[IP] BSkyB offers prospect of ad-free viewing

[David Farber <dave@farber.net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Brian Randell <Brian.Randell@newcastle.ac.uk>
Date: Mon, 03 Jan 2005 17:10:37 +0000
To: <dave@farber.net>
Subject: BSkyB offers prospect of ad-free viewing

Hi Dave:

Happy New Year!

Here is an article from today's (UK) Guardian newspaper:

>BSkyB offers prospect of ad-free viewing
>
>Jane Martinson, media business editor
>Monday January 3, 2005
>The Guardian
>
>The satellite group BSkyB has patented new technology that allows
>television viewers to record favourite programmes without any ad
>breaks. . . News that the pay-television company controlled by
>Rupert Murdoch could allow viewers to eliminate commercials will
>alarm rival broadcasters such as ITV, Channel 4 and Five which
>derive most of their revenues from ads, as well as the advertising
>industry itself. . . Unlike its main commercial rivals, Sky earns
>only 10% of its revenues from advertising. The use of the new
>technology, likely to attract viewers of channels supported by
>advertisements, could increase Sky's dominance of the pay-television
>market. . . However, the company has repeatedly said it is committed
>to advertising and is working with the industry to develop ways of
>grabbing consumers' attention through sponsorship deals, for
>example.. . . A Sky spokesman said it had no plans to deploy the new
>technology. "If other people want to use [the property], they can
>license it from us."

Full story at:

http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,14173,1382423,00.html

Cheers

Brian

-- 
School of Computing Science, University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne,
NE1 7RU, UK
EMAIL = Brian.Randell@ncl.ac.uk   PHONE = +44 191 222 7923
FAX = +44 191 222 8232  URL = http://www.cs.ncl.ac.uk/~brian.randell/

------ End of Forwarded Message


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