Sky to Launch UK Internet Download-to-Keep Movie Service

Sky (Sky Broadband) has confirmed that in the coming weeks their existing Internet-based on-demand movie rental service – Sky Store – will also begin taking on Apple’s iTunes, Google Play and Amazon Prime (formerly Lovefilm) by offering movies which you can download to Buy-and-Keep.

Online video content is the most significant driving force behind the rising data demands of modern broadband consumers and, with “unlimited” packages and superfast Internet connections now becoming much more prevalent, the number of streaming and IPTV services is also growing at a feverish pace.

Netflix, Blinkbox, NOW TV, Sky Store, Amazon Prime (LOVEFiLM), Google Play Movies.. only 3-4 years ago most of them didn’t even exist.

Andrew Griffith, Sky’s Chief Financial Officer, said (The Guardian):

“Having made a strong start in rentals, we think we can go one step further and actually start offering customers the opportunity to purchase movies from us and keep them forever. We think we are extremely well positioned to enter the market and take share.”

At present there’s no information on how much Sky’s individual movies will cost, although historically online film content has tended to follow a similar pricing model across all Internet-based services and we suspect that Sky Store will be forced to follow suit. Similarly we don’t yet know if owners of Sky’s NOW TV service will also be given access to the new buy-to-keep solution.

However one problem with the buy-to-keep model is that most online services still struggle to understand the concept of a “sale“, which is where buying a physical movie disc can sometimes seem more attractive. In addition, there’s also the question of whether Sky are now entering an increasingly saturated market.

In any case none of this would be possible without faster and more flexible broadband connectivity. Now if we could just fill in all of those broadband slowspots and notspots.