Blackout threat to British Eurosport | Page 2 | Golden Skate

Blackout threat to British Eurosport

CaroLiza_fan

EZETTIE LATUASV IVAKMHA
Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 25, 2012
Country
Northern-Ireland
OK. That website that I use to find out my TV news has posted a new story about the latest twist in the Discovery / Sky dispute:

http://www.a516digital.com/2017/01/sky-says-no-to-1billion-discovery.html

£1 billion???!!! :jaw: :jaw: :jaw:

No wonder Sky are willing to let Discovery walk! That is a serious amount of money, even for a company like Sky.

Sure, with the profits they are making, Sky could easily afford it. But, knowing Sky, they won't want to pay it themselves. So, they would pass it onto the subscribers. And they will leave en masse because the Sky subsription prices are already extortionate. And Sky's profits will fall dramatically.

So, I can't see Sky giving in. Discovery are going to have to lower their demands if they want to remain on Sky.

There is also a poll on that TV news site:

http://www.a516digital.com/2017/01/sky-v-discovery-should-sky-pay.html

And at the time I clicked "yes", the results were:

Yes - 35%
No - 65%

Why did I click "yes"? Well, apart from BT Sport for the MotoGP, the channels owned by Discovery Networks are the only channels on Sky that are ever watched in our house. So, without them, it would not be worth paying Sky's extortionate prices.

Other than that, we live on the channels from the Public Service Broadcasters (BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, RTÉ and TV3).

CaroLiza_fan
 

MidnightSkater

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 20, 2013
OK. That website that I use to find out my TV news has posted a new story about the latest twist in the Discovery / Sky dispute:

http://www.a516digital.com/2017/01/sky-says-no-to-1billion-discovery.html

£1 billion???!!! :jaw: :jaw: :jaw:

No wonder Sky are willing to let Discovery walk! That is a serious amount of money, even for a company like Sky.

Sure, with the profits they are making, Sky could easily afford it. But, knowing Sky, they won't want to pay it themselves. So, they would pass it onto the subscribers. And they will leave en masse because the Sky subsription prices are already extortionate. And Sky's profits will fall dramatically.

So, I can't see Sky giving in. Discovery are going to have to lower their demands if they want to remain on Sky.

There is also a poll on that TV news site:

http://www.a516digital.com/2017/01/sky-v-discovery-should-sky-pay.html

And at the time I clicked "yes", the results were:

Yes - 35%
No - 65%

Why did I click "yes"? Well, apart from BT Sport for the MotoGP, the channels owned by Discovery Networks are the only channels on Sky that are ever watched in our house. So, without them, it would not be worth paying Sky's extortionate prices.

Other than that, we live on the channels from the Public Service Broadcasters (BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, RTÉ and TV3).

CaroLiza_fan
I agree it's a lot of money but having read for the past few days others peoples views on the Sky forum so many will cancel their Sky subscription.
I have been with Sky for so long & have seen a massive increase in the money I have to pay each year even though Sky lost the Champions League Football rights & many big Premier League games too. I also live in a area where the internet connection is so poor I can rarely watch a 4 minute youtube video without it breaking up so the Eurosport player is not an option.
I really think I will cancel Sky if Eurosport & other Discovery channels go.
 

Miller

Final Flight
Joined
Dec 29, 2016
You've got to laugh haven't you. Last night, despite the dispute, Eurosport was showing ads for Sky Atlantic, the home of Game of Thrones, Westworld etc. The only reason I can really think of for people not switching to Virgin Media - Sky Atlantic is exclusive to them.
 

CaroLiza_fan

EZETTIE LATUASV IVAKMHA
Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 25, 2012
Country
Northern-Ireland
I agree it's a lot of money but having read for the past few days others peoples views on the Sky forum so many will cancel their Sky subscription.

Discovery have Sky over a barrel.

  • If Sky loses the Discovery Networks channels, Sky will lose subscribers en masse.
  • If Sky pays the money and then passes the bill onto the subscribers, Sky will lose subscribers en masse.

The only way for a solution is for Discovery to lower their demands to a level that Sky will agree to, and for Sky to pay for it out of their profits, without passing it onto the subscribers.

But, I fear that it will take longer than the next few days to the 2 parties to reach that solution. And the channels will indeed disappear for a while.

Hopefully not for long...

I have been with Sky for so long & have seen a massive increase in the money I have to pay each year even though Sky lost the Champions League Football rights & many big Premier League games too.

Oh, don't talk about football rights to me. It is because of the ridiculous prices being paid for football rights that the subscrition prices for both Sky (as a whole - not just Sky Sports) and BT Sport have got so extortionate.

We had Sky Sports when it first launched back in the 90's on analogue. But, we soon realised that there was nothing on it that we were interested in, so got rid of it.

And seeing the prices that are being charged for Sky Sports nowadays, I cannot understand why anybody would pay for it. Like, it is nearly all football, cricket, golf and rugby. Admittedly, I am probably biased since I have no interest in any of those sports. But even if you were interested - is it really worth £27 a month extra on top of the £44 a month you are paying for the Sky Multi-Channels?

The only thing I would like Sky Sports for is the netball. I first watched netball during the last Commonwealth Games because a girl I went to school with was playing for Northern Ireland (after hockey, netball is the main sport for girls at my old school). And I found that I absolutely loved it! But, since Sky Sports has the rights to the netball, I don't get to see any that often. That said, whenever they put netball on their teaser channel, Sky Sports Mix, I make sure not to miss it!

I really think I will cancel Sky if Eurosport & other Discovery channels go.

Up until yesterday, I would have said the same. Then I remembered that although Motors TV is Free to View, it is NOT Free to Air. It may be free, but you still need your Sky card to watch it. Although, that may change when it morphs into Motorsport TV in March.

Then there is Sky Sports F1. Sky Sports F1 was the only reason we changed to HD in the first place, as it was thrown in as part of the HD Pack. But, if we were to cancel Sky, we would lose the channel. And we would not be able to get it back even if we came back, as the HD Pack does not exist any more, and Sky Sports F1 is now being included as part of the Sky Sports Pack. And I'm not paying £27 a month extra just for F1 and netball!

I also live in a area where the internet connection is so poor I can rarely watch a 4 minute youtube video without it breaking up so the Eurosport player is not an option.

I am so sorry to hear that. It is not that many years since we were using dial-up, so I can relate to you on that.

You know, you are the exact reason why Eurosport should be launching additional channels, rather than just saying "watch it on the Player". Because not everybody has access to a fast internet connection.

But, these people in suits running these businesses don't think about things like that.

CaroLiza_fan
 
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Miller

Final Flight
Joined
Dec 29, 2016
The other big thing that will also determine what happens is what happens with potential new subscribers. Say you're a free to air viewer that's upgrading to Sky. If you find out there's no Discovery or Eurosport, potentially big selling points, are you actually going to go through with it. If Sky suddenly gets lots of potential new subscribers cancelling/waiting to see what happens they'll have no choice. If say 50% of subscribers are not going through with it, and they're losing customers through natural churn they'll soon be able to see what's going to happen to their customer base. Of course they don't have to pay Discovery the money anymore, but Sky's always seemed to be about getting as many customers as possible to try to squash their rivals, and do they want to really change this strategy at this moment in time, just as new rivals (internet options and all that) are springing up all over the place (I note that Sky is going to offer its own internet/non-satellite option next year, maybe too late).
 

lyverbird1

Final Flight
Joined
Apr 18, 2015
Oh crap. I didn't realise Sky Atlantic was exclusive to Sky. I was all set to sign up to Virgin if this all goes ahead, but the Twin Peaks reboot is in May. Unless of course, there are certain other means of getting that online. Purely legally, of course.
 
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