[WillPS]

I'm fairly sure that Sky's STBs were provided free even before the BSB merger and was a contributing factor to why one company came out on top. One of them had very deep pockets.

I don't think they they had any reluctance to replace the STBs, as the technological evolution allowed extra fancy bits to be added for a slight increase in the subscription which also gave customers a new bit of kit. The customer always owned it from the first day.

My DRX890 Sky+HD box may be old now, but I only pay £10 a month for the recording and downloading functionality, which gives me access to all the HQ picture catch-up services. When it eventually breaks it will just go in the bin, but for now it's just the ease of use I stick with together with Prime (from the delivery service) and some months Paramount+ or Netflix through the Fire Stick.

Sky Analogue equipment was charged for pre-multichannels I believe.

Sky Digital equipment became free in 2000/1 (I think) with a 12 month contract after a discount only provided if your box regularly 'called home', ergo had to be connected to a phoneline.

Sky+ was an additional charge for a good while, as was Sky+HD.

But the point was by following this model Sky essentially had to support ageing equipment, or lost chunks of subscriber revenue. Contrast this with the model they've followed since Sky Q where they could essentially just send you a new box in the post and ask for the old one back (as VM have done a few times).

To go back to your original point - the download facility is very useful but it's not a feature I'd expect them to support beyond the lifetime of the satellite delivery platform, as it was/is essentially a compromise for a situation which rarely exists any longer. Indeed were it not for the fact a load of customers such as yourself, who own their equipment and still subscribe, I'm sure they'd already have dropped it.