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LONDON — Virgin Media, the Nasdaq-quoted British cable company, has signed a four-year deal with ITV, the U.K. terrestrial giant, that will give Virgin subscribers on demand access to some of Blighty’s most popular TV shows.

Fare including hugely popular sudsers “Coronation Street” and “Emmerdale,” and talent skein “The X Factor” are among the 40 hours of shows that will be made available every week to Virgin auds via ITV’s catch-up service, the ITV Player.

Additionally, Virgin subscribers will be able to watch 500 hours of ITV’s back catalog on demand and view ITV’s four channels online.

Virgin Media, which already gives customers access to the BBC iPlayer, has made great play of its ability to offer on-demand TV in its fierce battle with rival U.K. paybox BSkyB.

Whether it helps Virgin Media to protect itself against the downturn remains to be seen.