BSkyB to launch online pay TV service

January 31st, 2012

BSkyB is to start an online pay television service in a bid to gain new customers and better compete with rivals such as Netflix and Lovefilm.

Britain’s biggest pay-TV broadcaster will launch the service later this year, offering its programmes, including Sky Movies, to UK households that do not currently subscribe to its satellite services. There will be different pricing options such as unlimited monthly access or pay-as-you-go.

The move was announced as it emerged that BSkyB had added fewer TV customers than expected in the second quarter – 40,000 compared to 59,400 predicted by Bloomberg analysts. It also comes as the satellite broadcaster faces increased competition from online video services after Netflix began offering movies and TV shows in the UK this month. Other video streaming providers in the UK include Lovefilm and free services such as the BBC’s iPlayer, Channel 4’s 4oD and ITV Player.

Sky chief executive Jeremy Darroch said, “Alongside the continued growth of our satellite platform, this will be a new way for us to reach out to consumers, but who may not want the full Sky service."

He continued: “I do not see [Lovefilm and Netflix] threatening our business at all. It’s further evidence that this is an exciting market and lots of people see opportunities in it. We have competed in the past few decades against all competitors."

Sky also plans to bring internet television to a larger proportion of its satellite subscribers by bolstering its existing online video service Anytime+ with content from the BBC’s iPlayer and ITV’s catch-up service.

Anytime+ had previously been limited to the 1.2 million homes that subscribe to both Sky Broadband and its pay-TV offering. But the Financial Times reported that some five million households that have up-to-date Sky+HD boxes, and a broadband connection from any provider will be able to use Anytime+ to catch up on recent Sky, BBC and ITV shows on their television sets before the end of the year.