Airey: Freeview "stepping stone" to pay TV

Dawn Airey

INTERNATIONAL TV FESTIVAL, EDINBURGH --

Dawn Airey, the managing director of Sky Networks, said today that Freeview is a "stepping stone" to pay TV platforms and categorically stated that Sky One will not join the digital terrestrial platform.

Speaking at a session titled "Freeview vs. Pay TV" at the Edinburgh International Television Festival, Airey's comments provoked scorn when the session's moderator, Emily Bell, cited YouGov polling data showing that only 9% of Freeview viewers currently plan to switch to Sky. Bell also cited another YouGov poll indicating that of viewers without any form of multichannel TV, 76% intend to opt for Freeview.

"Freeview will be ubiquitous, but the reality - from the research we've done - is that people are using Freeview as a stepping stone to pay TV," responded Airey. "When you want choice, why wouldn't you want choice in your television delight?"

Airey reiterated Sky's aim to reach 10m homes by 2010 "despite Freeview being the undisputed success it is," adding that the "economics of Freeview don't particularly work for the commercial channels."

Speculation that Sky would eventually put Sky One on Freeview were comprehensively quashed. "It will not happen," stated Airey. "Sky One is a premium entertainment product that drives Sky takeup. We're a subscription business - we want subscription revenue."

Airey did however admit that Sky's involvement in the Freeview consortium was "very useful," adding: "We know what you lot are up to. We're not dumb!"

The session then moved on to a broader discussion of the digital marketplace years down the line. Key to the discussion was the impact video on demand services would have going forward.

"We're exploring all these areas," said Airey. "We're doing DVB-H trials in Oxford for delivering our content via mobile phones.

"We don't want the demise of advertising but we do have to be smart and realise that, in a Sky+ World, people can fast forward through the ads at 30 times the speed if they so wish."

Channel 4 chief Andy Duncan added that new media was a "key strategy" for the broadcaster. "We want to take our key current affairs show, Dispatches, on new media," he added.