is RTE 2 HD Coming To Sky?

200motels · 02-03-2012 6:30pm #1

As the title says, is RTE 2 HD coming to Sky, I've heard that it is on the 9th of April. Anyone hear anything?

barrackali · 02-03-2012 6:34pm

AFAIK its exclusive to upc.

Manc-Red · 02-03-2012 6:51pm

200motels wrote: »

I've heard that it is on the 9th of April

Source?

Minstrel27 · 02-03-2012 6:54pm

barrackali wrote: »

AFAIK its exclusive to upc.

Hardly when it is available FTA on Saorview.

mad muffin · 02-03-2012 7:21pm

barrackali wrote: »

AFAIK its exclusive to upc.

I didn't read that t was exclusive but it did say in Wikipedia that it's coming to UPC on the 9th of April.

givecredit · 02-03-2012 8:48pm

Minstrel27 wrote: »

Hardly when it is available FTA on Saorview.

Did UPC not announce this week that they got an exclusive deal on "pay tv" platform.

givecredit · 02-03-2012 8:50pm

Minstrel27 wrote: »

Hardly when it is available FTA on Saorview.

Did UPC not announce this week that they got an exclusive deal on "pay tv" platform.

http://www.siliconrepublic.com/new-media/item/25954-upc-in-exclusive-deal-with

mad muffin · 02-03-2012 9:07pm

givecredit wrote: »

Did UPC not announce this week that they got an exclusive deal on "pay tv" platform.

http://www.siliconrepublic.com/new-media/item/25954-upc-in-exclusive-deal-with

What!? How can they possibly get an exclusive deal with a national broadcaster??

Minstrel27 · 02-03-2012 9:47pm

givecredit wrote: »

Did UPC not announce this week that they got an exclusive deal on "pay tv" platform.

http://www.siliconrepublic.com/new-media/item/25954-upc-in-exclusive-deal-with

How can a channel be exclusive to UPC if everybody can get it for free with the right equipment.

mad muffin wrote: »

What!? How can they possibly get an exclusive deal with a national broadcaster??

It is outrageous if this is true.

200motels · 02-03-2012 9:54pm

Manc-Red wrote: »

Source?

It's not a reliable source but I saw it on twitter. Since I started the post, I rang Sky and they don't know anything about it, or should I rephrase that, the guy I was speaking to hadn't a clue what he was talking about.

copacetic · 02-03-2012 10:08pm

mad muffin wrote: »

What!? How can they possibly get an exclusive deal with a national broadcaster??

They can't and none of the quotes seem to have them saying it. It looks like purely a lazy headline, it takes much longer to be added to sky epg, up to a couple of months. As they have a strict queue system, although a number of those channels wouldn't appear to meet sky's minimum requirements so they may not all appear on sky. Details on sky requirements and queue are public:

http://corporate.sky.com/documents/pdf/20c24d2e1c62406594e1a79de5f917db/Allocating_listings_EPG

I'd imagine if the channels appear on UPC in April, some or all of them will appear on sky a month or two later.

irishgeo · 02-03-2012 10:18pm

copacetic wrote: »

They can't and none of the quotes seem to have them saying it. It looks like purely a lazy headline, it takes much longer to be added to sky epg, up to a couple of months. As they have a strict queue system, although a number of those channels wouldn't appear to meet sky's minimum requirements so they may not all appear on sky. Details on sky requirements and queue are public:

http://corporate.sky.com/documents/pdf/20c24d2e1c62406594e1a79de5f917db/Allocating_listings_EPG

I'd imagine if the channels appear on UPC in April, some or all of them will appear on sky a month or two later.

does rte2 HD even meet the minimum requirements for broadcasting HD content on sky?

in the case of other channels, comply with any one (or more) of the options
below:
- the channel may consist of no less than 75% native HD
programmes provided that it also includes an amount of
native HD programmes that alone meets (without any
contribution from any non-native HD programmes) the
minimum number of hours of non-repeating programming
required to be broadcast under section 1.1; or
- the channel may include no less than 320 hours of nonrepeating native HD programmes in each 12 month period
provided that the channel includes no less than 70 hours of
non-repeating native HD programmes in each 3 month
period; or
- the channel may include no less than 500 hours of native HD
content in each 3 month period (which may include repeated
native HD content provided that the channel has a minimum
of no less than 40 hours of non-repeating native HD
programmes each calendar month).

copacetic · 02-03-2012 10:29pm

irishgeo wrote: »

does rte2 HD even meet the minimum requirements for broadcasting HD content on sky?

320 hours a year is less than an hour a day. It would easily meet that I'd say? There was 7 hours or so last weekend for the rugby alone, the Olympics and European champs will have probably 320 hours on their own?

The Cush · 02-03-2012 10:29pm

mad muffin wrote: »

What!? How can they possibly get an exclusive deal with a national broadcaster??

Could it be down to who pays carriage and distribution costs or epg position?

UPC said in a Dept of Comms consultation in late 2010 it would be willing to carry the additional Saorview channels under the same terms as the existing 4channels, maybe Sky are not?

UPC’s cable and mmds platforms are currently subject to must carry obligations. At
present these obligations apply to RTÉ One, RTÉ Two, TV3 and TG4. The provisions
are also applicable to community channels and UPC presently carries both the Dublin
and Cork community channels. In the past UPC has been both supportive and willing
to have these channels included (at no cost to the channels themselves) in its basic TV
packages. UPC would expect that given RTÉ’s new services will be funded with state
finances these too will fall under the must carry provisions. In this regard, UPC would
expect that the current financial arrangements for must carry services would continue
for RTÉ’s proposed services; namely both RTÉ and UPC bear their own associated
costs for the production and onward distribution of these services.

UPC

Sky would expect that FRND terms in this
instance would mean that these new services would be made available to Sky’s
digital satellite platform on terms that were equivalent to those on which the same
services are provided to RTE’s proposed ‘Saorsat’ service, in order to avoid any
unnecessary and disproportionate distortion of competition.

Sky

mickko · 02-03-2012 10:36pm

200motels wrote: »

As the title says, is RTE 2 HD coming to Sky, I've heard that it is on the 9th of April. Anyone hear anything?

Hopefully, no. But if the state broadcaster is good at anything, it's selling out to foreign broadcasters.

Hogzy · 04-03-2012 11:53pm

mickko wrote: »

Hopefully, no. But if the state broadcaster is good at anything, it's selling out to foreign broadcasters.

Im sick of responses of this type. The majority of pay tv subscribers in Ireland are with Sky. Besides we live in the EU and if RTE were to only make these channels available to Irish companies then that would be against the Freedom to provide services.

mickko · 05-03-2012 11:21am

Hogzy wrote: »

Im sick of responses of this type. The majority of pay tv subscribers in Ireland are with Sky. Besides we live in the EU and if RTE were to only make these channels available to Irish companies then that would be against the Freedom to provide services.

The majority of pay TV subscribers in Ireland are with Sky because RTE is available in digital, on the Sky platform.
Sky had very modest subscriber figures in Ireland prior to RTE's launch, and their subs rocketed from 2003 onwards.

For the state to hand the PSB's services to a foreign pay tv platform, allowing them to encrypt them, and make the license fee paying Irish citizens pay for them, beggers belief.

Futhermore, they've allowed Sky to operate unregulated, ripping of Irish subs in comparison to UK subs for the same packs, paying nothing to the Irish exchequer, and pumping hundreds of millions annually out of this country for nearly a decade now.

This is just one example of bad decisions made at government level that are helping to destroy this country.

The state public service is not there to be sold out to any companies for their own financial gain, be they Irish, or anywhere else in the EU. They should be there to be made available, free, on as many platforms as possible, to ensure the Irish public can use them.

Hopefully, RTE's HD content will be kept that way, and help loosen Sky's grasp, but I doubt it.

Please give me another example of an EU country that deploys their Public Service Broadcaster in this manner.

Hogzy · 05-03-2012 11:25am

mickko wrote: »

The majority of pay TV subscribers in Ireland are with Sky because RTE is available in digital, on the Sky platform.
Sky had very modest subscriber figures in Ireland prior to RTE's launch, and their subs rocketed from 2003 onwards.

For the state to hand the PSB's services to a foreign pay tv platform, allowing them to encrypt them, and make the license fee paying Irish citizens pay for them, beggers belief.

Futhermore, they've allowed Sky to operate unregulated, ripping of Irish subs in comparison to UK subs for the same packs, paying nothing to the Irish exchequer, and pumping hundreds of millions annually out of this country for nearly a decade now.

This is just one example of bad decisions made at government level that are helping to destroy this country.

The state public service is not there to be sold out to any companies for their own financial gain, be they Irish, or anywhere else in the EU. They should be there to be made available, free, on as many platforms as possible, to ensure the Irish public can use them.

Hopefully, RTE's HD content will be kept that way, and help loosen Sky's grasp, but I doubt it.

Please give me another example of an EU country that deploys their Public Service Broadcaster in this manner.

Arent all the BBC channels available in Ireland on Freeview for free? :rolleyes:

(and we obviously dont pay a UK TV license fee)

Gerry Wicklow · 05-03-2012 11:36am

Hogzy wrote: »

Arent all the BBC channels available in Ireland on Freeview for free? :rolleyes:

(and we obviously dont pay a UK TV license fee)

BBC viewers don't have to pay sky to watch their PSB.

Hogzy · 05-03-2012 12:04pm

Gerry Wicklow wrote: »

BBC viewers don't have to pay sky to watch their PSB.

Im sure once Saorsat is launched in Ireland RTE will be on sky and will be viewable without a card.

Mountjoy Mugger · 05-03-2012 12:20pm

Hogzy wrote: »

Im sure once Saorsat is launched in Ireland RTE will be on sky and will be viewable without a card.

Like it is at present? :rolleyes:

Hogzy · 05-03-2012 12:24pm

Mountjoy Mugger wrote: »

Like it is at present? :rolleyes:

What do you mean "Life it is at present"?
You cant watch RTE on sky if you do not have a subscription?

channelsurfer2 · 05-03-2012 12:37pm

well according to Skys latest tv add "all the terresterial channels" are available without subscription.....which is not true via sky anyways.no point in reporting them to the BAI for this as they arent regulated in ireland as others point out. I wonder would the ASAI even bother taking a complaint seriously on this advert?

rivalius13 · 05-03-2012 12:42pm

mickko wrote: »

Hopefully, no. But if the state broadcaster is good at anything, it's selling out to foreign broadcasters.

You think UPC are Irish? Bless.

Hogzy · 05-03-2012 12:49pm

rivalius13 wrote: »

You think UPC are Irish? Bless.

lol yeah. Isnt UPC a Dutch company owned by an American Company.
Sky is probably more "Irish" than UPC. At least Sky is European Owned

EDIT: Yup. Liberty Global (USA) is the Parent of UPC.

campo · 05-03-2012 12:55pm

Hogzy wrote: »

lol yeah. Isnt UPC a Dutch company owned by an American Company.
Sky is probably more "Irish" than UPC. At least Sky is European Owned

EDIT: Yup. Liberty Global (USA) is the Parent of UPC.

VAT Collected does stay in Ireland though I believe unlike Sky

Hogzy · 05-03-2012 1:01pm

I didnt have time earlier to respond to this post so im doing it now.

mickko wrote: »

The majority of pay TV subscribers in Ireland are with Sky because RTE is available in digital, on the Sky platform.
Sky had very modest subscriber figures in Ireland prior to RTE's launch, and their subs rocketed from 2003 onwards.

BS. 4 channels did not warrant everyone moving to Sky. Everyone moved to Sky because they were the best Digital TV provider at the time (and IMO still are). They were the only people to be offering a full 7 day EPG built into the TV.

For the state to hand the PSB's services to a foreign pay tv platform, allowing them to encrypt them, and make the license fee paying Irish citizens pay for them, beggers belief.

If they made Sky pay for them, then sky would charge its customers more. These are the customers who already pay for the RTE service through their license fee. It would be totally different if RTE was given to Sky to air in the UK for free (which it doesnt, apart from Northern Ireland, but we get BBC in return)

Futhermore, they've allowed Sky to operate unregulated, ripping of Irish subs in comparison to UK subs for the same packs, paying nothing to the Irish exchequer, and pumping hundreds of millions annually out of this country for nearly a decade now.

The debate on UK v Irish pricing has been done to death. The higher Vat rates added with the Irish call centers and the cost of operating in Ireland justify the higher cost (which isnt all that much to be honest). Given the fact the UK has a much larger population, TV can be sold cheaper. Its the exact same with mobile phone rates. THe larger the market the lower the cost to provide the service.

This is just one example of bad decisions made at government level that are helping to destroy this country.

All it is is providing RTE channels to people who have already paid for them via the license fee. If RTE wasnt available on UPC or Sky then you would see A LOT of people protesting the license fee. The more platforms RTE is available on the better. More viewers = More revenue for RTE.

The state public service is not there to be sold out to any companies for their own financial gain, be they Irish, or anywhere else in the EU. They should be there to be made available, free, on as many platforms as possible, to ensure the Irish public can use them.

I agree with you here. But that is not what is happening with RTE at the moment. Its understandable that RTE HD was kept on saorview at the beginning. It was to promote saorview. However i bet RTE HD will be on Sky not too long after it has been on UPC.

icdg · 05-03-2012 1:21pm

Hogzy wrote: »

lol yeah. Isnt UPC a Dutch company owned by an American Company.

That's exactly the situation. UPC started in Holland as a US-Dutch joint venture (United-Phillips Cable, between United International Holdings (a precursor of LibertyGlobal) and Royal Phillips Electronics), Now its wholly owned by LibertyGlobal which is itself controlled by John C. Malone.

Sky is only slightly ahead of UPC at the last count, by about 70,000 subscribers (600,000 for Sky v 530,000 or so for UPC) although this is a massive reversal over the course of a decade - Chorus and NTL were ahead of Sky by the order of several times about ten years ago. And if you went back a few years before that, to the analogue era, Sky's DTH numbers were tiny - literally the only people subscribing to Sky in 1990s Ireland were those living in one-off rural houses who had no chance of ever getting cable/MMDS and for whom Sky was the only option for multichannel TV.

My own view is that RTÉ as the public service broadcaster should be platform natural and offer their channels to all platforms. The one thing I would say at present is that the extra RTÉ services are nothing to write home about - RTÉjr is the RTÉ Two block and then the same repeated again, RTÉ One+1 is what it says on the tin (and even then, with some gaps) and only airs from 7pm anyway. RTÉ News Now, well you can get that on the internet if you've broadband.

Hogzy · 05-03-2012 2:25pm

campo wrote: »

Hogzy wrote: »

lol yeah. Isnt UPC a Dutch company owned by an American Company.
Sky is probably more "Irish" than UPC. At least Sky is European Owned

EDIT: Yup. Liberty Global (USA) is the Parent of UPC.

VAT Collected does stay in Ireland though I believe unlike Sky

Sky Ireland Ltd is an Irish registered company so all Irish sky customers pay Irish vat. Why would you think we would be paying uk vat when the service is bought and supplied in Ireland. It's like saying mcdonalds charge the American vat rate because they're an American company

Minstrel27 · 05-03-2012 2:40pm

channelsurfer2 wrote: »

well according to Skys latest tv add "all the terresterial channels" are available without subscription

I saw that ad alright. Blatant bull**** is what it is.

channelsurfer2 · 05-03-2012 3:17pm

ok i have actually filled in the online ASAI complaint form about this advert.... lets see what happens.

Hogzy · 05-03-2012 3:20pm

channelsurfer2 wrote: »

ok i have actually filled in the online ASAI complaint form about this advert.... lets see what happens.

I havnt seen it at all. Is there a link to it?

The Cush · 05-03-2012 3:58pm

Hogzy wrote: »

Im sure once Saorsat is launched in Ireland RTE will be on sky and will be viewable without a card.

RTÉ on Sky without a viewing card won't happen, they've said this option is not available to them.

Wouldn't be much point in launching Saorsat if the channels were going to be available FTA via the Sky box.

Bigcheeze · 05-03-2012 4:05pm

Hogzy wrote: »

Sky Ireland Ltd is an Irish registered company so all Irish sky customers pay Irish vat. Why would you think we would be paying uk vat when the service is bought and supplied in Ireland. It's like saying mcdonalds charge the American vat rate because they're an American company

They actually charge UK VAT. When the UK VAT rate went up last year I received a notice of price increase, the reason given was that UK VAT was going up to 20%. The service is supplied from space.

channelsurfer2 · 05-03-2012 4:21pm

Hogzy wrote: »

I havnt seen it at all. Is there a link to it?

no link to it but i am sure you cant miss it as they seem to be advertising on rte/tv3 most evenings these days.

PogMoThoin · 05-03-2012 5:11pm

Hogzy wrote: »

Sky Ireland Ltd is an Irish registered company so all Irish sky customers pay Irish vat. Why would you think we would be paying uk vat when the service is bought and supplied in Ireland. It's like saying mcdonalds charge the American vat rate because they're an American company

WTF? America isn't in the EU. Sky charge UK VAT, they are registered there not here.

VAT on services
VAT on services is paid at the place where the service has been supplied. This will most often, but not always, be where the service supplier is established. The trader will in those cases account for VAT on his services in the Member State where he is established, applying the VAT rate of that country.
Depending on the nature of the service, VAT may need to be paid in another Member State than that where the supplier is established. This is for example the case with services connected to immovable property; transport of passengers or goods; cultural, artistic, sporting, scientific, educational, and entertainment services.

http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/taxation/vat/how_vat_works/index_en.htm

icdg · 05-03-2012 9:51pm

Hogzy wrote: »

Sky Ireland Ltd is an Irish registered company so all Irish sky customers pay Irish vat.

There is no Sky Ireland Limited, according to a search at the CRO.

There is only the operations in the Republic of Ireland of British Sky Broadcasting. Some people seem to think that the ROI service is a separate service to the UK service. It isn't - it uses the same satellites, the same transponders, the same digiboxes, the same dishes (give or take that some people have to have a larger dish, as is also the case in Scotland), the same subscriber management system etc.

The differences between the UK and Ireland in terms of channel line up are enforced through the conditional access system.

Infoanon · 05-03-2012 10:16pm

The Cush wrote: »

Could it be down to who pays carriage and distribution costs or epg position?

IIRC RTE receive a % of the Sky sub - the deal done between Sky and RTE was a) Sky paid for the upstream facility and when subsciber numbers exceeded 'x' , Sky would pay RTE a %

mickko · 05-03-2012 10:29pm

Hogzy wrote: »

Arent all the BBC channels available in Ireland on Freeview for free? :rolleyes:

(and we obviously dont pay a UK TV license fee)

That's exactly my point!
The British PSB's are FTA all over Europe. As are the French, German, Italian, Polish, and many more, via Astra or Eutelsat, all of which also have their own internal DTT platforms.
Correct me if I'm wrong, none have handed over their PSBs to allow a foreign pay tv platform resell them back into their own country, and enjoy the position Sky have here.
RTE handed Sky our PSBs on a silver plate because it was an Irish solution to an Irish problem. ie: we had no digital platform for them ourselves

Manc-Red · 05-03-2012 10:47pm

If this channel is to appear on Sky's EPG... Lets hope its in time for the European Championships.

icdg · 05-03-2012 10:49pm

mickko wrote: »

Correct me if I'm wrong, none have handed over their PSBs to allow a foreign pay tv platform resell them back into their own country, and enjoy the position Sky have here.

Every country that has cable television which is not domestically owned has done so. And cable TV is very expensive to run, there are very few cable companies in Europe left that are even European-owned, never mind owned in their own country. US-owned UPC dominates in many European countries. There is the perception in the UK that Virgin Media is a British company, thanks to its use of the very British brand "Virgin", but in fact its Delaware-registered, listed on the NASDAQ, and Richard Branson only has a minority stake.

mickko · 05-03-2012 10:51pm

rivalius13 wrote: »

You think UPC are Irish? Bless.

Bless yourself. I'm fully aware of UPC's ownership structure, as is the case with many companies operating here; PayPal, Boots, eBay, McDonalds, Marks and Spensers, our new friends "hello Ireland" Liberty Insurance, the list goes on....

The makeup of their ownership is irrelevant. All are based here, correctly registered, creating employment, paying rent, VAT, PAYE, USC, PRSI, etc, etc, etc....

This includes UPC, who also have several companies registered here, are fully regulated, and are licensed by ComReg.

Sky on the other hand....

mickko · 05-03-2012 11:15pm

icdg wrote: »

Every country that has cable television which is not domestically owned has done so. And cable TV is very expensive to run, there are very few cable companies in Europe left that are even European-owned, never mind owned in their own country. US-owned UPC dominates in many European countries. There is the perception in the UK that Virgin Media is a British company, thanks to its use of the very British brand "Virgin", but in fact its Delaware-registered, listed on the NASDAQ, and Richard Branson only has a minority stake.

But these are physical operators within the respective countries, just like UPC here, regulated, employing people, vat, etc
Sky's position here is different, particularly because they are satellite based, and literally have had little physical presence here.
Aside from being unregulated, when you pay Sky, you pay directly into a UK bank account. It was very poor for the state to have allowed this to happen at a negotiating level with Sky.

muffler · 06-03-2012 2:24am

Hogzy wrote: »

The debate on UK v Irish pricing has been done to death. The higher Vat rates added with the Irish call centers and the cost of operating in Ireland justify the higher cost (which isnt all that much to be honest).

I'll take issue with this point and I have done a few sums to show the difference in the pricing which, with the exception of the basic package, is far from "isnt all that much"

The above figures are sourced from Sky’s websites and the conversion rate used is €1 = £0.84

Example: £20 (incl. 20% VAT) = £16.66 (excl. VAT) = €19.84 (excl. VAT) = €24.40 (incl. 23% VAT)

.

Crackity Jones · 06-03-2012 1:16pm

muffler wrote: »

I'll take issue with this point and I have done a few sums to show the difference in the pricing which, with the exception of the basic package, is far from "isnt all that much"

The above figures are sourced from Sky’s websites and the conversion rate used is €1 = £0.84

Example: £20 (incl. 20% VAT) = £16.66 (excl. VAT) = €19.84 (excl. VAT) = €24.40 (incl. 23% VAT)

.

For a more accurate Sports package comparison you should include espn @ £9 in the UK price.

There's no doubt that the prices are shown to be inflated in the above table and the movies differential is a disgrace if the prices are accurate but I just checked the sky world price ( as that's the one that affects me!) and its pretty much identical @ €76. I had thought there was a bigger difference in our favour but I was looking at UK Sky World with phone service.

Edit: sorry you can get ESPN for £9 with sky sports; phone service info

mickko · 06-03-2012 1:19pm

muffler wrote: »

I'll take issue with this point and I have done a few sums to show the difference in the pricing which, with the exception of the basic package, is far from "isnt all that much"

The above figures are sourced from Sky’s websites and the conversion rate used is €1 = £0.84

Example: £20 (incl. 20% VAT) = £16.66 (excl. VAT) = €19.84 (excl. VAT) = €24.40 (incl. 23% VAT)

.

Good illustration, but the 23% Irish VAT rate is not used.
A UK sub, is the same as a ROI sub, and both pay 20% UK VAT.

This should be a straight conversion, making the difference even larger!

Minstrel27 · 06-03-2012 1:38pm

mickko wrote: »

RTE handed Sky our PSBs on a silver plate because it was an Irish solution to an Irish problem. ie: we had no digital platform for them ourselves

As we had no digital platform RTÉ should have stayed off satellite completely?

muffler · 06-03-2012 2:02pm

Crackity Jones wrote: »

For a more accurate Sports package comparison you should include espn @ £9 in the UK price.

I deliberately didn't list the ESPN package as its presently on offer in ROI and not in the UK. I listed the static or recurring packs only so as to make a fair and accurate comparison.

Crackity Jones wrote: »

if the prices are accurate

Yes the prices are accurate but as there may be a lower VAT rate than I included then the price differences may vary slightly

Crackity Jones wrote: »

I just checked the sky world price ( as that's the one that affects me!) and its pretty much identical @ €76. I had thought there was a bigger difference in our favour but I was looking at UK Sky World with phone service.

Im glad you edited your post to reflect the actual situation. In the UK they get a free/reduced cost phone bundle thrown in with the package AFAIK so there is a big difference.

mickko wrote: »

Good illustration, but the 23% Irish VAT rate is not used.

I wasn't aware that it was a 20% rate.

recyclebin · 06-03-2012 2:37pm

I've tried looking at what VAT rate Sky Ireland charge and all my searches come back to boards or digital spy.

Is their any official confirmation whether the VAT goes to the Irish or UK tax man?

Mr McBoatface · 06-03-2012 3:05pm

recyclebin wrote: »

I've tried looking at what VAT rate Sky Ireland charge and all my searches come back to boards or digital spy.

Is their any official confirmation whether the VAT goes to the Irish or UK tax man?

Joan Burton confirmed this in one of the debates on launch of Saorview in May of 2010 I think. If I remember correctly she was questioning the Head of the BAI on the matter.

Here's a Indo link from way back in 2006 confirming Sky pay UK VAT - http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/theres-no-limit-to-skys-plans-for-receptive-irish-111038.html

Nor is the company fully regulated in the Irish market. For example, because its signal is beamed into the Republic and not originated here, it does not pay the standard 21pc VAT rate - instead, it pays VAT at the 17.5pc British level, while Irish subscribers generate tax for the British exchequer.

BSkyB has resisted regulation in Ireland through the Television Without Frontiers directive which allows for that because it is based in Britain

Crackity Jones · 06-03-2012 3:08pm

muffler wrote: »

I deliberately didn't list the ESPN package as its presently on offer in ROI and not in the UK. I listed the static or recurring packs only so as to make a fair and accurate comparison.

Im glad you edited your post to reflect the actual situation. In the UK they get a free/reduced cost phone bundle thrown in with the package AFAIK so there is a big difference.

Yea I know ESPN is 'on offer' here but it largely accounts for the price differential between UK and Irl sports pack prices you show in table. As it stands the sports package offered in Ireland includes ESPN for the forseeable future.

The Sky world pack in the UK that costs almost €76 (same price as IRL) doesnt include the phone line.

is RTE 2 HD Coming To Sky?

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