Quote:
Originally Posted by LexDiamond
The quote you posted specifically referred to Sky Atlantic HD and not the SD version. There is no evidence from that quote that Sky want to withhold the content.
Sky isn't a monopoly though. And pay tv prices are very reasonable in the UK. Comparing it to other activities, it is cheap.
Taking the example of Sky Atlantic, it is free to Sky customers. It costs them nothing. Under regulation, if this was made available to all platforms at the same price then either Sky's sub would go up or profits go down. Either way Sky is worse off for paying for HBO content and putting it on to a channel.
Like I said Sky isn't a monopoly. Regulating a company that isn't a monopoly is like punishing it for being too successful. And regulation in non monopoly situations will inevitably be to weaken that company's position which will one way or another lead to higher prices.
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Insist as some people do there is no evidence at all that Sky are 'withholding' Atlantic, if they were then lord knows what VM (who have confirmed they are) in negotiations for, now whether they are pricing competitors out is another matter altogether but I guess in theory they both conclude with the same outcome.
Let's also be clear that Sky Atlantic is only 'free' for a limited period of time, I think in August it becomes part of the Variety Pack and the HD version is only available to HD pack customers from launch. In my opinion 'free' is a very loose term that both VM and Sky use at times, a bit along the lines of the much mooted 'unlimited' word that ISP's and mobile operators often use.
Of course you are correct that Sky isn't a monopoly and it is a nonsense to suggest they are, however whether they are abusing their dominant market position in premium pay content is another argument altogether but that is upto the regulator to decide. A thorough review is needed perhaps when looking at the sale of BSkyB and if they decide all is in order then that's fine, if not then something needs to be done.