Who will campaign against the Tories "Sky Tax" ?

After reading an article the other day about the Tories wanting to remove Ofcom's power to restrict and control the virtual monopoly Sky have in the pay tv sector in the UK, I wrote about the squalid deal the Tories appear to me to have done in order to get News International's support.

Now with Ofcom making recommendations on Sky and the fact that they must cut the wholesale prices of their sports content, one wonders if political parties will take the issue on and fight against the Tories plans for a "Sky tax". After all, if the Tories have their way and remove Ofcom's power to control Sky, Sky could continue to charge what they like. With estimates yesterday that a reduction in Sky's charges could save wholesale purchasers £7.00 a month, with at least £5.00 in savings for customers, that equates to a saving of £60 per year for each house who would be subscribed to Sky Sports.

So who will campaign against the Tories' "Sky Tax". After all, the Tories are campaigning against the £6 levy on phone bills to pay for high speed broadband, so a £60 charge seems somewhat hypocritical of the Tories, but it seems to be the price the consumer will have to pay for The Sun and the News of the World to back the Tories.

The sordid squalid deal that can explain the Murdoch empire's support of the Tories

Today the News of the World announced it would be backing the Tories at the next general election.

In the meantime, Ofcom are probing Sky TV and their stranglehold monopoly of the pay TV market with recommendations to force Sky to be more open to competition. You know, the same competition that "free market" thinkers, the ones the Tories claim to represent, say is the cornerstone of this country's business model.

The problem is, as the Robert Peston article makes clear, the Tories don't support Ofcom. Indeed, they may abolish Ofcom and allow Sky TV to maintain their monopoly position.

As Robert Peston writes;

This is what Mr Cameron said last July: "with a Conservative Government, Ofcom as we know it will cease to exist. Its remit will be restricted to its narrow technical and enforcement roles. It will no longer play a role in making policy."

Also, News Corporation's most-widely-read newspaper, the Sun ("wot won it"), has switched allegiance from Labour to the Tories - and is currently heaping opprobrium on the government in its pages with what reads like undisguised relish.

So it is clear to me the the Tories are buying support from the Murdoch empire in return for letting them dominate and have a monopoly position.

Of course, Cameron could prove me wrong by letting the Ofcom investigation in to Sky go ahead but what are the chances of that happening ?

Nobody likes glory hunters on the make

So the glory hunters are at it again. Mr Murdoch's weight has shift back to the Tories and "The Sun" is backing David Cameron. Is anybody shocked or surprised ?

Like a seven year old wearing a Manchester United top, the Sun follows the winning team. Forget principles, forget standing for something or arguing your point, The Sun is used as a tool merely to curry favour with whoever is going to hold power.

And what will the price be ? With Recent attacks by James Murdoch on the BBC, will the Murdoch "pay off" be a dismemberment of the BBC ? Will it be a free hand given to Sky ? Don't you just know that there will be a price to be paid for this.

But don't worry, Cameron has the backing of a paper which told lies about Hillsborough, which told lies about Elton John, and is prepared to sell its soul to anyone who looks like they can win.

Receiving the support of "The Sun" is like being patted on the back and told "Well done" by a serial liar and muck spreader. You must be very proud Mr Cameron.

If Jeff Stelling is presenting it, perhaps I will start watching Countdown

I have not really watched Countdown since I was about 16. I occasionally watch bits and pieces, but if I am at home the Countdown music reminds me that Ready Steady Cook must be on the other side. However, the appointment of Jeff Stelling to the job of presenter might make me take a look.

Those of you without Sky will be asking "Jeff who ?", but as presenter of Soccer Saturday he makes a four hour show with a load of has been and never were footballers telling us about the games they are watching, strangely gripping. Let's put it this way, my wife will have it on the TV without moaning.

What is great about Jeff Stelling is that he is very personable, has encyclopedic knowledge of seemingly everything to do with football, can be self deprecating, does not just follow scripts, and is just very likable.

In my opinion Jeff Stelling is an inspired choice by Channel 4, and with the added bonus of no Carol Vorderman (who just makes me want to turn over as much as Gloria Hunniford does), there is another incentive to tune in.

The Number one "hit" on this blog from search engines today

The number one hit on search engines today to this blog is the search phrase "Setanta Sports problems".

CanI refer anyone who does not know what is meant by this to this posting HERE.

It seems that Setanta Sports are still not answering people's phone calls.

Oh dear. It looks like I made a wise choice sticking with Sky.

Problems with Setanta Sports ?

I wonder how many other people are suffering the same problem as a friend of mine.

He has just received his Setanta Sports viewing card so he can watch Live Premiership Football on his Top-Up TV equipped Freeview box on Saturday, however, he has to phone Setanta Sports to get everything to work.

What's the problem ? He spent 5 hours on the phone this evening and never got anyone from Setanta to answer as apparently "Due to high call volumes, etc, etc".

With their football coverage starting on Saturday, I guess they have lots of phone calls being made to them at the moment. But is is hardly an auspicious start to their new service.

When Setanta set themselves up as an alternative to Sky, I think most customers thought they'd try and rival SKY's sports coverage, not their awful customer care.

UPDATE - Setanta Sports have contacted me about this and have issued a response (see comments). Any problems you might have, then send them here as Setanta are looking at the comments and are, I believe, trying their best.

UPDATE 2 - A letter from Setanta Sports

Dear All,

It is disheartening to see so many negative comments when we are improving so quickly. Believe me, I do undertsand what it is like to be waiting on the phone for long durations of time only to end up talking to an inexperienced agent - we've all been there and as per previous emails, its not good enough and I offer no excuses.We are indeed the new boys and contrary to how we are perceived, we do want to offer a world class service and are moving very quickly in that direction. However, as simple as it may sound, increasing headcount is not something that can generally be done at a flick of a switch and yes, once we get these guys on board they not only have to be trained but supported in order to get up to speed - again, that does take time.Those of you on the Satellite platform would have noticed a much quicker call answering time over recent weeks with the experience starting to show through with Agents. Its far from perfect I agree but I would ask you to support us - If you believe we are getting better and doing that relatively quickly then stand by us - we will get this right!On Freeview, it has taken us a little longer to get the right and are days away from having sufficient people on board at this stage - again, it will take a couple of weeks for them to gain the necessary experience.The anonymous post re cam and card issues posted on 21st August, can you pass me your details please (please pass via Nich , who I'm sure will be kind enough to relay to me) as I would like to resolve asap.

RegardsMatthew - Setanta Sports

Why we need the BBC - Thanks to Sky News for pointing it out

MP's, bloggers, politicians, journalists, The Daily Mail and anyone with the slightest hint of paranoia about them has it it for the BBC these days. The Corporation's wish to have a 24 hour news service to rival that of CNN and Sky has often been ridiculed by these people who claim that there is no need for a state run news channel when we have alternative media groups who will do the job.

However, Sky news today showed us exactly why we need the BBC.

In what was a clear attempt to embarrass the BBC and show how useless they were, Sky news went with the exclusive story that Alan Johnston had won the race to be deputy leader of the Labour Party. They went with this story for the best part of an hour in what appeared at the time to be an amazing scoop over the BBC.

What transpired though was that Alan Johnston didn't win. Instead, he was beaten by the rather hopeless figure of Harriett Harman.

So well done and thanks Sky News. We know you want to show the BBC up and that in order to win over advertisers you have to show viewers that you offer something the BBC don't. And you certainly did that today.

You show us all that you report gossip, rumour and lies, not facts. I guess with Sky being part of Rupert Murdoch's empire, we shouldn't be surprised.

Would anyone notice if they didn't have Sky One ?

Sky believe that Virgin Media should pay nearly double what they currently pay to show Sky One, Sky News and Sky Sports News. This is despite the fact that the viewing trend for these channels is down. Sky keep running advertising claiming that people won't be able to watch their favourite channels on Virgin if they don't pay what Sky are asking. Even Channel Five news (itself made by Sky) claimed tonight that people will not be able to watch their "favourite channels".

So here is the question, would anyone really notice if they didn't have Sky One ?

My favourite channels are all on Freeview, with the only others that I am bothered about being UKTV Gold and occasional live football on Sky News.

Have Sky really conned themselves in to thinking that people actually tune in to Sky One because it is one of their favourite channels ?

Hypocricy of BBC critics - Damned if they do, damned if they don't

Plans for the BBC to gain some revenue by including adverts on its internet services for overseas surfers, the British Internet Publisher Alliance (BIPA) has come out against the plans, claiming it will diminish the BBC's reputation for impartiality and will deny revenue to the BBC's competitors.

When you realise that BIPA members include Trinity Mirror and Sky TV, isn't this a bit hypocritical ?

Sky, for example, always claim that Sky News is impartial. But it carries adverts. Are sky now admitting that they are not impartial ?

What about Sky constant complain that the BBC receives too high a license fee and should asked to run more like its commercial competitors ? Surely this is the BBC doing just that, but again, Sky does not like it.

It seems to me that the BBC is damned if they do, and damned if they don't.

Even worse customer service from Sky TV

I complained a couple of months ago about the awful service I got from Sky TV (or BSkyB) on the phone. Now, two months after I phoned them to cancel my Sky multiroom, they've decided not only to cancel my multiroom, but also to cancel my subscriptions on my other TV to all Sports and Movies Channels.

Do Sky TV have a complaints number ? Of course not. Do they have an option on their system for "If we've messed you up and non of the options we give you is relevent, press zero", don't be silly.

When Freeview goes "High Definition" and I can get football via Freeview via Setanta Sports, I'll be at the front of the queue to to happily wave goodbye to Sky TV.

Is anyone intersted in hourly updates about new year ?

The BBC, ITV and Sky News are under the mis-apprehension that anyone is interested in the fact that each and every hour, somewhere around the globe, a new day and a new year has started.

So what ? Does it warrant sending a team of presenters from Radio five live across to Australia ? Do I care that they are having a firework display, and will I care in an hour that the same will happen in Hong Kong, then an hour later in Bangladesh, then an hour later in Delhi, etc, etc. I like fireworks, but they are something that is only good if you are actually there. Fireworks on TV is much like listening to someone talking about a lovely meal they've had.

I know it's a no news day, but really, is anyone interested in rolling news services telling us the time in lots of different countries, because I know of no-one who is.

Grade departure to ITV is dreadful timing for the BBC

Despite getting annoyed with various things the BBC do like having three Tories on every other week on Question Time or allowing Andrew Neil to rant absolute drivel every week or always leaving Everton until last on Match of the Day, I am a strong supporter of the BBC.

So to my mind the news that Michael Grade has left the BBC today to go to ITV couldn;t come at a worse time.

Important license fee negotiations are ongoing with the government. There are always those in successive governments who want to diminish the BBC either because Rupert Murdoch has told them to or because they believe that the private sector is the best way to produce things. I think ITV and Sky One show just how the private sector does not do this.

I have Sky TV and it costs me £50 a month, yet for less than three months of Sky I could get 7 Radio channels and 8 TV channels, all without adverts. And you only have to go abroad for a few days and watch the tripe served up abroad to realise just how good the BBC is.

So I am sad to see Michale Grade go. I hope he can turn round ITV, but I fear that that is the last thing that Rupert Murdoch actually wants.

Sky TV - Worst customer service ever !

I have just been on the phone to Sky TV to cancel a subscription. What an unpleasant experience that was.

Firstly, I was told by the man who answered the phone after eleven minutes that:

"You should know that you have to be subscribed for 12 months before you can cancel"

"I know, but I cannot remember if it is 11 or 12 months since it was installed", I replied.

"I would expect that you would know something like that before phoning", he replied.

Oh dear, I thought, not exactly friendly.

"Can I set it up so that my subscription is cancelled on the anniversary of the 12 months ?", I enquired.

"That's impossible. you'll have to phone in again in a few weeks", says the man from Sky.

"Why, can't you just set up a diary reminder", I ask.

"No company can do that sir" says Sky man sarcasticly.

"My mobile phone company can", I say.

"Well we're no tin pot firm, we're the world largest multimedia company and ranked 17 on the FTSE 100 index", says the man from Sky

"My mobile firm is Vodafone, they are one of the five biggest companies in the UK , anyway, why are you lecturing me ? What is your name ? " I ask.

The phone goes dead !

So, get a Sky account at your peril !

P.S. Eventually, after going through via a different phone number and being transferred, I spoke to a much nice Scottish girl who sorted it out AND set up a diary reminder, so it can be done !

P.P.S. Sky neither print, publish or have on their website a complaint number or contact !