Ofcom Could Scupper Sky Pay-TV Plans
Sky’s plan to launch a pay-per-view service is under threat as Ofcom could be unlikely to alter the terms of the satellite broadcaster’s licence.
Sky had planned to take its three free-to-air channels from Freeview and replace them with a pay-TV service available through a new specification set-top box.
Sky announced that it would be launching a pay-TV offering on Freeview in February this year (see New Sky Service To Lure Consumers From Free TV).
It is thought that Sky’s Freeview pay-TV offering would have included some Premiership football matches as rival broadcaster Setanta will be showing some matches on its own sports channels.
Setanta Sports said in October that it would be launching a subscription channel on Freeview, meaning that any home with a set-top box would be able to receive the channel for a monthly fee (see Setanta Sports To Offer Channel On Freeview).
Ofcom has requested additional information before launching its consultation on the move by Sky. Several voices in the trade press have claimed that Ofcom will deny the broadcaster the chance to launch the pay-TV service on Freeview.
Ofcom launched an investigation into the pay-TV market following a submission from BT, Setanta, Top Up TV and Virgin Media in March (see Ofcom Launches Pay TV Investigation).
A Sky spokesman said at the time: “We note the references in Ofcom’s statement to Sky’s proposed pay-TV service on the DTT platform and the dispute with Virgin Media regarding the availability of Sky’s basic channels (see Virgin Media And Sky: The Story So Far).
“BT, Top Up TV and Setanta all have a commercial interest in preventing Sky from increasing customer choice by developing a new pay-TV service on the DTT platform.”
The Ofcom investigation will focus on the modifications needed to NGW’s licence to change the amount of channels offered, Sky’s proposed changes to its channel line up on DTT and the mp4 technology Sky wants to use in the new set-top boxes.
Sky Sports News, Sky News and Sky Three have also been removed from Virgin Media following the channel carriage dispute with Sir Richard Branson’s company (see Virgin Media Submits Sky Complaints To High Court).
Sky: 08702 40 40 40 www.sky.com Ofcom: 020 7981 3040 www.ofcom.org.uk