Sky confirm possible Freeview rival

Icehouse

Sky targets Freeview
John Plunkett
Tuesday August 26, 2003
The Guardian

BSkyB is set to take on the BBC's Freeview digital terrestrial service by offering a "Freeview-plus" style package of channels via digital satellite.

Free-to-air platform Freeview has been a phenomenal success since its launch in October last year, selling 1.6 million set-top boxes so far at a price of £100 or less.

BSkyB recently upgraded its subscriber target to eight million by 2005, after a surge in demand left it only weeks away from hitting the seven million mark.

However, the BSkyB chief executive, Tony Ball, said the next stage in the broadcaster's digital vision - extending its subscriber base from eight to 12 million - would require a new approach.

"We can get to eight million or so but will the next four million all be high revenue? Probably not. We will come up with a Freeview-plus type of package with one or two [extra] channels," Mr Ball told the MediaGuardian Edinburgh International TV festival.

"We will have to slice it and dice it a different way," he said.

The package is likely to include free channels already available on digital satellite, plus a small number of add-on basic TV channels.

Although BSkyB would receive a lower average revenue per user, which currently stands at £366 a year, subscribers are likely to have to pay for their dish and set-top box as well as its installation.

However, a BSkyB source said the plan "was still at the proposal stage".

BSkyB currently offers 96 different packages to subscribers, with the cheapest - the basic entertainment offering - at £12.50. This is likely to be undercut by the new "Freeview plus" package.

Despite the growth of BSkyB's customer base, which grew by 133,000 subscribers in the three months to June to hit a total of 6.8 million, a fifth of all households with digital TV now receive free-to-air channels rather than pay TV, because of the success of Freeview.

Freeview, which is also backed by Sky and transmission company Crown Castle Communications, has proved particularly popular among the over-55s.

Its success is seen as a crucial plank in the government's bid to switch off the analogue TV signal by 2010.

MediaGuardian.co.uk © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2003

Tony

Interesting, thanks for posting the info

Icehouse

You're welcome. It'll be interesting to see how this pans out. I would guess that Sky will want to keep the free or low cost channels scrambled and available only to those with Sky equipment / cards.

Any thoughts on this?

DMC

I wonder are they looking to administer the solus scheme?

Hmmm. /me scratches chin. Its possible.