Sky boss hits back at Channel 4
If it wasn't obvious before it should be by now; I'm talking about the fact that Sky seems to exist in a parallel universe to the rest of the UK media industry. Indeed this is literally the case in terms of the fact that Sky shows most of the big US imports first before anyone else, but this can also apply to the attitude that Sky seems to adopt with talking publically about its 'competitors'.
David Smyth's criticism of Channel 4 is unfair when relating to the Warner Brothers deal since that was made when Channel 4 had a different controller, and Channel 4 is making a big fuss about The Simpsons simply because it has to - considering the large amount of (too much) money spent - and Sky is gleefully pointing out this high risk strategy that stands a reasonably good chance of backfiring badly on a channel with a public service remit, though as with all criticism there is often a touch of jealousy concealed behind the rhetoric.
The only weakness in Sky's considerable armoury when relating to imports is that an old and well-worn Simpsons repeat on a major free-to-air terrestrial channel such as BBC Two can still clock up a higher rating than a first-run episode on Sky One, and if this situation fails to drastically improve closer to the analogue switchoff date then in my opinion Sky will be actively looking to enter the free-to-air terrestrial market quickly by buying Channel Five. However if Channel 4 manages to somehow combine itself with Five then that option is closed to them, which I suspect is the ulterior motive for Sky's discomfort when it comes to the subject of Channel 4.
