An extra 100,000 punters in the UK will be able to switch on to video-on-demand (VoD) within the next week as NTL upgrades its digital TV service.

Over the next seven days, NTL digital TV punters in Luton, Broxbourne, East and Central Herts, North and East Bedfordshire, Huddersfield and Dewsbury will automatically be switched to the VoD service.

Once up and running, viewers will be able to access hundreds of films when they want, catch up on programmes they've missed and watch kiddie shows minus advertising.

Following the work this week some 375,000 NTL punters will be able to access the cable company's VoD service six months after the service was first launched.

Separately, the Independent on Sunday reports that the much-trailed merger between NTL and Telewest could be a step nearer. It seems Telewest shareholders in the US are prepared to accept a lower price for their shares in a bid to speed up the merger.

Telewest stockholders had wanted $24 a share, reported the newspaper, but are now prepared to accept $23.50 - shaving almost $120m off the $5.9bn asking price. ®

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