Sky has just announced that it is to indefinitely can its proposed premium Freeview offering Picnic, citing regulatory heel dragging as the cause. Ofcom has been examining the proposals for the past 18 months, with “there is no end in sight,” according to a Sky spokesperson, who added that “no business can go on like that.”
Sky still hope to air Picnic to the public, but it has put the lid on any further development, pending action from Ofcom. “The blunt truth is that Ofcom has spent 18 months looking at our proposals and there is no end in sight. The Picnic team have done everything they can to prepare for launch and there’s nothing left to be achieved until Ofcom makes its mind up,” the Sky spokesperson said.
With Picnic, Sky proposed to remove its three existing free-to-air Freeview channels (Sky News, Sky Sports News and Sky Three) with premium Sky Movies and Sky Sports content, and the flagship channel Sky One. Picnic would be available either on its own, or as part of a bundle deal including fixed-line calls and broadband services in the same vein as its See Speak Surf bundles.
Sky pitched the idea to Ofcom back in February 2007 – rival Digital TV providers Setanta and Top-Up TV objected, and the regulator consented to having a look around the Picnic proposal. An Ofcom report was due to be published this spring which, unsurprisingly, never happened.
Similar Posts: