Guardian: "Sky Atlantic won't be on Virgin Media soon, says BSkyB boss"

Originally Posted by Ignitionnet

How much were Sky asking for?

Cheeky boy.

Sky has plenty of form in this regard - they are known to prefer to price their product according to the level of their investment in it rather than according to its market value. A bit like a Barry Boy who thinks his clapped out old Corsa is worth £10,000 just because he spent £10,000 modding it.

[Ignitionnet]

Just wondering as there was a suggestion of insider knowledge.

I note Berkett claiming the price was unrealistic, also describing the product as 'great' which is somewhat at odds with the gloating exercise here.

[Digital Fanatic]

Originally Posted by Ignitionnet

How much were Sky asking for?

Too much

[borrissey]

It's early days. Channels do take time to establish themselves and take off. Channel may become more and more popular overtime. Over hyped weren't they just advertising the channel.

I'd like this channel only if they get it in both SD and HD.

Originally Posted by Ignitionnet

Just wondering as there was a suggestion of insider knowledge.

I note Berkett claiming the price was unrealistic, also describing the product as 'great' which is somewhat at odds with the gloating exercise here.

I think very probably the "gloating" such as it is was to do with skys pre launch hype and sky saying it would not appear on virgin media anytime soon nobody likes a bragger particularly when the bragging ie hype goes belly up.

Of course sky atlantic may pick up but i guess by the time virgin do eventually get it its true market value will be only too apparent.

[Tod]

The only reason I care is that if the Sky Atlantic thing ended up working, they would start taking all the best stuff off Living, Sky One etc etc and create "new" channels of exclusivity.

[Digital Fanatic]

Originally Posted by Ignitionnet

Just wondering as there was a suggestion of insider knowledge.

I note Berkett claiming the price was unrealistic, also describing the product as 'great' which is somewhat at odds with the gloating exercise here.

I think Sky started the gloating with the opening link in this thread?

Originally Posted by Ignitionnet

Just wondering as there was a suggestion of insider knowledge.

I note Berkett claiming the price was unrealistic, also describing the product as 'great' which is somewhat at odds with the gloating exercise here.

I'd be the last person to insist VM must be right just because they're VM ... fanboyism is tiresome and oh so pointless. But I think Berkett has a good point here.

Sky Atlantic is a great product on paper - any of the shows on its roster would do well, were they to be screened on one of the terrestrial channels. But it is a long-understood truth of the British pay-TV marketplace than people are extremely reluctant to pay for channels outside of "The Three Fs".

Sky has invested a pile of cash in launching Sky Atlantic and attempting to counteract the perception that there is nothing worth paying for on its platform for those who aren't already interested in any of the aforementioned premium content.

Berkett's view seems to be that it's a good idea, but Sky may be throwing too much money at it - or at least, may have tried to take the opportunity to get VM to pay too great a share of what is after all a brand-building exercise intended primarily to benefit Sky, not pay-TV in general.

As I said, Sky has form here - they paid a fortune to steal Lost off Channel 4, failed miserably to break through their ceiling of 1-1.5 million viewers for peak-time drama on Sky One, and then tried to get VM to pick up the tab when it came time to re-negotiate the Sky Basics package.

[borrissey]

Will have to see what content the channel picks up in the future.

[nialli]

I don't think it will pick up - if it can't succeed with the ballyhoo around Boardwalk Empire and the tens (hundreds?) of millions Sky has spent promoting it, then you've got to ask yourself what other series are going to appear on Atlantic this year that will draw a larger audience. Treme had strong reviews and followed the hugely acclaimed The Wire, but has fallen completely flat. Game of Thrones? A cult classic at best. Mad Men season 5? Unlikely to appear anytime soon (production postponed indefinitely whilst negotiations between Lionsgate and AMC continue) and that couldn't even draw a big audience on all platforms, let alone just Sky alone.
It was a brave attempt by Sky to launch such a prestige channel, but no matter how deep Sky's pockets it is a profit-driven company and needs a return on its investment. Any money and audience from Virgin Media would be welcome I'm sure, by both Sky and advertisers, and Berkett's right to compliment the product but haggle the price.

[borrissey]

Has the new series of Entourage as well that's a quality show.

[nialli]

Originally Posted by borrissey

Has the new series of Entourage as well that's a quality show.

Quality it may be, but fewer than 18,000 viewers for the season premiere on Sky Atlantic a few weeks ago. Details here.

[clinteastman]

You know I wouldn't be surprised if they shuttered Sky Atlantic and moved the content to it's other channels (Sky Living?), it just seems they are trying to spread their content a little thin. It can't be cheap running 2 channels, 2 channels that have very low viewing figures.

That's a shame for Entourage - I am sure the figures were higher on ITV2 (200k on average, I believe, with 300k for the final episode). Even if you take into account that Sky have access to 10 million homes, and ITV2 access to 95% of the UK's 26 million homes (just under 25 million), that's still a helluva drop*...

*(ITV2 has access to 2.5 times the number of homes Sky has, so if you multiply 18,000 by 2.5, you get 45,000).

[Arthurgray50@blu]

What we have to look at here, is simply DO VM customers want channels ie like SAtlantic on the network, or is Mr Berkett, saying, l only want channels on the network if its good VM.

In the end its the customer, that Mr Berkett should listen too, its them that pays the bill at the end of the day.

What should happen is that VM should have channels that the consumer wants, like Sports, Docs, and drams, And this should be the customer choice. What l think could be happening here, is CAN l include it in the XL package, where the customer gets it within the normal price, or does he make it a premier channel where you have to pay for it.

I think this is what he is waiting for.