Reduction on films provided

[Pete+020]

Not long ago Sky reduced the number of premier films from one a day to 3 a week. It now looks like this is being reduced to 2 a week. Is the cost of the sky movies subscription worth it anymore?

[Mark39]

The reduction is most likely due to the slower release of new movies from the studios as a result of the pandemic.

Only you can decide whether or not a subscription to Sky movies is still worth it.

[nigea99]

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@Pete+020 wrote:

Not long ago Sky reduced the number of premier films from one a day to 3 a week. It now looks like this is being reduced to 2 a week. Is the cost of the sky movies subscription worth it anymore?

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I am not too sure it has always been  as high that after they stopped 1 a day in January

For most of the time I have noticed it has generally been 1 a week

I think the period last year in December (maybe started before) where they had  a premier every day just gave people false expectations - it was never in the contracts - just a marketing thing. although they never made it clear it was just for a shortish period

Personally I have never been bothered by the number of premiers itself just if  they show movies I wanted. 

There has definitely been a downturn in movies on SKY Cinema imo - it was, of course, most noticable during lockdown but  this was not the only cause - as studios etc keep material back for their own or partner streaming services & other services compete for rights

I do find I am watching SKY cinema quite rarely now but there are odd films that have   kept my interest - in the past I might have bought some movies on disc before they appeared on SKY Cinema - now I tend to wait for them to show to see if it is worth buying them - often I find seeing them once on Cinema is enough even if quality may be  better on disc

Some movies I would have liked to have seen before getting on disc never came to SKY Cinema even before the Pandemic & the increase in streaming as, of course, SKY have never had the rights to all movies.

The inclusion of Paramount+ at no extra cost will definitely boost some take up and help stave off people cancelling SKY Cinema - as Star Trek Fan I found this real bonus & especially enjoyed the New Series.

Only you can decide whether the subscription is worth it for you  

[nolte · Accepted solution]

While the digital spy article for August 2022, does not list one for the 20th, sky epg has "American carnage" so it does look like 3 for next week too

Value for money? Only you can decide that.

[Plektrum]

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@nolte wrote:

While the digital spy article for August 2022, does not list one for the 20th, sky epg has "American carnage" so it does look like 3 for next week too

Value for money? Only you can decide that.

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Yep it's still 3 a week - that Digital Spy article didn't last full listings for the last two weekends but American Carnage and an original called Murder In Yellowstone City we're missing (likely unconfirmed at that point). 

[Plektrum]

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@nigea99 wrote:

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@Pete+020 wrote:

Not long ago Sky reduced the number of premier films from one a day to 3 a week. It now looks like this is being reduced to 2 a week. Is the cost of the sky movies subscription worth it anymore?

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For most of the time I have noticed it has generally been 1 a week

I think the period last year in December (maybe started before) where they had  a premier every day just gave people false expectations - it was never in the contracts - just a marketing thing. although they never made it clear it was just for a shortish period

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No, it went to a movie a day back in 2016 when they rebranded to Sky Cinema - prior to that it was around 4 movies a week, all premiering on the Friday - the daily premiere was around for a fair while. 

They then went to 3 a week from January this year, most weeks also premiering a Sky Original title.

My likely guess is that at some point a daily movie is just diminishing returns and they likely have in-depth data around what their customers were watching and how many of those titles were being consumed... and I would also guess that they would rather invest in brand new titles unavailable elsewhere (or released on any other window beforehand) as a better use of their money than licensing a bunch of random things just to fill inventory. 

And honestly I suspect Sky Cinema may probably end up similar to something like 'Canal Cine' in France where the movie channels are accompanied by a bundle of streaming services as a single premium package. I won't be surprised if in the next year or so we see another streamer bundled in there alongside Paramount. 

[Ray+P]

I’ve subscribed to Sky Cinema since 1992. Back then they had access to all the major studios and there were great films to watch every week.

These days there are several streaming services and those films available to Sky has reduced significantly. Hence why Paramount + is now included in our package I suppose. But a lot of those films have been available on Sky in the past so the amount of new offerings is limited.

When you look at the films by actor many don’t include their best films. For example, Cameron Diaz - There’s Something About Mary was one of her best. Not been available for ages. Why not?

[nolte]

@Ray+P wrote

• When you look at the films by actor many don’t include their best films. For example, Cameron Diaz - There’s Something About Mary was one of her best. Not been available for ages. Why not?

According to justwatch, this is on prime video and disney plus. This was made by 20th century fox so owned by Disney now

Competition is a big reason. Now there are so many streaming options with Disney plus, paramount, netflix, sky cinema, apple, prime video etc

In 1992, there were less options

[Ray+P]

@nolte , a classic case where competition doesn’t help the consumer. I’ve just checked Sky Store and TSAM is available if I shell out £2.99. Sorry but a Sky Cinema subscription should allow me access to all the old films. It’s around 20 years old for Pete’s sake.

imagine if the Sky Football subscription operated on the same principle. If you want to watch the top six clubs you have to pay extra on top of the standard subscription. Unless you do you only get the lower quality teams. They wouldn’t dare so how come they can get away with it with films?

[Plektrum]

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@Ray+P wrote:

@nolte , a classic case where competition doesn’t help the consumer. I’ve just checked Sky Store and TSAM is available if I shell out £2.99. Sorry but a Sky Cinema subscription should allow me access to all the old films. It’s around 20 years old for Pete’s sake.

imagine if the Sky Football subscription operated on the same principle. If you want to watch the top six clubs you have to pay extra on top of the standard subscription. Unless you do you only get the lower quality teams. They wouldn’t dare so how come they can get away with it with films?

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Its because old movies still cost money to license for subscription video on demand. Unless they own the film you still have to pay the movie's distributor in order to make it available for subscription streaming and/or pay tv (In fact even if you own the film you may still have to pay out royalties if there's a backend agreement for those made it)... and the distributor isn't going to given away their titles for free, especially a Spider-Man movie which Sony can still charge a premium even if it's 20 years old given it's brand equity. Nor are Sky going to have deals with every distributor for every title as that's just unsustainable and unworkable.

The subscription video business isn't that straightforward nor is it cheap hence why Sky rotate out movies and only have a certain number available at one time... in fact outside of their owned movies, Amazon and Netflix are no different.

[nolte]

@Ray+P wrote

• imagine if the Sky Football subscription operated on the same principle. If you want to watch the top six clubs you have to pay extra on top of the standard subscription.

But that is on the assumption, sky own all the rights. Sky don't, disney do.

How many films would that be if every film was available. that would be a big additional cost to sky, which they'd pass on to the consumer. 

If you do not think 3 pound is value for money then so be it. That is your choice

Anyway, the premier league football analogy is poor as like how films are split through various companies, the Premier league rights are split with of the 200 live matches, sky have 128 matches, bt sports have 52 matches and prime have 20 matches so you know, you need 3 subscriptions to watch all the games televised and that is only one group selling the rights (Premier league) 

[LGUser]

If you have Sky Q or Sky Glass, and you have Sky Cinema, you also get a free subscription to the full Paramount+ UK. That does make Sky Cinema worth it.

[Skull+Treaty]

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@LGUser wrote:

If you have Sky Q or Sky Glass, and you have Sky Cinema, you also get a free subscription to the full Paramount+ UK. That does make Sky Cinema worth it.

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That is your opinion! 
I don't feel it is worth it the money.