[WillPS]

Sky’s FTA strategy was never one that was committed.

I disagree. They were a part of the Freeview lineup from launch and have evolved their offering ever since. Sky Three was an upgrade on Sky Travel and has been more or less the same degree of quality ever since. They could have dropped out completely when they binned off Channel One but instead they installed Challenge which is a far clearer proposition for viewers and went through a bit of a renaissance. Sky Arts was obviously an out and out addition. 

The only real move Sky have ever made to Freeview's overall detriment was to remove Sky Sports News.

This notion that a digital/non-legacy channel changing it's name after 12 years is a sign of wavering commitment is a bit of a nonsense really. They clearly see value in the platform and have consistently since launch. 

Now was deliberately moved downmarket by its first rebrand a decade or so ago, then moved considerably upmarket with it's more recent rebrand. It doesn't mean they aren't committed to their secondary platform offering.

It's all just a reflection of how Sky believe they can best extract revenue from their various platforms and audiences at any one moment in time, and it's perfectly proper for that strategy to shift as viewer/subscriber habits do.