Reply From Sky about the Irish Republic

irishgeo

just a qucik not to say i got a reply about an email i sent. i have included the email and the reply. Looks the BBC is to blame for the lack of the BBC radios on Sky according to Sky.

I am deeply disappointed with the treatment of Irish Republic viewers of Sky
Digital in Ireland.
Here is my list of things where Sky in Ireland have failed the viewers:
1. Not allowing ITV1 on the EPG.
2. Encrypting ITV2
3. Not allowing BBC Radio Channels on the EPG
4. Not allowing BBC Radio 5 Live to broadcast in Ireland.(why not just
encrypt the football matches that have rights issues)
5. The high cost of box office movies.
6. The annoying SKY Active logos when Active is not available here.
7. The blocking of BBC NEWS 24 from Ireland

and the reply

Dear Kevin

Thank you for your e-mail. Please accept my apologies for the delay in
responding.

I was concerned to read of your dissatisfaction with the service made
available to our Irish customers.

With regard to your query on terrestrial channels being available in the
Republic of Ireland. Please allow me to explain.

Sky's aim is to encourage all UK based and Irish terrestrial channels on to
digital satellite and, as you are aware, BBC1 and BB2 are now available to
Sky customers in the Republic of Ireland.

I am happy to advise that RTE has announced that it's three channels will be
joining Sky in April and that talks with others are continuing.

When the radio stations launched the BBC decided not to make them available
in the Republic of Ireland. Therefore, Sky has only been given limited
rights to make certain BBC services available in certain locations.

Sky is always willing to discuss carriage and, in fact, are already
discussing carriage with terrestrial broadcasters on availability and access
to these channels for our customers in the Republic of Ireland. However,
distribution of these channels is subject to commercial negotiation and the
willingness of other broadcasters to be distributed on Sky.

I was also concerned to learn that you are unhappy with the cost of Sky Box
Office movies. Sky Box Office allows viewers to choose to watch a movie in
the comfort of their own home without the nuisance of having to visit a
video store. It is an additional service provided for customers who decide
to they wish to see a recently released moved without waiting for it to be
released on the core movie subscription channels.

Sky is very conscious that viewers in the Republic of Ireland cannot at
present use our online interactive services, and understand the frustration
that this could cause. We are currently conducting the technical work
necessary to introduce a range of popular interactive services to viewers in
the Republic - including some dedicated Irish services, during the first
half of 2002. These services will include games, email, betting and voting.
Home shopping and home banking are more complicated and will not be
introduced until the end of 2002 at the earliest. Viewers will be kept
informed of developments through the Sky Customer Magazine.

I very much hope that I have clarified our position in these matters and
thanks, once again, for contacting us. We always welcome customers'
comments and actively encourage viewers' feedback.

Tony

"When the radio stations launched the BBC decided not to make them available
in the Republic of Ireland. Therefore, Sky has only been given limited
rights to make certain BBC services available in certain locations. "

Actually not true, I was contacted by a guy in the BBC someyears ago to check that BBC reception was ok, otherwise why is it FTA with the exception of Five Live

REgards Tony

potoole

Hi. I've just recently registered having been browsing this forum with great interest recently.

From what I've seen, this reply is mostly a copy and paste job. I will try e-mailing them myself, but I don't expect any more than the same old claptrap.

smoke.me.a.kipper

they seem to have a set answer for most questions, just cut n pasting them in to make the reply, and just ignoring any questions they dont have an answer for.

Chucky

yeh they seem to be avoiding the issue - and very well i might say