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Originally Posted by mersey70
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.
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The way it seems to me is that Sky Atlantic is just a huge PR excercise for now. Eventually it will just become any old Sky channel that is nothing more special than the other Sky channels.
I'm still not clear why the regulator would look into Sky's dominant position specifically in reference to VM. Sure the position is dominant but why should VM be protected when VM are going ahead and selling Sky its channels anyway.