Sky announced today what they have planned to take the new perceived threat from on-demand services like Lovefilm, iTunes and Netflix. Called Sky Store, its a new way to rental digital films cheaper than its main competitors.
The new service will see the end of Sky Box Office for Anytime + users – and will see more pay-as-you-go movies available on its newly rebranded Sky Store.
Even though Sky is going for a pay-as-you-go model – they are quick to point out that in terms of price it’s better value than rental services from iTunes or Lovefilm – but clearly can’t compete with all-you-can-eat streaming models of Netflix.
In order to sway customers Sky will be offering the chance to watch films at the same time as physical DVD rentals, giving the new service a significant advantage over Netflix’s rather archaic catalogue.
For new SD titles, Sky’s service is £3.49 a month, going up to £3.99 when you add HD into the mix. Its back catalogue titles are at £1.99, with this moving to £2.49 for HD content and its offers start from 99p. According to Sky, this means its older library movies will be 50p a lot cheaper than both iTunes and Lovefilm.
Ian Lewis, Director of Sky Movies said, “Thanks to Sky Store, we are able to deliver our customers a comprehensive movie rental service straight to their living room.
“Millions of our customers love having the ability to watch hundreds of movies through a Sky Movies subscription, but we know that some prefer to enjoy films on a pay as you go basis. That’s why all Sky Anytime+ customers can now instantly rent a huge range of movies from the Sky Store.”
It has also been announced that Sky customers will be able to rent movies from the Sky Store via Sky Go on a PC or Mac. Non Anytime+ users will still get Sky Box Office, with the added bonus of more content.
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