The development of an on demand system using the broadband capabilities of Sky's high definition boxes is "core" to the broadcaster's future plans for the HD platform, it was revealed today.

Speaking to Digital Spy about key innovations in Sky's 20 year history, director of strategic product development Gerry O'Sullivan said that the platform provided by the Sky+ HD box - the most advanced in Sky's range of digiboxes - would form the basis of the next generation of services.

"We're at the beginning of a whole new raft of innovation," he explained. "We already do VOD with Sky Anytime, and we want to constantly improve that. No bones about it - we're going to create the best video on demand system that anyone's seen. We'll have the best offering, just like we have with HD. There are stepping stones of us getting there, and we're there now. We've got the broadband connectivity, we've got the Sky+ HD platform.

"If you look back at Sky's history, other platforms possibly have just launched things to get things out. They haven't been high quality, there hasn't been great choice. Sky's mantra has always been that when we have a service that we think is brilliant and will cause excitement in our customer base, that's when we'll launch it. We could probably have launched HD years before we did with one or two token channels, but we invested in having all our football in HD, all our movies in HD, and that's what we came out of the gate with. That's unprecedented worldwide... we're at 31 channels now.

"We've got the same feeling about VOD. We're seeing increased usage of Anytime and it's shown us what people really enjoy on demand, what types of content and when they want to watch it. That's feeding now into our projects and we'll deliver the best video on demand service in the UK."

O'Sullivan said there was an "element" of incentivising customers to move to the "future-proof" HD platform with the recent cut in price of the HD box to £49, but said a choice was available to subscribers.

"There are those people on set top boxes, there are those that are happy with their Sky+ box. Our customers have a history of always wanting the best experience. Ideally we want them to migrate to the best experience we can give them, but we're not handcuffing them. It's a choice. I think for what the Sky+ HD box is delivering, £49 is not a bad deal."

Last week, Sky said HD is a "significant opportunity" for the company with 7m UK homes equipped with HD ready sets. 779,000 homes now have Sky+ HD installed.

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