James Delahunty
24 May 2012 6:07
Regulators leave Sky Movies off the hook.
The Competition Commissioner had found last August that Sky enjoyed a monopoly on running movies first in the UK for years. It had estimated the cost to the public of this monopoly at £60m-£70 million per year. It has not backed off on that stance, however.
The entry of Netflix and Amazon's LoveFilm into the market has provided Sky with adequate competition in the space. Also, the viewing habits of people in the UK are starting to change, making which service shows movies first on PPV irrelevant.
"Competition between providers of movie services on pay TV has changed materially and, as a result of these changes, consumers now have much greater choice," said Laura Carstensen, who led the Commission's investigation.
"LoveFilm and Netflix offer services which are attractive to many consumers and they appear sufficiently well-resourced to be in a position to improve the range and quality of their content further."
Sky had been investigated by UK communications regulator Ofcom for three years, before it passed the case on to the Competition Commissioner.