Deliver Your News to the World

Movie fans consider switching off from Sky-high prices


WEBWIRE

Survey reveals 1 in 5 Sky Movies subscribers paid for a service they didn’t use

A fifth of subscribers to Sky Movies 1 – at least 891,000 UK households 2 – hadn’t watched a single movie on the service in an entire month, a major YouGov survey1 on subscription movie viewing habits conducted on behalf of BT revealed today.

With the current financial crisis affecting consumer spending, the survey also confirmed that more than two-thirds – 69 per cent – of those with Sky Movies subscriptions are looking for ways to save money.

50 per cent of Sky customers surveyed 3 spend more than £45 on their monthly TV subscription service, with 63 per cent of people who subscribe to a bundle of Sky services paying more than £50 a month for their services.

However, 49 per cent of respondents had only watched three or fewer movies in the previous month, with well over half (59 per cent) saying that they had watched fewer movies on Sky movies 1 or Sky movies 2 than they had expected to when they signed up.

When asked why they didn’t watch as many movies as they expected, 50 per cent of respondents said that the movies weren’t of interest, with 15 per cent confirming that the movies – which are staggered and played at specific times – weren’t playing at the times they wanted to watch them.

The survey shows 71 per cent of respondents agreeing that they would rather watch movies on demand when they want to see them rather than when the broadcasters have scheduled them. This suggests a dramatic change in the way people want to watch movies.

Dan Marks, CEO BT Vision, said, “This survey shows that in credit crunch Britain, people are looking for alternatives to subscribing to movie channels that they rarely watch, and viewing dictated by channel schedulers.”

BT’s digital and on-demand TV service, BT Vision, enables people to choose what movie they want to watch, when they want to watch it, from more than 600 current and classic films – all without a mandatory TV subscription. BT Vision also allows customers to pay per view or subscribe to thousands of hours of sport, documentaries, drama and kids entertainment.
ENDS

NOTES FOR EDITORS
1. All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 1,011 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between December 5-11, 2008. The survey was carried out online. The figures have not been weighted.

2. Sky’s Form 20-F filing for 2007 disclosed that, at 30 June 2007, there were 4,459,000 DTH (satellite) subscribers to Sky Movies alone. Sky don’t appear to have released any up-to-date information for Sky Movies subscribers for 2008, and Virgin Media haven’t either, so we’re obliged to use the 2007 numbers for Sky satellite customers alone. These numbers don’t include Virgin Media customers.

3. This question was answered by 49 respondents.



WebWireID89166





This news content was configured by WebWire editorial staff. Linking is permitted.

News Release Distribution and Press Release Distribution Services Provided by WebWire.