BSkyB Shelves Plans For New Entertainment Channel
BSkyB chief executive James Murdoch has reportedly shelved plans for the launch of a new general entertainment channel on the Freeview platform.
The satellite broadcaster had been expected to move more strongly into the free-to-air arena with the launch of a new advertiser-funded channel targeting young adults with digital terrestrial television.
The offering, dubbed Channel 6, would have marked a significant change of strategy for BSkyB and would have increased pressure on commercial rivals ITV, Channel 4 and Five in the market for airtime sales.
However, the Times claims that Murdoch has decided that BSkyB should not allow itself to be distracted from its core aim of developing pay television in the UK. The millions that would have been spent on developing the new channel will instead be devoted to making the broadcaster’s existing offering more attractive.
A spokesman for BSkyB, told NewsLine this morning: “We will keep our content strategy under review over time as the progress of Freeview continues. We have currently got no plans to change the line-up of channels, but any change would be entirely evolutionary.”
At a recent industry conference, BSkyB executives hinted the new channel would evolve from existing Freeview channels Sky Travel, Sky News or Sky Sports News, once the platform reached 8 million subscribers.
Andrew Canter, broadcast director at Media Planning Group, welcomed plans to shelve the launch, saying: “Sky One has gone through the mill a bit recently and I think the emphasise will be on bringing the quality back the core pay-TV channels.”
Freeview is beginning to attract significant audiences and the latest figures show that uptake increased by more than 40% in the three months to December in a development that helped to push digital television penetration to over half of all UK households.
The latest figures from Ofcom show that almost 3 million British homes received the digital terrestrial service in the final quarter of last year, with more than 860,000 set-top-boxes being sold during the same period (see Freeview Surge Helps Digital Reach Half Of UK Homes).
BSkyB: 0207 705 3000 www.sky.com
Recent Television Stories from NewsLine Desmond Outlines New Strategy For Post Merger ITV ITV Appoints Ex-Bank Of Scotland Boss As New Chairman ITV Secures Sponsor For Stars In Their Eyes Kids
Subscribers can access ten years of media news and analysis in the Archive