Quote:
Originally Posted by Media Boy
Rumours now say on DS Forum that Insight deal with Sky was up that why the axe.
---------- Post added at 19:05 ---------- Previous post was at 18:47 ----------
We can see the following happen:
Universal Channel will close and move shows to Sky Witness, Sky One or Sky Two.
SyFy will close and move shows to Sky One or Sky Two.
E! and Movies 24 will become part of Realives brand.
New Channels?
Sky Three (For replays of the best shows on Sky One or Sky Two)
Real Action (For all the UK Reality shows from Realives, Sky One and Sky Witness to move to)
Sky Two +1
Sky Three +1
Sky Two HD
Sky Three HD
Real Action +1
Realives HD
Why?
If Sky and Universal did the following Sky would cut the replays on the main channels.
---------- Post added at 19:10 ---------- Previous post was at 19:05 ----------
That me put my 50p in
|
I know Sky is a household name in the UK but why would the
Sky <insert number> name format be better than more distinctive names that have been around for years? SyFy, Universal, E! and Movies24 have been around for years. UK viewers know those brands.
Numbers don't convey content, viewers will forget which channel broadcasts the type of show they like. Will it become obvious that their favourite vampire show is on Sky 6 and so is their US housewife docu-soap?
I think Pick TV can be said to be doing a lot better now than under its old name of Sky3. And a good non-Sky example is Dave, it used to be UKTV G2, though admittedly much of the success there is because it coincided with it going Free-To-Air, but UKTV G2 doesn't roll off the tongue.
And staying with the UKTV example, there was a time when all their channels had UKTV added to their names. That was ultimately deemed not the best idea, so co-branding with Sky e.g. Sky SyFy and Sky Universal isn't necessarily a good alternative.
There were reports a few months ago, before Sky was bought, that Real Lives would close. The ratings numbers are tiny and I doubt most viewers would even recognise the brand. Partially because even though it's Free-To-Air, it's not on Freeview. I can't imagine Sky using that brand instead of the internationally known E!, which UK viewers are long familiar with.
I'd even go as far to say that Sky entertainment channels with numbers, other than Sky One, don't last very long, and those that do are continually relaunched. Sky Two has previously been Sky2, Sky Mix and Sky One Mix and it hasn't been a distinct channel for most of that. With on-demand increasing in popularity it has become increasingly irrelevant.
So I'm predicting the NBCUniversal channel brands to remain the same in the UK. The cost savings will come from the premises move already announced, and overlapping job positions being merged.