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Sky TV running scared

It's almost a dead cert that every regular Aardvark reader knows all about the wonderful world of streaming video via the internet.

We know that all it takes is a little hardware, some free software and a bit of fooling around that any school-kid could perform and, instead of being bound to the tyranny of free-to-air TV or pay-TV services such as Sky, you could be enjoying limitless "video on demand" for about 15 cents per day -- or less.

Many of the people I know rely on XBMC to deliver a steady stream of TV shows and movies to their livingroom TV screens, whilst a few others are tapping into the wealth of content that Netflix offers -- for just a quarter of what Sky demands for its leanest fare of ad-laden dross.

Since Slingshot started promoting its "global mode", I'm sure a whole lot more Kiwis have discovered the joys of streaming TV and movie content -- which has clearly pissed SkyTV off no-end. In fact, they're so pee'd off that they've now refused to carry ads for Slingshot.

Sky is worried... very worried.

For years, SkyTV has been exploiting its monopoly to rape the pockets of Kiwi TV viewers that want something more than the options dished up by FTA broadcasters such as TVNZ and TV3.

The great thing about being the only game in town is that you can charge whatever you want and people have no option but to pay -- or go without.

Sadly for Sky, they're no longer the only game in town. In fact, they're not even the most attractive game in town... by a very long stretch.

Okay, if sport is your bag then Sky still has some aces up its sleeves - but even that advantage is almost certainly going to decay in the near future if the exodus to Netflix continues as it appears to be doing right now.

If Sky starts bleeding subscribers then it will have less money available with which to pay for those sporting rights -- and that could be the beginning of a deathly spiral into obscurity and red ink for the broadcaster.

Its own attempts to enter the VOD market have been roundly dismissed by its own customers as too little and too expensive. Indeed, many have complained that they don't even get a discount on the VOD service for being loyal existing customers.

One only has to read the comments on this Stuff story to see how many people have had a total guts-full of Sky's tyranny and are bailing from the broadcaster's service.

Of course the situation will only get worse when Spark (nee Telecom) launch their own VOD service shortly.

It has been my experience that many monopolies fare very poorly when they suddenly find themselves having to compete on an even playing field with fresh new entrants who are hungry for success.

If you have shares in Sky, now might be a very good time to sell and cash-up your gains before they disappear.

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