Sky Confirms VOD to STBs via Broadband

Speaking at the Royal Television Society's Cambridge Convention, BSkyB COO, Richard Freudenstein, confirmed that the satellite TV provider will eventually move to a hybrid distribution model, under which it will use broadband connections to its set-top boxes to offer VOD and other services:

"New Ethernet connections will allow us to deliver services such as VOD over a broadband pipe, as well as over satellite," he told attendees.

Sky has already announced plans for a broadband VOD service that will deliver content from Sky Movies and Sky Sports to PC's and laptops, and, in the presentation to analysts that followed Sky's most recent earnings announcements, CEO James Murdoch stated that the company plans to eventually add Ethernet connectivity to all its set-tops.

(Note: Sky's new entry-level Sky+ DVR contains 40 hours of "hidden" recording capacity: the company is believed to be reserving this additional capacity, via software, for new services such as VOD.)

Freudenstein also confirmed that the company is planning to offer a mobile TV service that will feature live channels, and to make it possible to program the Sky+ DVR remotely via mobile phones.

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