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RE: Sky Platform News - Studio7 - 31-05-2023

Sky Comedy is closing in Germany:

DWDL.de Wrote:Launched in spring 2021, Sky Comedy played a much smaller role in Germany than in the UK, for example, where the channel is home to some U.S. late-night shows, among others. In the first few months, Sky Comedy showed German in-house productions such as "Quatsch Comedy Club" and ""A Brief History of Humor - with Dieter Nuhr." First, "Digitalfernsehen" reported on the plans.

"Our station portfolio is strongly geared to the wishes of our customers and is regularly adjusted accordingly. The media usage behavior of our viewers has changed significantly, and they primarily watch comedy content flexibly on demand via Sky Q or Wow. As a result, we are discontinuing the linear comedy channel," a Sky spokeswoman explained in response to a DWDL inquiry. According to current plans, Sky Comedy will be switched off in mid-September.

https://www.dwdl.de/nachrichten/93212/sky_deutschland_begraebt_marke_sky_comedy_wieder/  (in German)
https://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2023/05/30/213120/  (in English)


RE: Sky Platform News - DavidWhitfield - 31-05-2023

(31-05-2023, 01:39 PM)Studio7 Wrote:  Sky Comedy is closing in Germany
Not doing much for the stereotype of Germans' lack of sense of humour...  Big Grin


RE: Sky Platform News - London Lite - 31-05-2023

From what I recall, Sky in Germany isn't market leading, so closing linear channels to save on costs is a logical decision if their customers are choosing to watch those shows using SVoD rather than live.


RE: Sky Platform News - Studio7 - 31-05-2023

(31-05-2023, 03:38 PM)London Lite Wrote:  From what I recall, Sky in Germany isn't market leading, so closing linear channels to save on costs is a logical decision if their customers are choosing to watch those shows using SVoD rather than live.
It isn't. Pay-TV in general has never been a big thing in Germany, probably because their free TV has always been incredibly strong (no having to get Sky to watch Lost or 24 over there!). Comcast have been trying to sell Sky Deutschland for months because it's just not competitive enough, particularly now that they have lost the rights to the Champions League and some of the Bundesliga. The latest is that they are courting ProSieben-Sat.1. (Supposedly Comcast are offering THEM several hundred million euros to take Sky off their hands - that's how desperate they are to get rid)

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/exclusive-prosiebensat1-sky-revive-talks-on-german-tv-tie-up/ar-AA1byAc0 


RE: Sky Platform News - JamieMurph25 - 22-06-2023

So Sky formally announced their new camera for Sky Glass called 'Sky Live':
https://www.skygroup.sky/en-gb/article/introducing-sky-live-the-new-interactive-camera-from-sky 

Interesting information:
-Cost £290 upfront (or on contract £12 per month for 2 years or £6 per month for 4 years)
-Has a 12mp HDR lens with 106 degree wide field of view
-Uses a Zoom account for video calls
-Has a new fitness service called 'Mvmnt' (pronounced "movement"), developing with partnership with WithU, complete with companion app.
-A 'Watch Together' feature (at the moment only works on programmes up to HD quality, plus the other users need the same subscription, such as Sky Sports for football or Formula 1)
-Will have motion control games (like 'Fruit Ninja') and companion Video Booth app.

What do you think?


RE: Sky Platform News - AndrewP - 23-06-2023

Fruit Ninja is a name I haven't heard for quite some time...


RE: Sky Platform News - cable - 23-06-2023

(31-05-2023, 05:30 PM)Studio7 Wrote:  It isn't. Pay-TV in general has never been a big thing in Germany, probably because their free TV has always been incredibly strong (no having to get Sky to watch Lost or 24 over there!). 
As they were here on Channel 4 and BBC Two respectively until Sky got out their check book! Who remembers the period the Sky channels were taken off Virgin Media and we had ads like 'Get Jack Back" and "LOST is found" [on Sky One].

(22-06-2023, 07:02 PM)JamieMurph25 Wrote:  So Sky formally announced their new camera for Sky Glass called 'Sky Live':
https://www.skygroup.sky/en-gb/article/introducing-sky-live-the-new-interactive-camera-from-sky 
Interesting information:
-Cost £290 upfront (or on contract £12 per month for 2 years or £6 per month for 4 years)
-Has a 12mp HDR lens with 106 degree wide field of view
-Uses a Zoom account for video calls
-Has a new fitness service called 'Mvmnt' (pronounced "movement"), developing with partnership with WithU, complete with companion app.
-A 'Watch Together' feature (at the moment only works on programmes up to HD quality, plus the other users need the same subscription, such as Sky Sports for football or Formula 1)
-Will have motion control games (like 'Fruit Ninja') and companion Video Booth app.
What do you think?
This just seems like a revived Kinect camera, considering Microsoft were involved - https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/7/22714117/microsoft-kinect-is-back-sky-glass-tv-smart-camera-features  and that didn't exactly take the world by storm.

From the Kinect wikipedia article - Maybe this time they will use it to determine if adverts re being watched - "Privacy advocates contended that the increased amount of data which could be collected with the new Kinect (such as a person's eye movements, heart rate, and mood) could be used for targeted advertising. Reports also surfaced regarding recent Microsoft patents involving Kinect, such as a DRM system based on detecting the number of viewers in a room, and tracking viewing habits by awarding achievements for watching television programs and advertising."


RE: Sky Platform News - Medianext.MX - 23-06-2023

(23-06-2023, 04:35 PM)cable Wrote:  This just seems like a revived Kinect camera, considering Microsoft were involved - https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/7/22714117/microsoft-kinect-is-back-sky-glass-tv-smart-camera-features  and that didn't exactly take the world by storm.

From the Kinect wikipedia article - Maybe this time they will use it to determine if adverts re being watched - "Privacy advocates contended that the increased amount of data which could be collected with the new Kinect (such as a person's eye movements, heart rate, and mood) could be used for targeted advertising. Reports also surfaced regarding recent Microsoft patents involving Kinect, such as a DRM system based on detecting the number of viewers in a room, and tracking viewing habits by awarding achievements for watching television programs and advertising."

Well, actually the Sky Live cam uses the Kinect technology in the form of a Microsoft Azure DK (named aptly Azure Kinect), which also embraces data collection, hence what the Microsoft involvement is all about.

https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/kinect-dk/ 


RE: Sky Platform News - cable - 23-06-2023

I struggle to see the point of it, too many people are wary of microphones from smart devices like Alexa, they will freak knowing it's a camera and is constantly watching them. its priced too high to gain mass adoption and the Glass TVs are not exactly popular. Any future tv will require this to be built in if the plan is to collect viewer data.

besides, similar technology is being used to allow viewers to watch for free:

https://www.engadget.com/telly-will-give-you-a-free-tv-if-youll-watch-non-stop-ads-164319359.html 


RE: Sky Platform News - cable - 27-06-2023

Entertainment OS 1.2 now rolling out. Users get an email confirming the update.