Sky wants 'fair price' for Sky Sports

Sky has stated its commitment to bringing premium channels such as Sky Sports to other secure platforms, but only at a "fair price".

This follows comments from incoming BT Vision chief executive Marc Watson about the future provision of Sky's premium sports content on his platform.

Speaking to The Independent, Watson said that he hopes to start offering the full Sky Sports package to BT Vision customers at a reduced price in time for the 2010-11 English Premier League season.

Watson's plan would be dependent on Ofcom's proposal to introduce a wholesale pricing model to encourage Sky to free up access to its premium content for rival TV providers.

If the regulator pushes ahead with this plan, then BT Vision would be able to offer Sky Sports to its customers for around £15 per month, which would potentially force Sky to reduce its own prices.

Despite this, Watson believes that Sky would receive various benefits from bringing Sky Sports to a new group of consumers.

In response, a Sky spokesperson told Digital Spy that the firm has "always wanted to make our premium channels widely available on secure platforms".

The company said, however, that it is not prepared to release these channels for a price which fails to reflect the around £1 billion a year it invests in delivering sports and movies content to viewers.

The spokesperson explained: "The problem with Ofcom's proposals is that it expects Sky to go on making all the investments and taking all the risks, while the likes of BT get to buy Sky Sports at a knock-down, risk-free price that is less than the channels are really worth. That is neither fair, nor in the interests of competition."

Meanwhile, ESPN has now started taking orders for its new sports channel on Sky, which will show its 46 EPL games and 30 Scottish Premier League matches alongside US and international sports coverage.