The main players in the hotly contested UK media scene continue to roll the dice. Sky s inevitable move into UHD this summer is almost a sideshow compared to the emphasis the company has put on mobile and streaming services and technologies. In its most significant revamp in a decade the broadcaster is unleashing a number of products and initiatives to combat the OTT threat from Amazon and Netflix and to ward off UK pay-TV rivals BT Group and Virgin Media.
Chiefly, they include Sky Q, the much anticipated new set top box which (in its premium Silver version) permits users to watch TV on multiple screens around the home and on two tablets at the same time. Sky calls it Fluid Viewing and will be augmented later this year with the ability to watch recorded or live shows synced to a mobile device outside the home.
This has necessitated the renegotiation by Sky of contracts with its major rights holders including with HBO and Showtime in a new multi-year deal for license to its entire content library exclusively across Sky s territories, in UK, Germany, Austria and Italy. As important, it means Amazon and Netflix can t get access to programming like the new Twin Peaks series. That feat was only possible because of Sky's scale and continuing growth claimed Sky s Chief Strategy Officer, Mai Fyfield, in The Telegraph. However, agreement has not been reached with Sky s main content partner, the BBC.
Unlike Virgin Media and BT, Sky has declined to give Netflix a place on its platform.
Other new Sky products include an upgraded Now TV service, coming later this year, as a means of offering a selection of Sky s programming to consumers who don t want a pay TV subscription. Fyfield suggests that offering entry level packages to Sky entertainment has helped the broadcast grow its customers over the past year (adding 205,000 in the 6 months to December 2015), in contrast to the heavyweight subs demanded by pay TV operators in the US which have faced a year of continued cord cutting.
This year, possibly as early as the spring, Sky will launch a mobile service carried over the O2 UK network. This will give it the quad play of home phone, mobile, TV and broadband services for bundling into a single package (Sky already has an on demand mobile TV service, Sky Go, with more than 6 million customers).
Doing this will pitch Sky head to head in the UK market with the existing quad play of Virgin Media, and Talk Talk and now BT Group, following its acquisition of mobile services operator EE for £12.5 billion from Deutsche Telekom and Orange.
While the BT/EE move reduces the number of mobile players in the UK to five, a mooted takeover by CK Hutchison s Three of Telefonica s O2 UK could see the market cut further.
The £10.25 billion ( 13.5 billion) bid is opposed by British regulator Ofcom, which argues that four rival mobile operators are required to protect consumers. It is urging European authorities to block it.
BT meanwhile announced it had netted 97,000 new customers to its BT Sport service pulled in by exclusive Champions League games although it will take a long time for its 1.4 million total subscribers to compete with anything like that of Sky s 12.3 million UK retail customers (Sky also has over 4 million in both Germany and Italy).
Further good news for BT was its award of a £100 million seven year deal to provide the BBC with broadband infrastructure. Operated by BT's global media services operation, BT Media and Broadcast, the network will link all the BBC's UK sites, including 21 broadcast centres and local radio stations, and carry its entire video, audio, data, telephone and broadband services.
The BBC says that the technology will have the capacity to allow it to more easily trial UHD and 360-degree video. Meanwhile, BT and Sky continue to trial virtual reality, with BT trialling an immersive experience at the NBA Global Games at the O2 arena in January with further VR tests planned.
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
08/12/2025
DENVER MediaKind, a global provider of cloud-based video streaming technology announced today that it is acquiring the video business of Harmonic Inc. for appro...
08/12/2025
NEW YORK Nielsen has announced that its Audience Segments from Nielsen Marketing Cloud (NMC) are now available across the Amazon Ads marketplace, including the ...
08/12/2025
Marshall Electronics showcases the CV355-27X-ND3 Optical Zoom NDI (NDI HX2, NDI HX3) Camera at ISE 2026 (Booth 4N900). Designed for users seeking high-quality ...
08/12/2025
Cinnafilm today announced the immediate availability of IPx LIVE and Tachyon LIVE, delivering broadcast-grade, real-time IP video transcoding and motion-compens...
08/12/2025
Following a successful 45th anniversary year in 2024, Hiltron reports increasing demand for its wide range of satellite communication equipment manufacturing, p...
08/12/2025
Eurovision winner Niamh Kavanagh is the first celebrity to be revealed for the s...
08/12/2025
Changing children's lives for good: A staggering 4.6 million raised in the 2025 appeal
The people of Ireland and people all over the world have once again...
08/12/2025
It's murder on the dancefloor as The Traitors Ireland legend Paudie Moloney ...
06/12/2025
In a live broadcast from the Reagan National Defense Forum, L3Harris Chair and CEO Christopher Kubasik joined Morgan Brennan on CNBCs Closing Bell: Overtime. Ku...
06/12/2025
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. A new survey from Pixitmedia by Datacore revealed a major shift in the Media & Entertainment industry in media archiving, with 85% of resp...
06/12/2025
HACKENSACK, N.J. LiveU has announced that the national public broadcaster Czech Television has completed one of the largest LiveU live production deployments fo...
06/12/2025
NEW YORK The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) presented the Excellence in Production Technology Emmy Award to NASA+ and Dr. Tom Leight...
05/12/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nati...
05/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Veritone's Sean King on the Power of Mining Video, Audio DataThe company's Data Refinery offers users total control and governance over da...
05/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: Inside the Nashville Predators' Unified, Flexible, Sca...
05/12/2025
Netflix Reaches Agreement To Acquire Warner Bros. Following Planned WBD SplitThe deal does not include WBDs sports assets like TNT Sports (US, UK, LatAm), Euros...
05/12/2025
FOX Sports Returns to Indianapolis for Primetime Broadcast of Big Ten Championsh...
05/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Digital Engagement & Monetization Workshop Tackles the ...
05/12/2025
Atlanta United Lights Up New Emory Healthcare Studio With First Live Broadcast f...
05/12/2025
As Messi Takes the Pitch, MLS, Apple, NEP Roll Out Largest MLS Cup Production Ev...
05/12/2025
ESPN Enters College Football's Most Intense Month With Elevated Workflows fo...
05/12/2025
It's about that time! Awards season is in full swing, and the Film Independe...
05/12/2025
Every year, Spotify Wrapped offers a personalized look back at the audio that defined your year. It's a snapshot of your listening habits, designed to tell ...
05/12/2025
In 2025, Spotify's EQUAL, GLOW, and RADAR programs celebrated women, LGBTQIA , and emerging artists who turned moments into milestones. From breaking record...
05/12/2025
In our latest blog, we explain how Wi-Fi 7 rollouts can drive consumer loyalty with value-add services such as consumer cybersecurity. We also explore how this ...
05/12/2025
LOS ANGELES Netflix announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Nielsens Gracenote has launched Gracenote Content Connect, a new ad platform that provides agencies, brands, supply-side platforms (SSPs) and demand-si...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK In an most important update to the workings of deal-based programmatic advertising, IAB Tech Lab has released version 1.0 of its Deals API for public c...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Pass the turkey. Pass the stuffing. Pass the cranberry sauce. All are common requests of Americans celebrating Thanksgiving Day with family and f...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. Netflix announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has approved AT&T's $1.02 billion acquisition of spectrum from UScellular in a decision that was issued sho...
05/12/2025
The Best Coldplay Songs: 21 Tracks That Shoot for the Stars From Yellow to Viva La Vida, Fix You to Paradise, this playlist goes back to the start.
December ...
05/12/2025
Zafris Lecture Series Brings Nabil Ayers to Berklee The 32nd annual James G. Zafris Distinguished Lecture series was held on Thursday, November 13, with guest...
05/12/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils the First Look for Land of Sin' - Premier...
05/12/2025
Introducing New Perks to Help You Get Even More from LinkedIn Premium Published on Dec 5, 2025 Categories: Company News, Product News
LinkedIn Corporate Co...
05/12/2025
Friday 5 December 2025
A new Game of Thrones Tale: Official trailer for Sky Exc...
05/12/2025
Back to All News
Don Lee, Lee Jin-uk, and Lalisa Manobal to Star in Netflix Act...
05/12/2025
Tis the season of giving once again and this year we've taken our Give Back Fridays' concept and turned it on its head.
In the autumn we were approach...
05/12/2025
Brayden Gogis doesn't remember a time when he wasn't completely fixated on games in all forms. In preschool, when they asked us to dress up as what we ...
05/12/2025
The Grinch steals the spotlight as the theme for The Late Late Toy Show 2025
Tune in tonight at 9:35pm on RT One and worldwide on RT Player
#LateLateToyShow...
05/12/2025
RT Announces New Presenters of Flagship News Programmes
New RT Six One News co-presenter Tommy Meskill
Sarah McInerney & Justin McCarthy join Morning Ir...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & ...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir AJA Ki Pro Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & just:in linux
More Details:Starting with version 5.5, both just:in mac pro and just:in linux sol...
04/12/2025
Wangu Kanuri from Kenya and Godwin Asediba from Ghana are two of this years finalists for Thomsons Young Journalist of the Year Award. The pair are runners-up i...
04/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: ProximaVision's Claudio Lisman on Why Tethered Drones Could Be...
04/12/2025
SVG Campus Shot Callers: Imry Halevi, Senior Associate Director of Athletics, Co...
The main players in the hotly contested UK media scene continue to roll the dice. Sky s inevitable move into UHD this summer is almost a sideshow compared to the emphasis the company has put on mobile and streaming services and technologies. In its most significant revamp in a decade the broadcaster is unleashing a number of products and initiatives to combat the OTT threat from Amazon and Netflix and to ward off UK pay-TV rivals BT Group and Virgin Media.
