HOOK, England, Aug. 21 (UPI) -- Virgin Media Inc. Chief Executive Officer Steve Burch has left the British cable operator, effective immediately, the company said Tuesday.
Burch, who left "for family and personal reasons," will return to the United States and will also leave Virgin Media's board, the company said.
Chief Operating Officer Neil Berkett will fill in as acting CEO until the company finds a replacement for Burch, Virgin Media said.
Burch joined the company in January 2006 when it was called NTL Inc. and led it through the merger with Telewest Global Inc., the acquisition of Virgin Mobile Holdings (UK) PLC and the rebranding of the company under the Virgin Media name.
The company last year became Britain's first "quadruple-play" media company, offering TV, Internet, cell phone and landline phone services.
Under Burch's leadership, Virgin Media "emerged as the United Kingdom's only "quad play" provider and a genuinely distinctive presence in the world of communications and entertainment," Chairman Jim Mooney said.
Virgin Media has since lost customers after it stopped showing channels of rival British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC that carried programs such as "Lost" and "Battlestar Galactica."
The company also postponed its sale early this month because potential buyers couldn't access debt they needed due to the volatile credit market.
