Friday, 30 July 2010
Sky's HBO deal not water-tight
Friday, July 30, 2010 Labels: TV News
Sky's announcement that they've struck a £150m deal with HBO for exclusive UK rights to their back catalogue and future commissions isn't quite as comprehensive as first thought...
FX have stepped in to assure viewers that they still retain the pay-TV and first-run rights to True Blood, Eastbound & Down and The Wire. It's also been confirmed that the majority of HBO's archive will find a home on Sky's video-on-demand service Anytime, rather than be spread out amongst its suite of broadcast channels.
It's not yet clear if this means HBO shows will become unavailable to rival video-on-demand services (like Virgin Media's OnDemand), but that does seem very likely.
Sky have also revealed that Entourage (which has been shown in the UK on ITV2) will be the first HBO show to join its network soon.
FX have stepped in to assure viewers that they still retain the pay-TV and first-run rights to True Blood, Eastbound & Down and The Wire. It's also been confirmed that the majority of HBO's archive will find a home on Sky's video-on-demand service Anytime, rather than be spread out amongst its suite of broadcast channels.
It's not yet clear if this means HBO shows will become unavailable to rival video-on-demand services (like Virgin Media's OnDemand), but that does seem very likely.
Sky have also revealed that Entourage (which has been shown in the UK on ITV2) will be the first HBO show to join its network soon.
This post was written by: Dan Owen
I'm a freelance writer who's seen all of Mad Men, but only two episodes of Six Feet Under. I adore Lost, Breaking Bad and Doctor Who, dislike NBC's remake of The Office, and detest Friends (the TV show, not people.) Feel free to get in touch about any writing-related opportunities, and follow me on Twitter.
