the rival pay-TV, fixed-
line telecoms and high-speed internet offering from Sky to focus
instead on its own quad-play service.  Virgin Media plans to
embark on a fresh marketing strategy for 2008 that will promote
its high-speed broadband and video-on-demand services as part of
its 'hero' range of products.  'We're no longer going to get
caught up in a slug-fest with Sky,' said James Kydd, managing
director of marketing at Virgin Media. 'There's no point in
spending any more time or money whacking the crap out of each
other.'  The change of strategy follows an acrimonious dispute
that saw Sky withdraw its key channels from the Virgin Media
pay-TV platform just months after the latter's high-profile
launch in February.  Virgin Media accused Sky of abusing its
dominant market position