KEY POINTS:
Sky Television has unveiled details of its new Sky Online service for downloading movies and TV programmes on to home computers, set to start this month.
The new service for Sky subscribers is underpinned by broadband deals with Telstra Clear and Vodafone that will allow Sky subscribers unlimited downloads for $5 a month.
The download site is a step back from those that allow people to buy movies online before they have screened on Sky.
But general manager Sam Morse said Sky was negotiating with Hollywood studios to secure rights that would allow actual online sale of movies that had not been broadcast on Sky.
The push is a bid to stave off a new wave of online competition and prepare Sky for the rapid convergence of television and new media on the internet.
The two would combine and this was the first step towards that, said Morse.
Sky Online will challenge the TVNZ on-demand service that offers free downloads of selected programming, charging the $5 it says will be an administration fee.
Morse says the programming will initially be limited to movies and programmes that have already been shown on Sky. It appears to be a strategic move by Sky to head off the growing number of new media and download options.
Sky Online and its broadband downloads will run alongside its new generation MySky2 personal video recorder due to start by the third quarter of this year.
Sky TV has invested heavily in its programming deals with Hollywood studios securing digital rights.
But it's still not clear what impact, if any, broadband deals will have on the bottom line.
TelstraClear confirmed that its involvement was for customers of its cable TV operations in Wellington and Christchurch which provide customers with a fast broadband service.
Vodafone - which owns internet service provider iHug - declined to detail its relationship with Sky Online apart from reiterating that it already had deals for content on mobile phones.
Morse said the first phase of Sky Online would allow downloading of movies that had appeared on Sky Movies One and Sky Movies 2, MGM and Rialto channel and programmes from Sky's basic subscription package.
