RE: [backstage] Thoughts from a previous BBC employee

[Christopher Woods]

Thinking about Sky's power over us, my housemate told me that if you want to
get Freesat (or their £75 one-off offer which gives you six months of
knowledge mixes and then after that, just freesat) then you're quite
entitled to do so, no problems. But, if you want to get a Sky+ box, you HAVE
to pay £10 a month for the timeshifting functionality regardless of whether
you're on one of their packages or whether you're just a Freesat customer,
and you then get tied into a 12 month contract just for the £10pm charge.
Apparently it's a legal thing... But why? If they've dropped (read:
absorbed, I suppose) the £10pcm cost for the timeshifting and outwardly
don't charge anybody for it, why can't they offer it free (and charge more
for the box)?
 
Just thought I'd ask seeming that there's more than a few people on here who
have some decent Sky knowledge :)