Twenty years on from its launch, Sky recently announced plans to accelerate its push into high definition TV (HDTV) The announcement coincided with the reduction in the price of the Sky+HD box is to £49.
The announcement came as Sky revealed that HD sales increased to 188,000 during Q4 2008, double that of the previous three months. This growth means that 779,000 households across the UK now have Sky HD.
As we have discussed on our blog before, for those really serious about HD viewing, Sky provides the only real alternative, offering as it does 31 HD channels with over 11,000 hours of content across all key genres.
Sky’s research shows that 7 million households in the UK now have an HD Ready TV set and this number is growing rapidly and is forecast to reach almost 14 million in 2010.
Sky also commissioned a survey by YouGov in January 2009, which reveals that 96% of people are now aware of HD TV and 74% are interested in watching their favourite programmes in HD quality.Whilst surveys such as this need to be taken with a pinch of salt, it does indicate that HDTV is now well and truly on TV household’s “radar screens”.
Though the research goes on to show that people are still very confused as to how to get an HD service (indeed many think that with an HD Ready TV set they already are watching in HD, which is not the case).
As the Sky YouGov shows:
More than 40% of those surveyed either think an HD Ready TV is all they need to watch HD programmes, or they don’t know what else is required; and
Three out of ten people who purchased their HD Ready TV in a retail outlet were not advised what else they needed if they were actually going to be able to watch HD programmes
Jeremy Darroch, Sky’s Chief Executive said: “As Sky heads into its 21st year, now is the time for HD to come of age. Everyone – whether they are new or existing Sky customers – can experience their favourite TV in stunning HD with a new box price of just £49. There has never been a better time to join in Britain’s HD revolution. We’re expecting strong demand and we’re creating around 1,000 jobs across the UK to help customers join in.
Sky’s commitment to bringing HDTV to a household near you, is not shared wholeheartedly by its competitors.The BBC continues to broadcast a reasonable amount of content in HD on BBC HD, and Freesatwhich launched last year offers 2 HD channels (BBC and ITV HD), but the key Sky competitor Virgin Media only offers a single HD channel (BBC HD) and charges £198 up front for the HD service, as well as an ongoing monthly charge of £5.
Sky on the other hand only charge £49 for the HD box and an ongoing charge of £10 per month (on top of your existing TV package).