The Financial Times reports that, despite a long period of disappointing results and negative press, executives maintain that Virgin Media is headed in the right direction.

British Sky Broadcasting recently pulled the basic channels from its cable platform after rebranding to Virgin Media in February. And last month, when company results again failed to meet expectations, Franklin, a leading shareholder, aired concerns.

Despite the way things may look, however, CEO Steve Burch said, "We know how to separate the noise from the reality. And I think the business is doing the right things at the right pace." He added that he felt the worst may be behind them.

COO Neil Berkett pointed out that although subscription cancellations, which hovered at about 40,000 watchers lost, customer growth and retention were assisted by video on-demand and branding.

A recent relationship with Cable and Wireless will also help the company chart "untapped territory": "We can bundle telephone, mobile and broadband in ways that can be very attractive for the customer," said Burch.

The cable group upgraded its subscription figures last Friday, and Burkett was quoted as saying Virgin Media would not drop a current lawsuit against BSkyB over issues with their channels agreement.