After much speculation Sky have announced that they are "..on track" for launching this month officially commencing on the 22nd May with the Star Wars movie Return of the Sith.
The initial program package will include – Sky Sports HD, Sky Movies HD and Sky Box Office HD, Sky One, Artsworld, Discovery HD and National Geographic HD. The grouping provides a range of programming to suite different tastes.
The cost for High Definition has been set at £299 for the Set Top Box and an additional £10 subscription above the standard subscription rates. Some channels will be available to subscribers with any of the standard packages but certain sports and movie packages require subscription to the non High Definition equivalent – for example to get Sky Sports HD it is necessary to be a subscriber to Sky Sports 1 & 2 to qualify.
Brian Sullivan, Director of Product Strategy at Sky described the launch as “…an exciting new era that will transform the viewing experience.”
Important for many soccer fans is the fact that the BBC High Definition trials announced earlier this year will also include satellite transmissions and according to Brian Sullivan “… the World Cup will be available to all customers with a Sky HD box as a no subscription channel.” The BBC stress however that because these are strictly trials and not a regular service there is no guarantee regarding the programmes and the continuation beyond the trial period.
Sky HD box installations are scheduled to commence this month initially for those customers who pre-registered and in addition the standard installation is free for HD subscribers as an introductory offer.
Late last year Sky and Sony announced a “major new marketing Agreement to promote the benefits of High Definition (HD) television. At the time of the agreement Sky estimated that around two million HD sets will be purchased by consumers before the end of 2006. Sales of Sony Bravia line-up of HD Ready flat panel displays has grown significantly following the “coloured balls” television advert and marketing campaign. The music for that campaign also became a big hit for Jose Gonzales and his acoustic guitar based song titled “Heartbeats”
With Telewest and Sky now offering High Definition services it will be interesting to see how quickly HD becomes grows amongst consumer and whether this will put pressure on other broadcasters to accelerate their plans.
