Sky to launch pay-as-you-view films on net

IT WAS only a few years ago when people planned their lives around TV schedules – with the only alternative to watching a programme being to set the video and hope it recorded the right channel.

Now, television viewing has been revolutionised by the birth of internet services, which offer instant, on-demand broadcasting through a range of devices.

BSkyB yesterday geared up to take on the likes of LoveFilm and Netflix when it revealed plans for its own new internet-based service to target the 13 million British households that do not subscribe to pay-TV.

The new product will initially allow customers to pay to download films without a contract or a satellite dish, but plans to expand its offer to include sport and entertainment soon afterwards.

Viewers will be able to watch content on devices connected to the internet, including PCs, laptops, smartphones, games consoles and televisions – while they can choose whether to pay monthly, or rent a film on a pay-as-you-go basis.

Ernest Doku, technology expert for uSwitch, said the increase in internet-based broadcasting signalled a demand for services which “traditional” cable providers were not offering.

“The fact that there is an appetite for on-demand services like LoveFilm from people who were paying £40 a month for their cable shows that they were still not getting the service they wanted in terms of instant access TV,” he said.

The US company Netflix, which has more than 23 million subscribers across the Atlantic, launched in the UK last month, offering a £5.99 a month service. LoveFilm quickly responded by undercutting its new rival by £1, for a streaming-only service.

Sky’s TV sales will also face growing competition in the summer with the launch of YouView, an internet-connected set-top box involving the BBC, ITV and BT.

“Amid all the Netflix noise comes a reminder that Sky is not about to give up its crown lightly,” said analyst Richard Hunter from Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers.

But John Cook, professor of media at Glasgow Caledonian University, said he believed there would always be a place for scheduled broadcasting.

“I think broadcasting will split. You can’t really watch the news on catch-up and people will always want to get together for events such as the royal wedding,” he said. “But for entertainment, such as drama, people don’t want to have to wait for episodes now, they want to watch a whole series in one go.”

The new service was announced as Sky revealed a further slowdown in the number of households that signed up to its TV services to 40,000 in the three months to 31 December, down from 140,000 in the same period a year ago.

Chief executive Jeremy Darroch denied Sky was threatened by online businesses. Sky has offered its own customers the chance to watch programmes online, but the push to offer its content to non-subscribers is a new tactic.

He said: “I don’t see it threatening at all. It’s evidence this is an exciting market and lots of people see opportunities in it.”