Sky Online goes live

SKY Television has launched a brand new service, “SKY Online” allowing consumers to download and stream content over the internet.

Phase one of the new service will only be available to SKY subscribers, with the second phase, scheduled for launch later in the year.

Initially, over 500 hours of content will be available, including movies currently screening on SKY Movies 1, 2, MGM and Rialto, delayed sports broadcasts from SKY Sport 1,2 and 3, SKY Sport Highlights and a selection from “START UP”, SKY’s basic tier channels.

The second phase of the service will offer the SKY Box Office movies, live sport from SKY Sport 1, 2, and 3 and additional content from the basic tier.

SKY’s Chief Executive, John Fellet says, “This new service has been developed as part of SKY’s philosophy to provide New Zealand consumers with anything, anywhere, anytime on a variety of different platforms”

“SKY Online will provide New Zealand consumers with even more viewing choices and options, giving them the opportunity to choose from a wide variety of movies, sport and entertainment programmes” says Fellet.

SKY already broadcasts more than 100 channels on both its satellite and UHF networks, partners with TelstraClear to deliver content via cable, with Vodafone to provide an 8 channel mobile service, launched satellite delivered video on demand in July 2007 and will roll out the next generation of high definition MYSKY personal video recorders in July of this year.

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  • nanisnap

    download.skytv.co.nz

  • TV Blogger

    HERE’S IT IN 100 WORDS OR LESS:

    Hey y’all, now you can pay a premium for content you already get for free from sidereel.com
    What’s more we’ll load it up with so much DRM you’ll get to decide what you want to watch in 2 weeks time this week, as your Telecom broadnarrowband modem cowers
    at the sight of a 6,000,000 GB file size.

    What a way to compliment a dying platform (outrageously expensive monodirectional satellite) with a new model about as compelling as genital warts.

    The Verdict: FAIL

    It’s high-time TVNZ, Mediaworks and Sky get-over this whole ‘Broadcast Television’ fad, and start investing in the future, maybe they could buy a Newspaper or something ;-P

  • bobscoffee

    hmmm newspapers?

  • Dom

    Well I’ve just decided to cancel my entire Sky subscription as Sky don’t support the Mac platform with Sky Online. Talk about a company that is so slow off the mark and so out of touch with the times.
    What a joke!

  • MrCynical

    Yeah, how dare they not support the 3% of computer users who use macs, think of the market share they are losing

    Wait is it “losing” or “don’t care about”?

  • Dom

    Well 6% market share in the US and growing quickly & NZ will follow. Always takes a while to educate the masses. Its that old sheep mentality of following the majority. Now little geek boy get back to coding.

  • nanisnap

    The service is working out pretty well. It’s got a nice little media manager, and a clean shiney interface like the Sky website. I downloaded a movie and it plays well, blows up to a nice size. Pretty good quality. I think Mac support will be low on their priority list unfortunately, given Mac ownership rates in New Zealand.

    Cool little service though.

  • TV Blogger

    The thing many seem to forget is that a growing group of young people use Macs, many of our academic institutions have huge Mac patronage. Coincidentally, it tends to be young people who are using the VOD services anyway.
    It wouldn’t be hard to trade the DRM out for a less resource intensive flash player.
    That said, I suspect DRM restrictions are probably imposed by distributors – who are clearly as ignorant and naive as their record company counterparts of yesteryear.
    This trainwreck of an industry model will arguably be as boring to watch as Music Stores V Napster.
    Yawn!

  • MrCynical

    you would like to think so, but that growing number is still an insignificant market share, and the cost to develop for mac as well would simply not make it worth it, which is why there are sod all games for macs as well

    so how much do users have to pay for this service btw?

  • nanisnap

    If you are a Sky subscriber Sky Online is free. You get unlimited downloads of movies, shows and sports. But I think it’s only until it comes out of beta then I heard its like $5 a month or something on top of your subscription.

  • MrCynical

    So basically people are currently bitching about a free service?

    It would be like buying a a burger and then complaining that the free fries you got with it weren’t big enough…

  • bobscoffee

    i very much doubt it’s actually free. some of what subscribers pay would go towards developing it. in that case they are paying for the online service which they therefore have the right to bitch about

  • MrCynical

    So you mean, out of their current subscription, that they, as we speak, pay for to watch SKY…that money is being used for sky to develop other products and services?

    Oh my god the horror, what sort of unethical businesses practices are these? Using the money they earn to expand their business! That is just crazy talk! And the mere fact they offer it to said payees for free is the sign of a sadistic evil company

    Maybe you should start up an online petition, because everyone takes those really seriously… Or, start up an e-mail chain letter and make sure to use lots of exclamation marks to hammer home your point of just how these companies are ripping of the average kiwi who pays to watch tv.

  • bobscoffee

    yes i did say that mr cynical…i don’t know who said it was an unethical business practice though.

  • MrCynical

    So if sky brought out a new tv channel for all subscribers to watch at no additional charge, and people bitched that they didn’t want to watch it, despite the fact they are not paying any extra for it and it in no way intereferes with their current service that they were already paying for… would you think they were whiney hypocrtical morons or would you agree with them?

  • TV Blogger

    No Mr Cynical,
    you would argue the funds spent on the unwatched channel would have been better spent elsewhere.
    Just as McDonalds would stop handing out the Fries if they were so bad they damaged their brand name – or resulted in unnecessary wastage.
    Of course it could also inadvertently effect all of Sky’s subscribers if the addition of a new channel resulted in a channel reshuffle (People having to re-memorize the channel numbers they actually watch.)
    Pretty standard business practice really.
    I usually agree with you but bobscoffee’s argument is fair.

    Also, aren’t they charging a $6 ‘admin’ fee?

  • MrCynical

    Except its not though is it. Mcdonalds could carry on without adding a single thing to the menu, and people would still go there, same with sky they could not add a single new channel and people would still buy sky

    All they have done is add a new feature, and charged $5 to OPT IN and then the bitchy starts

    So how is that a “fair” argument?

  • bobscoffee

    so now people are complaining about a service they have paid for, and if they do so they have the right to. whether or not they continue to pay for and use the service is up to them.

  • DaMo

    I hate it when SKY calls up and tries to get you to join a channel you have no interest in viewing.

    I’m pretty certain we’ve all had that experience.

  • MrCynical

    So why bitch about something you don’t like, why not just…not use it? that is what happened with TVNZ on demand, no one bought programs, so they made them all free.

    I never said they don’t have the right, they are just fracking morons to do so.

  • Paul

    And fracking morons like you Mr Cynical, like to argue for the sake of arguing!!!!!!!!!! Right????????? What do you think of that? Oh no, let me answer that one…..”I’m through with you” ha ha ha Your’e a fracking bore……Jerk!