Sky admits ruining global Banshee party

Sky TV has admitted to the NBR that they were the ones that tipped off HBO that the first episode of Banshee was available for everyone in the world to see.

“Yes we pointed out the error. I’m sure they would have realised before long,”

Wonderful.  Backward looking stupidity that will win them no friends.

An opportunity to generate some positive buzz from what was perceived as marketing genius and the eventual arrival of the future of television is now nothing more than a giant cock up.

I get that there are rights issues but it’s incredibly stingy and detrimental to deliberately undermine the goodwill generated by an apparent “mistake”.  Why they didn’t just roll with it and gather some insight is simply beyond me.

There is absolutely no way that allowing the pilot to be left freely available would impact negatively on subscribers and it beggars belief that anyone in the pay television industry could see how it would do so.

This could have been a fantastic opportunity to introduce everyone to Antony Starr’s new character and ultimately convert them into subscribers.

Short-sightedness is such an unfortunate thing.

About the author

Regan is one of the co-founders of Throng Media.
He's currently watching Survivor, Homeland, House, Glee and can't wait for the return of Game of Thrones.
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  • carol56

    I’m not sure that you do ‘get’ that there are rights issues, because you call protecting your own premium content ‘stupid’ and are surprised sky did something about it. The show is obviously going to be a hit here (because the lead actor is a Kiwi) whether it’s free or not, so of course they want it blocked.

    • http://www.facebook.com/reganjcunliffe Regan Cunliffe

      The problem with your argument is that the content was not “protected”. If it had been protected from the start then that would be fine but the problem is that they’ve tried to re-stable a horse that has well and truly bolted.

      There was buzz generated, people were excited and there was a genuine opportunity to introduce non-sky subscribers to the show. Doing so would have cost Sky nothing. No one would cancel their subscription because they could view a single pilot without paying.

      It would be ludicrous to suggest that there would be any financial loss for the “rights holder” because there simply would not be. If anything, they would benefit from new subscribers keen to watch the rest of the series.

      • Simple Solutions

        Premium content is just that. Premium. Your logic makes no sense because your argument is stand-alone, regardless of the program’s availability.

  • jonathan

    Let’s not mention at all that it’s available for free to sky subscribers via isky. Don’t even need to subscribe to SoHo. One sided much Regan?

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=684221341 Trevor Ashman

    SKY deserves a BIG loud BOO ……altogether now BOOOOO :(

  • Simple Solutions

    Why succumb to the will of international broadcasters… just use your browser concurrently with a virtual private network, or take advantage of available third-party upload websites.

  • Simple Solutions

    That link you provided also shines light on the business side of things, which at the end of the day is the only thing that matters.

    Ms Way told NBR: “I’m sure there have been some good effects through the
    availability of the first episode but as most successful businesses
    would agree, if you buy something you want what you paid for. If what we
    purchased is to be given away in our market we should be the ones to
    make that call, not the seller. We do preview Soho shows to Sky
    customers on iSky.

    Regan, you speak of Sky TV as if they are a charity. Stop living in a fantasy world!!!

    • http://www.facebook.com/reganjcunliffe Regan Cunliffe

      Your logic suggests that Cinemax and HBO must also be charities then since they have allowed the pilot episode to be viewed for free. The only difference is that Cinemax and HBO don’t have a strangle hold on content and need to be innovative in order to secure subscribers.

      I don’t disagree with Way’s comments but the issue is that the horse had bolted and rather just deal with a fairly inconsequential error and benefit from some positive PR, Sky have chosen to be stingy and upset consumers who actually thought there was something good happening.

      • Simple Solutions

        Ummm… Cinemax and HBO are the companies that fund the content, which inevitably leads to different business models. You are confusing charity with wrongdoing – a mistake doesn’t just go uncorrected, it would be foolish to expect otherwise. Sky TV’s consumers couldn’t care less about how far the content reaches – they have access to it in any case!

        Let me break it down for you: Cinemax have an obligiation to its affiliates that uphold the terms and conditions agreed upon. Sky TV would in truth pay a much lower premium if those were breached, resulting in an influx of greater cost verses lesser benefit. Therefore non-existent “positive PR” is the least of their worries!