UK satellite TV provider, BSkyB, last week officially launched its long-awaited broadband VOD and mobile content services, which are dubbed "Sky by Broadband" and "Sky by Mobile" respectively. According to Sky, the new services have been launched in response to "growing evidence" that consumers want to access media content in new ways: the company claims that 47% of Sky Digital customers have broadband-connected PC’s, compared to the UK average of 38%. The Sky by Broadband service, which offers full-length movies as well as short-format sports content, also appears designed to help Sky meet the competitive threat presented by the VOD services offered by UK cable operators, ntl and Telewest, and by Video Networks’ HomeChoice IPTV platform (note: UK incumbent telco, BT, also plans to launch a VOD service later this year).
Sky by Broadband, which is powered by Kontiki’s peer-to-peer Delivery Management System (see [itvt]’s interview with Kontiki’s Scott Sahadi in Issue 6.50; UK IT services company, ioko, also played a major role in the development of the platform), and which provides content in Microsoft Windows Media 10 format, is offered free to Sky customers who subscribe to two or more premium channels: Sky World subscribers can access both the service’s movies and its sports content; Sky Movies 1 and 2 subscribers can access its movies only; and Sky Sports 1 and 2 customers can access its sports content only. The service can be used with only one PC per Sky account, and does not allow content to be copied to DVD’s or transferred to other devices. Over 200 movies are currently available on the service, including recent releases such as "Spiderman 2" and "The Day after Tomorrow," as well as "cult-classic" titles, such as "Dr. Strangelove" and the director’s cut of "Alien." Sky says that the service will eventually offer over 1,000 titles. Customers can find the movies that interest them via an alphabetical list or via a search-by-genre function: they can set their movie preferences and sort searches by director, title and actor. Movies typically take around an hour to download (at 2Mbps) and are then available on the end-user’s PC hard drive for multiple viewings for 30 days, after which time they are automatically deleted. The service also provides over 1,000 videoclips from Sky Sports, including highlights of every Barclays Premiership and UEFA Champions League soccer match. In addition, Sky says that the service will offer a package of entertainment programming from its flagship linear channel, Sky One, later this year. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this month, Microsoft chairman, Bill Gates, revealed that Sky by Broadband will eventually be offered on Microsoft Windows Media Center PC’s. It is also expected to eventually be available on Intel’s new Viiv platform. (Note: in related news, BSkyB’s £211 million offer for broadband ISP, Easynet, has been approved by the UK’s Office of Fair Trading.)
Sky by Mobile is offered free (note: operator data tariffs apply) to Sky customers who subscribe to two or more premium channels or who have a registered account with the company’s Sky Bet wagering service: they can download and install the app that enables the service on up to two mobile phones. It is an enhanced version of a mobile service that Sky launched on a trial basis last year. Among other things, the new service–which is available on multiple networks on handsets with GPRS or 3G–offers news stories and videos from Sky News and Sky Sports; daily round-ups of celebrity news, as well as exclusive interviews, reviews and previews from Sky One and Sky Movies; a personalizable section, called "My Sports," which allows customers to follow updates on the teams and events of their choice; live scoreboards for a number of sports events; tables, fixtures, results and standings for various sports; weather forecasts, including a 24-hour outlook for UK cities and towns; and a mobile version of Sky Bet that allows customers to check odds, place bets, and manage their Sky Bet accounts. It also features an interface that has a similar look to Sky’s old EPG (note: Sky has just updated its EPG–see article in this issue). In addition, the service will eventually allow end-users to program their Sky+ DVR remotely.
(Note: this article was published in the January 18th issue of the InteractiveTV Today [itvt] email newsletter.)
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