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Sky to offer movie downloads

[Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 302
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in Sky #1
British Sky Broadcasting will this week unveil plans for a new service allowing customers to download movies and sports coverage over the internet.

The Sky service will be available to subscribers to its three top-tier packages: Sky World, Sky Sports World and Sky Movies World. Sports coverage will consist of highlights, interviews and news, but not whole games or matches. The movie service will offer a mix of 200 new and old films from the Sky Movies channels.

Sky World subscribers will get sports coverage and movies, while the other top-tier subscribers will get the video-on-demand service relevant to their package.

The subscribers will need a computer with a broadband connection, which Sky is not planning to offer.

http://www.money.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2005/06/19/cnsky19.xml&menuId=242&sSheet=/money/2005/06/19/ixfrontcity.html

Comments

  • parhaimmistoparhaimmisto Posts: 83
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    #2
    Another reason to raise subscription prices?

    Or is it already included in the current ones?
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 18,062
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    #3
    parhaimmisto wrote:
    Another reason to raise subscription prices?

    Except BBC content cable VOD charges extra for viewers to access content on top of a monthly pay-tv subscription to cable tv.

    Press release will reveal the details as mentioned in the article.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 18,132
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    #4
    Interesting idea but until we see hard details it's to early to say if it's a good idea or not. I suspect anyone on a metered broadband account will be screwed though and those that aren't probably have access to movies long before SKY can offer them:)
  • Roger G CamRoger G Cam Posts: 1,844
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    #5
    Bearing in mind only 200 films are involved I reckon they are sticking their toe in the water to get some experience. There have a been a lot of articles suggesting that the phone line could end up carrying huge amounts TV content - and that Satellite would be be outmoded. I doubt it is as simple as that but they will want to diversify and attack their competitors on their home ground.

    Say Sky got together with BT. Now - that would provide an interesting situation in, say, 5 years time.

    Roger
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 98
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    #6
    Homechoice is all done via the phone line but currently only available in London. Homechoice buys dediated lines off BT and thus offering super high true (currently) 8mb speeds which is sufficient for good picture quality. Apparently the technology exists to boost this to 24mb line...It's just a matter of time before satellite tv will be made redundant. It might take 10-20 years..but i reckon broadband TV is the way forward.

    Homechoice currently has 1000 movies available anytime (on demand) at the click of a button.

    It boasts an impressing channel listing as well:

    http://www.homechoice.co.uk/tv/channel_listings.html
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 18,132
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    #7
    Roger G Cam wrote:

    Say Sky got together with BT. Now - that would provide an interesting situation in, say, 5 years time.

    Roger





    I think that is very much on the cards with BT having the infrastructure and SKY providing premium content. BT have somehow managed to delay LLU for so long that SKY haven't been left behind by xDSL distribution and cable companies VOD.
  • JonoJono Posts: 412
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    #8
    The Telegraph article is a typical journalist not knowing the subject he is talking about effort. Calling Homechoice TV video on demand over broadband Internet when it is video on demand over DSL tv. It sounds like the Sky video on demand will be over broadand Internet.
  • StrathclydeStrathclyde Posts: 2,888
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    #9
    British Sky Broadcasting will this week unveil plans for a new service allowing customers to download movies and sports coverage over the internet.

    Difficult to believe...probably, as has been said, an ill-informed journalist putting 2 and 2 together to get 7.

    Downloading movies etc to the Sky Digibox would indeed be feasible - if the broadband port (capability installed, but blanked off...) was enabled. But then, the broadband capability would be open to others to download, and overnight the whole basis of Sky Box Office etc would be in jeopardy. But downloading movies via the 56Kb diallup capability is just not practicable.
  • Roger G CamRoger G Cam Posts: 1,844
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    #10
    Strathclyde wrote:
    Difficult to believe...probably, as has been said, an ill-informed journalist putting 2 and 2 together to get 7.

    Downloading movies etc to the Sky Digibox would indeed be feasible - if the broadband port (capability installed, but blanked off...) was enabled. But then, the broadband capability would be open to others to download, and overnight the whole basis of Sky Box Office etc would be in jeopardy. But downloading movies via the 56Kb diallup capability is just not practicable.

    It will be to PC via Broadband. Although the 160 box does have some unused USB's.

    You might be interested in this item from America. Rupert intends to download films to people boxes over night in the US. It also suggests he will give boxes away free to do it.

    Roger
  • CitySlickerCitySlicker Posts: 10,414
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    #11
    Gekko wrote:
    Homechoice is all done via the phone line but currently only available in London. Homechoice buys dediated lines off BT and thus offering super high true (currently) 8mb speeds which is sufficient for good picture quality. Apparently the technology exists to boost this to 24mb line...It's just a matter of time before satellite tv will be made redundant. It might take 10-20 years..but i reckon broadband TV is the way forward.

    When it works it's not bad, when it doesn't it's a nightmare. Plus they've recently withdrawn the service to some areas causing extra headaches. What we're waiting for is NTL and Telewest to upgrade its aging networks (particularly south east and east London) and I bet HC will go downhill after that - it's more a stopgap solution to people who have had enough of poor service in this area.

    Which just goes to prove - whilst we get a lot of services earlier than the rest of the country here, it's not always best in the long run. :(
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 11,934
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    #12
    Well, at least it shows that Sky is a forward looking company and has decided to react to the threat from cheap postal DVD rentals and other things. It's surprising that some people are convinced that new technology will defeat Sky. Sky obviously has people looking at future trends, and only an idiot would expect things to remain the same forever. And given the position which Sky has reached, I don't think it can be wholly run by short-sighted idiots.
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