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The filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission emphasised that the bonus payments, which will be made on March 31, 2010, were dependent on staff hitting performance targets. The scheme covers half of the company’s employees, including its executives.

The executives, Virgin Media said, would need to meet targets relating to cashflow, customer satisifaction, fault rates and “employee engagement” to qualify. It said that the specific targets varied and were based on the relevant division and function.

The company added: “In order for any bonus to be payable, the company must first achieve a qualifying financial performance target.”

NTL gained a reputation for making huge payouts to executives — even as shareholders lost everything when the company went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, burdened by debts of $17 billion that it could not pay off.

Barclay Knapp, the co-founder and former chief executive, who steered the company into bankruptcy protection, walked away with $10 million in cash, shares and options.

Virgin is one of several telecoms and media groups cutting jobs as they struggle to adapt to the harsh climate. BT has shed 10,000 workers. Vodafone, the mobile phone group, has said it plans to cull 500 jobs in Britain.

Virgin recently hoisted a “For Sale” sign over its content business, which includes stakes in the Dave and Living television channels. A sale would help the group to reduce its debt pile.

Virgin Media was created in 2006 by the merger of NTL, the cable operator, and Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Mobile

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- It was the UK’s first “quadruple play” provider of four services under one roof — pay-television, broadband, fixed-line telephony and mobile phones

- A planned $23 billion sale in August 2007 to Carlyle, the private equity group, fell through when it coincided with the start of the credit crunch

- The plan for the sale came after criticism from Franklin Mutual Advisers, a key investor, about poor results

- Neil Berkett, Virgin Media’s New Zealand-born chief executive, who took up the post in March last year, claims that the group has shown “good resilience to the tough conditions”

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