Do your sums on Sky
Arrogant. Insulting. Heavy-handed. And greedy. Just some of the politer comments from readers when they learnt Sky's charges will rise by 13% next season.
Price rises from suppliers are never going to be welcomed - even when the suppliers are just passing on their own increased costs. But after the electricity and gas rises, licensing costs, smoke-ban refurb costs and staff wage rises, Sky's inflation-busting bill will be the final straw.As soon as they can, many landlords will pull the plug and say good riddance to a service that once cost £30 a month and now costs on average at least 20 times that.
Yet for all the pent-up anger and frustration among licensees, very few will find it's an easy decision to chuck Sky out. Such is the potential pulling power of sport - over six million adults watch live sport in pubs and clubs each week: 18 million for England's last game - that it's a brave licensee who'll ditch Sky and keep his nerve when customers drift across the street.
The big managed chains dumping Sky are doing it as part of a move towards food. Football sits uneasily with family meal occasions, so it makes sense to move away from TV and big match nights. And we have to face it, even though everyone has hated paying the big bucks of the past few years and some have therefore walked away, the numbers of pub subscribers has increased every year since Sky launched in pubs 13 years ago.
What the latest increases do is once again force the trade to ruthlessly
examine if Sky is providing enough value. You'll have to sell a lot of extra beer just to break even next season - but many pubs will actually be able to increase profits despite the hike. And that becomes a little easier as rival pubs throw in the towel. Laurel, for example, is in no doubt that Sky can be a
winning card in its hand. Others still think so too.
Many more licensees will be tempted to go the foreign satellite route - but with legal opinion still so heavily against that option, it would be dangerous.
Far better to do the sums, and decide if you can or can't do better next season. At the end of the day, it's your decision. The regulatory authorities won't help. The trade bodies can't. Nor can we. And all-powerful Sky knows it.
