We have a new leader in the BARB Multichannel Stakes. Originally, it was Sky One. Then ITV2 took over the mantle. Now, the new king of the multichannel empire is E4. It scored a 2.6 share this week, which is down 0.1% on last week, but it is showing a massive 2% improvement over their normal average. Of course, E4 always gets a boost from Big Brother, but this year, it seems to be bigger, which makes me think that the move on DTT from Top Up TV to Freeview, has been beneficial for E4. That thought must be burning up those in charge of Sky One. They were part of the ON Digital platform throughout its existence, and now they are watching the opposition benefit from the expansion of Digital Terrestrial, rather than them benefiting.

Sky will keep saying that they want to keep Sky One as a pay channel, and they do not have FTA rights to some of their big programmes, only Pay TV rights, but at the end of the day, a Sky One branded channel has to be on Freeview, even if it costs them a lot more money to do it. E4 has already experienced the benefits. Perhaps it is time for Sky One to do the same.