Originally Posted by Sirius:
“Sky don't want to wholesale BT, that's just simply chaff they are throwing up to distract from the fact they are stalling on making Sky Sports available on "fair" terms to all platforms.
Additionally, if they managed to wholesale BT to say EE+ subscribers on the same terms as Virgin Media XL then BTS could well be loss making in the longer term.”
I think there has been a misunderstanding (by certain people, not you!) in all this talk about Sky wholesaling BTS.
Because BT is wholesaling BTS to VM as a basic channel some people are thinking that when Sky says they want to wholesale BTS that they would also want to do it as a basic channel. That would be totally absurd for both Sky and BTS (as we know).
However, Sky presumably would be happy to purchase BTS wholesale as a standalone premium channel. Sky purchased ESPN wholesale as a standalone premium; there is no reason why it wouldn't be happy to purchase BTS wholesale as a standalone premium (and take a retailer's commission).
Indeed, BT is complaining that Sky won't wholesale Sky Sports to BT YouView but BT isn't dreaming of Sky wholesaling Sky Sports to it as a basic channel (!!!!!!!!!!) BT knows that Sky Sports would obviously be a standalone premium - just as it is on VM, TalkTalk and indeed on BT Vision.
Thus various people's attempts to draw a parallel between the two situations does not make any sense. Wholesaling as a basic channel is a completely different matter to wholesaling as a standalone premium.
There
may be some merit in an argument along the lines that if BT won't wholesale BTS to Sky (as a standalone premium) then there is no reason why Sky should wholesale Sky Sports to BT YouView (as a standalone premium). I'm not saying I agree or disagree with that - but it's certainly an argument with some logic that could be sensibly debated.
But bringing the issue of BT wholesaling BTS to VM into the argument makes no sense whatsoever - because it is being wholesaled as a basic channel.