General : Underhand devious Sky

[muppetman11]

Originally Posted by Chris

Shifting series from Sky One, which is available on all broadcast platforms, to Sky Atlantic, which is exclusive to Sky's own broadcasting platform only, contravenes the spirit of the regulator's past rulings in this area even if it does not offend against the letter.

I don't think they have done this though , can't be 100% but off the top of my head I honestly can't think of any , I know Awake was advertised as on Sky Atlantic however I believe Sky did show an episode on Sky One however it wasn't billed as being on Sky One. They are currently showing House in the daytime on Sky Atlantic from series one however I believe they have all been aired before many times before on Sky One.

[LexDiamond]

Originally Posted by muppetman11

I don't think they have done this though , can't be 100% but off the top of my head I honestly can't think of any , I know Awake was advertised as on Sky Atlantic however I believe Sky did show an episode on Sky One however it wasn't billed as being on Sky One. They are currently showing House in the daytime on Sky Atlantic from series one however I believe they have all been aired before many times before on Sky One.

As far as I am aware I also can't remember any shows as being on another channel and then moving to Atlantic.

If a new show is coming to Atlantic then they spend a very long time telling us it is. I doubt they would give up their weeks of advertising just to annoy VM customers.

Originally Posted by muppetman11

I don't think they have done this though , can't be 100% but off the top of my head I honestly can't think of any , I know Awake was advertised as on Sky Atlantic however I believe Sky did show an episode on Sky One however it wasn't billed as being on Sky One. They are currently showing House in the daytime on Sky Atlantic from series one however I believe they have all been aired before many times before on Sky One.

As I don't currently have any Pay-TV I can't offer current examples - but Sky most certainly has form in this area. Back in the day, I missed about half a dozen episodes of Alias when they switched it from Sky One to the channel then known as Sky One Mix. I was a VM TV subscriber and Sky One Mix was a Sky-exclusive channel.

[Lew]

Originally Posted by Chris

As I don't currently have any Pay-TV I can't offer current examples - but Sky most certainly has form in this area. Back in the day, I missed about half a dozen episodes of Alias when they switched it from Sky One to the channel then known as Sky One Mix. I was a VM TV subscriber and Sky One Mix was a Sky-exclusive channel.

Then there's the time they moved loads of good stuff (including all of their live NFL coverage) to Sky Sports Xtra, which again was only available on Sky.

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by nstokes

Im sure VM can get more money and also have more than they make out

Virgin Media is a company with publically traded shares. It would be illegal for them not to declare all money they have access to.

---------- Post added at 22:04 ---------- Previous post was at 21:56 ----------

Originally Posted by Chris

They are exploiting the fact that they operate both a set of channels and a content delivery platform. Given that the regulator can, and has, acted in the past to rule on the pricing and availability of Sky's channels on other platforms I think it is reasonable to expect Sky to behave in a non-discriminatory way towards the other platforms that carry its content. Shifting series from Sky One, which is available on all broadcast platforms, to Sky Atlantic, which is exclusive to Sky's own broadcasting platform only, contravenes the spirit of the regulator's past rulings in this area even if it does not offend against the letter.

This is the same company that when VM lost Sky 1 a while back was apparently claiming they weren't abusing their position to OFCOM while moving all their bigger shows to Sky 1 and running a massive advertising campaign telling everyone that Sky was the only place to watch these shows..

I recall that we had Sky back then. It was along the lines of "Only on Sky" or words to that effect.

[Itshim]

Originally Posted by jempalmer

I recall that we had Sky back then. It was along the lines of "Only on Sky" or words to that effect.

ONLY at TESCO , sorry no one worries about that

[carlwaring]

Sorry I'm late to this thread but...

Originally Posted by martyh

Sky is the only place to watch discovery unless you buy a package that includes those channels from Virgin . It's not a free channel

So exactly the same as Sky then

Originally Posted by andy_m

In fairness to Sky, which came first, really?

Cable TV, actually (But not by much )

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable_TV#United_Kingdom
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Sky_Broadcasting

---------- Post added at 13:55 ---------- Previous post was at 13:46 ----------

Originally Posted by Chris

See my post above. Sky Atlantic is just another ploy to get round past rulings regarding availability of Sky channels on other platforms. There was plenty of room among the endless re-runs of The Simpsons for all the HBO stuff to go on Sky One. It would have cost them less to do it that way. They didn't do it that way, because Sky Atlantic is all about maintaining a level of exclusivity for the Sky platform that the regulator has previously attempted to curb. The HBO deal was IMO just a convenient fig-leaf to allow them to launch the channel without it being quite so blatant an attempt to put one over the folks at Ofcom.

Originally Posted by Itshim

I wonder how this stacks up against Virgin & a free channel to L subscribers for month Its called a free sample,or taster is it not ?

Given the post you quoted, you seem to be trying to compare a 100% exclusive channel available on only on platform to a free month of a non-exclusive) channel that you can get if you want to by paying more money to the same provider.

Vastly different, I'd say.

Originally Posted by Itshim

You never HAVE to watch SKY so I fail to see how it is monopolistic.

You do if you want Sky Atlantic.

[andy_m]

Originally Posted by Itshim

ONLY at TESCO , sorry no one worries about that

I hope you won't take offence if I say that you haven't made this point very well, in my opinion. It is, however, the most important point of the entire thread. You can only get Tesco Value products in Tesco. Other supermarkets are, however, able to sell their own "value" ranges, and do so. You can't blame Sky for seeking a competitive advantage by acquiring sports and American drama rights, merely question why Virgin choose not to compete.

---------- Post added at 13:58 ---------- Previous post was at 13:56 ----------

@carlwaring I meant which came first-Sky's acquisition of Premier League rights or their market share? I suggest that they paid out for the rights and then signed up the customers, rather than the other way around.

[carlwaring]

Originally Posted by Itshim

Come on Tesco put your value range in every corner shop

Except that every supermarket has it's own equivalent 'value' range. So not the best analogy ever

(Andy posted whilst I was typing )

[carlwaring]

Originally Posted by andy_m

I meant which came first-Sky's acquisition of Premier League rights or their market share? I suggest that they paid out for the rights and then signed up the customers, rather than the other way around.

Okay then. Sorry for the confusion.

[passingbat]

Originally Posted by andy_m

I hope you won't take offence if I say that you haven't made this point very well, in my opinion. It is, however, the most important point of the entire thread. You can only get Tesco Value products in Tesco. Other supermarkets are, however, able to sell their own "value" ranges, and do so. You can't blame Sky for seeking a competitive advantage by acquiring sports and American drama rights, merely question why Virgin choose not to compete.
.

The equivalent for Sky of tesco branded beans at Tesco, would be TV shows made by or funded by Sky, shown only on Sky, not the American cable or network produced shows shown on Atlantic. So your argument isn't valid,

If you could only buy, for example, Domestos from Tesco and no other shop, then you would have a point.

[murfitUK]

I was interested in David Attenborough's new programme about plants. It is on Sky 3D - fair enough, if it is good quality filming then I suppose it might bring a new dimension to the life of plants. I don't have, and don't want, 3D so I will not be able to see this show. Shrugs shoulders and walks away.

However the ordinary 2D version is only on Sky Atlantic. Why? I thought Atlantic was to showcase the best of American drama etc. This is clearly a case of them trying to gain new customers by getting us to "choose" more expensive Sky packages when, in reality, there is no real choice at all if you are interested in a specific type of programme be it films or sports or documentaries.

There is no reason at all why this particular programme couldn't be on Sky 1 or Sky Arts.

[muppetman11]

I don't see an issue with Sky putting new American TV shows on Sky Atlantic so long as they're advertised that way from day one , what I would disagree with is if they were to swap current Sky One shows over onto Sky Atlantic , I guess they own the channels so should be able to schedule new content as they see fit. People with the belief they'll run down Sky One are delusional , wasn't it voted Broadcast channel of the year.

[Itshim]

Originally Posted by passingbat

The equivalent for Sky of tesco branded beans at Tesco, would be TV shows made by or funded by Sky, shown only on Sky, not the American cable or network produced shows shown on Atlantic. So your argument isn't valid,

If you could only buy, for example, Domestos from Tesco and no other shop, then you would have a point.

Sorry my point is supplier - be that any one- has the right to market products in anyway they see fit. Hence Tesco`s value will never be sold in your local independent shop or for that matter ASDA. Using your reference to Domestos. If unilever choose not to supply ASDA, I think they are within there rights, daft but with in them.

So why do posters here think that SKY has to place its products in rivals "shop". Virgin gave up the idea of buying TV shows,in favor of being a conduit.
I do not like it but if SKY or for that matter any other supplier choose not to use Virgin as a conduit so be it. Perhaps if they supplied it via Free-view at a cost, then perhaps I could see a case ( not a strong one but still ). As I see it there are two choices live with it or move.