Sky movie rentals via Sky Store

It's been announced that Sky it plans to make 1200 movies available via it's Sky Store app on Youview and Roku boxes. The aim appears to be to compete with the likes of Netflix and LoveFilm. It raises the question whether in the long term this might eventually replace some of the numerous Sky Movie channels.

Article: http://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/dec/04/sky-movie-rental-sky-store-netflix-lovefilm#start-of-comments

... It's one of the reasons why the broadband battle is so important.

Control access online to the customer, expensive over the air, linear distribution can be disposed of. In the future simple on demand access to all but live events and news will be the norm.

These have all been available on demand to Sky Movies customers for ages. I've watched only one or two films on the linear channels since we connected our HD box last year.

Sky seem very keen to get Movies customers shifted to On Demand so getting rid of the linear channels is clearly in the stars for them. I think in recent months users of the Samsung/Thomson HD boxes (which can't do On Demand) have been offered free Amstrad upgrades, and Sky will give customers of Movies a "Wireless Connector" for nothing (which can be used as a wireless bridge for any device, by the way).

I think inside the next 18 months (perhaps the next Smart Card change) it's possible Sky will look to drop support for the older HD and SD boxes altogether. Virgin could really do with doing the same, but without the Tivo EPG update for V-HD boxes I doubt that'll happen.


I'm not sure I see the pertinence. Sky clearly aren't going to favour one ISP over another with this move.

If anything, these platforms (particularly Roku/NowTV) are *decreasing* the importance of choosing one ISP over another. Even Sky's proprietary offer is available to all TV subscribers regardless of their ISP.

I'm not sure how that would work. Why would anyone bother paying for rubbish films if they have a free choice? It's not like going to the cinema where you don't know if the film is rubbish. These films will have already been on at the cinema and released on DVD. People will know. I suppose Sky could offer day passes or X films for Y pounds offers so that rubbish films may have a chance of being viewed too. The way things are at the moment, Sky need the linear channels to show the films that won't attract pay per view viewers, unless their monopoly is strong enough that they can refuse the rights to rubbish films from the studios.

I'm not really a film kind of guy either, Dave. It's the other person who lives in my flat who pays for the subscription.

The point I was making was that of the approaching obsolescence of Satellite delivery, as universal fibre broadband, 4G and 5G technologies arrive. As with commercial carrier satellite transmissions have all but died out, the same will occur with Home delivery too. The costs associated with Satellite launch, maintenance, up-linking and the maintenance of sat receiving equipment in the home will be eclipsed by the relatively cheap to maintain multicast network and the reduced cost of the home end kit.

Sending movies to the home via services such as Sky Store and the other systems will be infinitely cheaper than maintaining multiple format SD, HD, 3D and 4K channels on Satellite. On demand services will lead the way.

I give the existing broad range of channels via Satellite a maximum of 5 years, by 2020 the mass distribution method of choice will not be Satellite.

I hope not my internet is s**t and we can't get any faster long live the big dish

Considering how many parts of the country still struggle to get proper broadband I think Satellite delivery for home delivery has many years left. Whilst I suspect a physical Sky Movies Premier channel may remain I can see quite a few of the other channels eventually being merged/replaced with the Sky Stores.

Picking up on David's post surely Sky Stores does/would have a similar pay arrangement for films that Netflicks already do. Unlike the Sky Movies channels with Sky Stores they can show how many times each individual movie has been rented.

On the broadband issue, it really is up to potential users to lobby their local councillors, it's up to them to procure FTTC, FTTPoD and FTTP services using the funding available. The process is heavily proactive and the lobbying works.

Charlie Wells, they already have that with NOW TV...?

Sky Store is effectively the (fully) On Demand replacement for Box Office.


*cough* Digital Region *cough*

I agree with WillPS. I actually think Sky Store is a replacement for their Box Office service, which still use up 33 slots on their EPG, down from a heyday of more than double that number.

Why bother waiting for an SBO broadcast, when you can just download the same thing from Sky Store instantly? I'd imagine Sky will keep about 15 SBO channels going for latest releases and those without a broadband connection. The rest can be released for other channels.

I don't see the end anytime soon for the other DTH satellite channels. It's a cheap delivery method for many channels: they can't all afford the infrastructure of an On Demand service, the advertising or indeed the interest. Many rely for their audience on people simply surfing through the EPG.

I'm surprised that a Sky HD box with an internet connection is so limited in what can be accessed. Offering online content like YouTube would be a start - Virgin's Tivo provides it. Even adding live radio to the iPlayer to provide local radio would be a start.