Lord Carter should write commercial, subscription-funded content in to public service TV’s future, BSkyB (NYSE: BSY) CEO Jeremy Darroch told the FT Digital Media and Broadcasting conference in London this morning. He urged the policymaker to not just broker an “arranged marriage” between BBC Worldwide and Channel 4 – just as BBCWW jointly owns UKTV with Virgin Media (NSDQ: VMED) Television, Darroch says “there’s no reason at all why we couldn’t develop similar partnerships with ITV (LSE: ITV), Channel 4 of Five.”
– Technology: After launching its Sky Player online VOD service, it sounds like there’s a good deal going on in Sky’s labs: the company recently put its electronic programme guide (EPG) online, it has people working on 3D TV (but don’t expect to see that soon) and there are still plans to develop behavioural advertising through the Sky+ box as part of a long-standing agreement with Google (NSDQ: GOOG). Darroch says progress has been slow on that and it will be more like 24 months than 12 before we see geographic and demographic targeted ads on Sky+, perhaps because take-up of the box is still growing.
– Tiscali: We learned yesterday that the deal for Sky to buy Italian ISP Tiscali’s UK business had become “almost impossible” and Darroch confirms “a core part of that was price and value”. He pointed out that Sky was enjoying growth in its UK broadband business anyway — it has two thirds of UK market growth — and the company is “comfortable” with take-up. But, he wouldn’t rule out making acquisitions in future if the right one came up at the right price.
– Public TV: Darroch’s call this morning followed word Rupert Murdoch Sky has written letter to Lord Carter, arguing C4 has wasted £270 million “unprofitable non-core commercial activities” (via Guardian.co.uk). Darroch pointed out that Sky already spends £1.3 billion on making its own content each year — second only to the BBC: “The ability of pay TV broadcasters to to invest in quality content will continue to grow — and in contrast, the ad-funded free-to-air model faced significant challenges even before the current cyclical downturn.”
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