Quote:
Originally Posted by ahardie
You are joking aren't you. 
We have only got those now as part of the deal where VM sold their channels to Sky. No sooner was the ink dry on that agreement and Sky started up another channel announcing it was to keep the content gap between them and other platforms. I really don't know what Sky would have to do before you would say that there way where using their dominant position against our interests. |
If you actually look at the transactions, VM didn't exactly walk away with nothing. They walked away with the red button which was a huge unique selling point for Sky.
More to the point, if you look at Virgins packages the M+ with any other VM service is £6.50. VM are actually offering Sky1, 2 and 3, Sky Sports News and Sky News for peanuts. The facts are that Sky have actually made their channels available on a much lower package on VM than they do on their own.
If the pay tv market taken as just Sky and VM, then VM actually make up 27.5% of this market. 27.5% share of a market where VM have limited coverage is very strong so I don't think Sky actually are dominant. Eventually market forces will prevail and Sky will always need VM. There is no evidence of long term trends of Sky withholding anything from VM indefinately as it needs VM's custom.
I'm not sure what you meant by 'our interests' but that definately isn't the interest of VM customers in general as VM customers continue to receive additional channels within the current package prices. There are actually no trends to support your argument of VM customers leaving in significant numbers for Sky, which suggests that VM customers are satisfied. Plus it isn't really a saturated market. They could still both grow which means any anti competitive measures kills of choice for both of them and for the consumer.