Sky - ever so controversial. (BskyB)

Member Name: he6rt6gr6m

Product:	BskyB
Date:	27/02/09 (34 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Services offered by Sky.

Disadvantages: The company is littered with corruption and controversy.

BSkyB is a company that operates the Satellite Service, Sky.

Sky is a subscription based provider of three-play services, which include Digital TV, Broadband and Home Phone.

Sky originally offered only a TV package to customers requiring it, until rival company, Cable offering Virgin Media, offered the Triple Play Deals back when it was ntl: and Telewest. The Triple Play deals from these companies worked out at £30, depending on which tier TV Package you would take with them.

In 2005, Sky swallowed up Easynet, an Internet and Phone provider to people why had a fixed phone-line installed by BT. Thus a Sky Alternative to Triple Play was Born.

Sky has a customer base of over 9m customers in the UK, and is owned by News Corporation International, which is headed by Rupert Murdoch.

Back in the 90's, Sky attempted to buy Manchester United, but failed in their attempts, instead opting to buy a 10% share in it. This, in turn, led many to believe that a biased opinion of Manchester United would always be displayed by Sky, and particular, their offering of Sports channels - Sky Sports.

Along with Sky Sports, there is Sky Movies. Both are Premium services for Sky, and generate a lot of income. They are available to all Sky TV Customers, separately, or as a pack, where a discount will be given.

Skys CEO is Rupert Murdochs son, James, who has previously been in the limelight of British media for publicly condemning OFCOM, the office of fairness in the Television sector. He has also gone on record and slated Virgin Media, during the disagreements between the companies renewal of Sky channels on the Cable platform. This led to the Sky Basics (the Sports and Movies channels, by law, remain accessible to Virgin Media customers) being removed from the Cable operator, because of Skys increased demands for them. It was proven by the Cable company that the channels didnt have an increase in value, even though Sky claimed they did, and that the channels had actually lost value because of deteriorating viewer numbers. Sky insisted on a higher price to carry the channels, and Virgin refused to be held to ransom.

This led to a huge marketing campaign by both parties, as to why the channels were removed, and who is to blame. Both blamed each other, and Sky even attempted to tempt people to switch to Sky because of the channels removal. This, however, would cause a £30m loss on Advertising revenue as well as various Court dates being set as advertisers and sponsors looked to recoup money they had spent in distributing their product to Sky to show on both platforms. Some advertisers and sponsors cut ties with Sky over this. Others requested refunds.

The company currently has a much publicised stranglehold on the British Market of Television, which is currently being investigated by the Competition Commission. It remains to be seen what punishment, if any, the company will get, however many suggest that a 'slap on the wrists' will be brought, because of News Corps. Monopoly on the British Media, which accounts for a large percentage of the voters in the General Elections. Due to News Corps. Monopoly, people believe that a harsher punishment would subsequently result in the newspapers and TV media owned by News Corp. to stop publishing and reporting on Government stories and articles, which would have a profound affect on the voting decisions of its readers.

No reviews of their services appear here, because they are available in their separate entities on the site. This is a review of the company, and should not be confused with a review of their services, which are completely different.

Summary: Nasty company with good service offerings.