Sky hooks into red shed trade

By SIMON HENDERY

Sky TV has enlisted The Warehouse to help to push sales of its UHF service.

Subscriptions to the pay-TV service will be sold at 67 of The Warehouse's 78 "red shed" stores from the beginning of next month.

Shoppers will be able to buy their first month's Sky subscription at a discounted installation fee. They then telephone Sky to arrange for the UHF aerial and decoder to be installed.

Sky chief executive John Fellet said the company had traditionally avoided the retail approach to sales "because of the complicated nature of our packages and services".

"Under this arrangement we get the upsides of a retail presence while still retaining a direct relationship with the customer from the outset," he said.

"With its history of delivering a bargain, The Warehouse is ideally suited for selling the UHF product because it's the most cost-effective way to get hooked up to Sky TV."

Fellet said the long-term future for Sky was in its digital services, but UHF still had huge value because of its fixed cost to the company.

Customers can have Sky installed through The Warehouse for $20, then pay a monthly subscription fee starting from $29.96.