Sky Signs Deal For HBO Shows

Minstrel27 · 29-07-2010 08:31AM #1

article wrote:

BRITISH BROADCASTERS Sky have entered into a multiyear deal with the television production company Home Box Office (HBO), which will bring popular American programmes to Irish homes later this year.

The full range of HBO programming will only be available to Sky customers. A spokeswoman for Sky said HBO programming would be available on the broadcaster’s ordinary television channels and no extra cost would be included.
The first HBO programme due to be broadcast on Sky is Boardwalk Empire , a Prohibition-era drama from Martin Scorsese. The show makes its US debut in September, with a UK and Ireland premiere due to follow shortly after.
HBO has developed a reputation for critically acclaimed programming, having previously produced series including The Wire , The Sopranos and Sex and the City .

Under the agreement, all new HBO programmes and series will be broadcast exclusively by Sky, who will also have right of first negotiation for all future programmes that are co-produced in the UK.

Sophie Turner Laing, managing director for entertainment, news and broadcast operations at Sky, said there is a demand for HBO programming because it produces “must-see TV”. Sky recently broadcast two of HBO’s most popular series of the year, the second World War epic The Pacific from Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, and the award-winning drama In Treatment , which returns shortly for a second season.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0729/1224275692920.html

What will this do to the world of Sky?

Richard Dower · 29-07-2010 08:42AM

^ sounds like an excellent deal and good for IRE/UK viewers...lots of original HBO programming can only be a good thing.

Otacon · 29-07-2010 09:01AM

Hopefully it will mean we get 'A Game Of Thrones' at around the same time as the US.

Roadend · 29-07-2010 09:25AM

Sky recently broadcast two of HBO’s most popular series of the year, the second World War epic The Pacific

They did indeed........on Sky movies

Basq · 29-07-2010 09:35AM

Yeah.. I suspect anything "epic" (e.g 'Game of Thrones', 'Boardwalk Empire' etc) will be on Sky Movies.

It's a cunning ploy by Sky, but it'll work!

29-07-2010 10:05AM

I mean why should they not be screened on Sky Movies? HBO is a subscription service, is it not? So it would make sense for it be shown on something similar over here.

Basq · 29-07-2010 10:19AM

We're already paying a minimum of about €22 a month for a basic service, is that worth nothing?

I'm not prepared to pay €35 to watch a series / mini-series among their 5 repeated movies day after day after day - especially given the fact that plenty of HBO series in the past have been shown on network TV (The Ricky Gervais Show, True Blood, Hung, Entourage, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Flight of The Conchords, Deadwood, The Wire, Band of Brothers, Six Feet Under, The Sopranos, Sex and the City, Oz etc) - what has changed now in that we need to be charged a hefty premium to watch any future productions from them?

Nah, that's absolutely ridiculous!

Minstrel27 · 29-07-2010 10:23AM

Deleted User wrote: »

I mean why should they not be screened on Sky Movies? HBO is a subscription service, is it not? So it would make sense for it be shown on something similar over here.

Sky Movies is a channel for movies. HBO is not a movies channel in the states so your comparison is not true.

29-07-2010 10:23AM

basquille wrote: »

We're already paying a minimum of about €22 a month for a basic service, is that worth nothing?

I'm not prepared to pay €35 to watch a series / mini-series among their 5 repeated movies day after day after day - especially given the fact that plenty of HBO series in the past have been shown on network TV (The Ricky Gervais Show, True Blood, Hung, Entourage, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Flight of The Conchords, Deadwood, The Wire, Band of Brothers, Six Feet Under, The Sopranos, Sex and the City, Oz etc) - what has changed now in that we need to be charged a hefty premium to watch any future productions from them?

Nah, that's absolutely ridiculous!

Understandable - however I would be willing to pay the extra money if it means it wasn't interrupted by ad breaks.

Basq · 29-07-2010 10:28AM

Deleted User wrote: »

Understandable - however I would be willing to pay the extra money if it means it wasn't interrupted by ad breaks.

Sky+ it, start watching 15 minutes in and forward through ads..

.. problem solved!

29-07-2010 10:46AM

basquille wrote: »

Sky+ it, start watching 15 minutes in and forward through ads..

.. problem solved!

Only if you don't have Sky+ you're left at a disadvantage.

Adverts are the sole reason for me giving up watching TV. I don't care about products you're selling, I don't want to channel surf and find countless more adverts and I really don't appreciate you stopping at the best part of a show.

emaleth · 29-07-2010 10:50AM

Minstrel27 wrote: »

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0729/1224275692920.html

What will this do to the world of Sky?

Doesn't the bit about HBO programming being available on regular Sky channels mean that they won't be shown on Sky Movies? So it'll be on SKY 1 like House or whatever.

Which is a pain, if you ask me, I'd rather the lack of logos and the lack of ads on Sky Movies. Still, once I don't have to wait for Game of Thrones....

Basq · 29-07-2010 10:55AM

emaleth wrote: »

Doesn't the bit about HBO programming being available on regular Sky channels mean that they won't be shown on Sky Movies? So it'll be on SKY 1 like House or whatever.

Yeah.. this would seem to indicate so:

A spokeswoman for Sky said HBO programming would be available on the broadcaster’s ordinary television channels and no extra cost would be included.

But I've a feeling that may change in time!

mike65 · 29-07-2010 10:56AM

Hmmm on one level its bad for "free tv" on the other hand it means the likes of AMC will be more likely to sell to BBC and C4.

emaleth · 29-07-2010 11:00AM

basquille wrote: »

Yeah.. this would seem to indicate so:

But I've a feeling that may change in time!

You are more than likely correct

So. Back to feverish tippy-toe bouncing while I await Game of Thrones (and lurk around Boards, rarely posting, always watching.....)

robby^5 · 29-07-2010 11:26AM

If there is the same delay between the US start date of The Pacific and the Sky start date, this deal wont be enough to stop me getting the show through the usual avenues. But I dare say it's good to know it'll be on normal Sky channels. I have friends looking forward to Boardwalk who only use their TV and dont have sky movies, so it'll be nice be able to actually discuss the show with them.

amacachi · 29-07-2010 11:30AM

robby^5 wrote: »

If there is the same delay between the US start date of The Pacific and the Sky start date, this deal wont be enough to stop me getting the show through the usual avenues. But I dare say it's good to know it'll be on normal Sky channels. I have friends looking forward to Boardwalk who only use their TV and dont have sky movies, so it'll be nice be able to actually discuss the show with them.

Same here. Funny thing is I don't think the yanks care an awful lot, a lot of us fools over here still buy the DVDs at inflated prices when it's done airing.

heebusjeebus · 29-07-2010 11:30AM

robby^5 wrote: »

If there is the same delay between the US start date of The Pacific and the Sky start date, this deal wont be enough to stop me getting the show through the usual avenues.

That's exactly how I feel.
If Sky had shown The Pacific on Sky One I still would have not seen it due to the month delay (and ads).

JP Liz V1 · 29-07-2010 12:36PM

Roadend wrote: »

They did indeed........on Sky movies

I can see Boardwalk Empire also going on Sky Movies

MikeHoncho · 29-07-2010 02:32PM

Deleted User wrote: »

Only if you don't have Sky+ you're left at a disadvantage.

Adverts are the sole reason for me giving up watching TV. I don't care about products you're selling, I don't want to channel surf and find countless more adverts and I really don't appreciate you stopping at the best part of a show.

Yeah they should do away with ads. Lets see what the quality of TV is like then.

Dman001 · 29-07-2010 11:53PM

Hmmm will be interesting to see how Sky will handle the Shows.

In one sense, could they really afford to put some of the Shows on Sky Movies? They could with The Pacific because two big names were involved (Speilbeg and Hanks) and was a World War II mini-series. Im not sure they could pull it off with regular drama series.

But in another sense, it is a major, pricey deal for Sky so Im sure they will want to milk it for all its worth.

Still though, it will be nice to see the older series on Sky. I never got around to seeing The Sopranos, Band of Brothers, Six Feet Under, Carnivale and the others so will really look forward to watching these this winter especially with the lack of good new series from the other networks. This is a great move from Sky too, as the better quality shows are coming from HBO, AMC, Starz and Showtime these days. Now if only they would get the rights to Breaking Bad.

Minstrel27 · 02-08-2010 10:52AM

Dman001 wrote: »

Now if only they would get the rights to Breaking Bad.

It looks like they will.

article wrote:

Sky's headline-grabbing deal with HBO last week - acquiring the exclusive rights to the US channel's archive as well as all future shows and a first-look deal on all co-productions for around £150m – is just the start of the channel's aggressive assault on the high ground of scripted programming.

Sources in Los Angeles indicate that Sky is close to similar tie-ups with both Showtime and AMC, which would mean that Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Dexter and forthcoming zombie epic The Walking Dead, would pass behind BSKYB's paywall for at least five years – unavailable to free-to-air broadcasters like the BBC and Channel 4.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/aug/02/sky-hbo-deal-tv-drama

It looks like Sky are really going for the premium tv content. This will leave hardly any decent shows for non Sky channel if true.

mike65 · 02-08-2010 11:03AM

Just saw that

Basq · 02-08-2010 11:16AM

If it means 'Breaking Bad' gets an audience over here.. I'm all for it tbh!

02-08-2010 01:40PM

MikeHoncho wrote: »

Yeah they should do away with ads. Lets see what the quality of TV is like then.

Do they have adverts on HBO or other premium channels like that in the States?

ballsymchugh · 02-08-2010 01:46PM

could be a problem for TG4, they showed the wire a few years before i'd heard about it, and they've been showing Curb and a few other things from HBO.

Cantona's Collars · 02-08-2010 02:02PM

TG4 are great for pulling off coups to get quality American drama,pity not many people cop on to it.Irish tv tends to be immune from Sky's influence when it comes to U.S imports-take Lost for example,aired a week before Sky.I posted the plans Sky have for the future(must put link up here) on another thread-it seems the HBO tie-in is concentrated on Sky1.They have alway's played catch up to BBC and ITV in the UK but this could be their ace in their sleeve.

Minstrel27 · 02-08-2010 02:20PM

Deleted User wrote: »

Do they have adverts on HBO or other premium channels like that in the States?

No adverts on HBO or Showtime.

RolandIRL · 02-08-2010 02:36PM

bit weird for sky to taking the plunge like this. usually they just wait for a show to become popular before taking it for themselves (like house, lost etc). maybe now they'll actually show something from the first season :eek:
hope sky isn't the only channel that will get most American imports. too pricey for me. channel 4 and bbc better get some of this content.

Cantona's Collars · 02-08-2010 02:49PM

whiteman19 wrote: »

bit weird for sky to taking the plunge like this. usually they just wait for a show to become popular before taking it for themselves (like house, lost etc). maybe now they'll actually show something from the first season :eek:
hope sky isn't the only channel that will get most American imports. too pricey for me. channel 4 and bbc better get some of this content.

Have a look at Minstrels link-seems your of luck for the fta route with BBC etc. getting any of these shows.

robby^5 · 02-08-2010 02:53PM

basquille wrote: »

If it means 'Breaking Bad' gets an audience over here.. I'm all for it tbh!

Breaking Bad isnt made by HBO it's from AMC.

On this point, it's not been on TV over here yet? They have the DVD's in HMV etc. that's a bit odd.

Sky Signs Deal For HBO Shows

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