Sky offers Sky+HD box for under fifty quid as satellite giant pushes high definition
Sky has decided that it’s time to get really aggressive when it comes to high definition in the UK, and to that end has slashed the price of its Sky+HD box to just £49. That’s a third of the price it was early last year (£150) and is the satellite broadcaster’s hope of getting many more subscribers hooked on pay-for-HD.
In fact, thanks to a lot of enticing marketing and the lure of a variety of sports, films and other content in high definition, Sky has just had its best quarter — in the three months to the end of December, 188,000 people signed up for high-def services, taking the total number of subscribers to nearly 800,000.
So what’s all the fuss about (apart from the fact that Sky charges a premium for high-def content)? Well, a recent survey by YouGov found that 96% of people are aware of HD TV and three-quarters want to watch their favourite programmes in HD quality.
Unfortunately, over two-fifths of the populace believe that all they need is a HD ready TV to watch in high definition, while 30% were given no advice from the retailer where they bought their TV on what other hardware would be needed.
Look out for a lot more marketing pizzazz from Sky in February as it launches a major new campaign aimed at educating the great British public. Don’t expect it to mention Freesat, though.
Get more high definition news at HDTVUK.tv
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