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RichardCoulter · 09-08-2018, 23:23

If the channels don't return to VM, this could have an effect on the carriage agreement with Sky when that is up for renewal (I think the current agreement is about a year old, no idea how long it was for though).

Sky may do a similar thing as VM and seek to cut carriage fees for the pay channels (rumoured to be by 50%), in the knowledge that if they came off Sky too, they probably wouldn't be viable.

UKTV would either have to accept this or may decide they are better off making all their channels FTA. In practice, I imagine that they would close their HD channels and prune their existing SD channels. A big part of the business model for their FTA channels is to be on Freeview (the most popular TV platform in the UK), but their simply won't be room. Capacity is already almost full and due to be reduced further in the future.

I suppose they could also consider a standalone subscription model, but after the additional costs and the fact that they wouldn't get as many to sign up as they would have by going with Sky, it probably won't be worth it.

50% of the profits go to the BBC to keep down the licence fee and/or invest in new programming, so this would have an effect on the BBC and its TV Licence payers too.

09-08-2018, 23:23	#784
RichardCoulter cf.mega poster Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 10,719	Re: Virgin Media & UKTV+ITV Channels If the channels don't return to VM, this could have an effect on the carriage agreement with Sky when that is up for renewal (I think the current agreement is about a year old, no idea how long it was for though). Sky may do a similar thing as VM and seek to cut carriage fees for the pay channels (rumoured to be by 50%), in the knowledge that if they came off Sky too, they probably wouldn't be viable. UKTV would either have to accept this or may decide they are better off making all their channels FTA. In practice, I imagine that they would close their HD channels and prune their existing SD channels. A big part of the business model for their FTA channels is to be on Freeview (the most popular TV platform in the UK), but their simply won't be room. Capacity is already almost full and due to be reduced further in the future. I suppose they could also consider a standalone subscription model, but after the additional costs and the fact that they wouldn't get as many to sign up as they would have by going with Sky, it probably won't be worth it. 50% of the profits go to the BBC to keep down the licence fee and/or invest in new programming, so this would have an effect on the BBC and its TV Licence payers too.