February 1, 2021, 1:27 pm | Read time: 9 minutes
Video streaming is booming. Subscribers pay a monthly fee for content. Compared to linear TV, there are many new movies, series, and documentaries available on demand–and even ad-free. Or are they? Sky makes an exception here and inserts ads, and quite frequently. Why is that, our editor wondered.
I’ve had a Sky Q subscription for about a year. For 25 euros a month, I get the entertainment and cinema package in high-definition quality. Ideal for me as a fan of series and movies. Compared to subscriptions from Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, or Disney+, I pay more with Sky, but I also get additional TV channels that I occasionally enjoy watching. Overall, it’s a well-rounded package. If only it weren’t for the ads.
Ads on Sky–I Didn’t Expect That
Before I decided on a Sky Q subscription in spring 2020, Netflix and Amazon Prime were the primary platforms where I indulged my streaming passion. I was used to playing content ad-free. Occasionally, Amazon inserts teasers for new productions before the start of a movie or series, but these can be skipped with a click. They never posed a problem for me.
Unfortunately, I constantly encounter ads on Sky. Before starting a video-on-demand movie, I often have to endure three, four, or five commercials, each about 30 seconds long, before the title starts. That’s sometimes more than two minutes of ads–for cars, insurance, sports programs–that I have to watch. I have no way to skip the ads. When I watch TV channels like Sky Krimi HD, the provider also inserts ads between individual series. I might even tolerate that, as it helps clearly separate the episodes. However, the ad interruptions within an episode are unnecessary and incomprehensible to me–they almost remind me of private channels on linear TV. Sky doesn’t just insert one or two commercials, but a whole handful.
Read also: “Disney+, treat your customers better!”
Sky Compared to Netflix and Amazon Video
Am I exaggerating? Maybe, but after all, I pay 25 euros a month for the subscription. For comparison: Amazon Video costs me 5.75 euros a month, plus there are other Prime benefits. I currently pay 15.99 euros for Netflix, soon to be 17.99 euros with the price increase, but I can share the account. Netflix isn’t cheap either, but it costs 7 euros less per month than Sky. And, and this is the crucial point, both streaming services are ad-free. Yet they manage to produce exclusive content and expand their program quite extensively each month. Both Netflix and Amazon Video are known for their original productions for a reason.
Both streaming providers manage to offer their customers new, exclusive content, avoid ads, and still keep monthly fees reasonable. Sky also offers original productions. Examples include the series “Riviera,” “A Discovery of Witches,” or “Tin Star.” Additionally, the provider purchases licenses for larger productions and movies–Netflix and Amazon Video do too. So why can’t Sky, with such a high monthly fee, manage to avoid ads?
I’m Not Alone in My Frustration
Within the Sky Community, there are several posts where customers ask the same question. “Why do I have to watch additional ads with every channel change, only to find that there’s just more ads?” or “The ads before every (!!) episode are cheeky and more than inappropriate,” as stated in the forum. Another user responds with “It annoys me with Q too! You really don’t feel like starting a series because there are constantly numerous commercials.”
Another even goes so far as to say he would have reconsidered subscribing had he known about the ads beforehand. “I’ve only been a Sky customer for a short time, and if I had known beforehand that I’d be bombarded with ads before I could finally watch a movie or series, I probably wouldn’t have subscribed.”
There are quite a few entries like this. One thing is common among the authors of the posts: They are annoyed by the ads on Sky. The provider seems indifferent to this, and I openly make this accusation here. Because on its own website, Sky Media promotes the profitability of ad placements, the so-called 30-second spots, to a high degree and hopes to attract more advertising partners. It states in detail:
“Classic spots in the ad block are excellent for presenting products and services and achieving high awareness levels within a short period. The 30-second spot is solely your space and thus offers the opportunity to build brand value and explain products and services and their USPs.”
Quote: Sky Media
The provider has planned the ads for the environments Sky Sport HD and Sky Bundesliga HD, the entertainment channels, and network channels.
Why does Sky alienate its customers with ads? Is there something wrong with the provider’s financial management that it relies on extra revenue from ads? Or does it simply take them because it can? Just recently, the company introduced a new, unified pricing structure. Different costs for the same subscription should no longer exist. Sky can therefore calculate better in the future, one would think. But an end to the ads is still not in sight.
TECHBOOK has asked Sky why the company acts this way. Regarding my assumptions, Sky must, of course, be allowed to respond. After all, I am speaking only from a user’s perspective.
Advertising has long been firmly anchored in Sky’s business model. It will continue to be a relevant component in the future, contributing to the company’s economic success and thus to new investments for our viewers, such as in content. Advertising is generally limited to short slots with a qualitative claim and also includes unusual, creative special advertising forms. We integrate the ad blocks harmoniously and very customer-friendly into the respective environment.
Spokesperson for Sky Deutschland to TECHBOOK.de
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That’s Why Sky Shows Ads and Others Don’t
Now it’s time to leave the user’s perspective and examine the matter more closely as an editor. Because whether it’s too much advertising or whether it could be done entirely without it is difficult to judge from the outside, and companies don’t reveal their strategies easily. I’ve come across two points that everyone should keep in mind when complaining about ads on Sky. These are not officially confirmed by Sky but are quite plausible for the inclusion of ads.
1. Sky Deutschland Does Not Operate Globally
A major difference between Sky and streaming services is the area of operation. Sure, the pay-TV channel exists in other countries, but each country operates financially independently. This is evident, for example, in rights acquisition. Here, the respective country purchases the rights to content only for itself. Accordingly, the channel’s business model cannot really match that of its competitors.
While Netflix’s business model is based on global growth and thus justifies enormous investments, a nationally operating pay-TV channel like Sky must assert itself in the German market. Unlike the U.S., the TV culture here is different. Pay-TV is popular in the area of soccer broadcasts, but fundamentally, a different mentality prevails in Germany. Free TV dominates.
The streaming services operating here seem to be both a blessing and a curse for Sky. On the one hand, they have made it much more acceptable in Germany to pay for media content via subscription. Sky certainly benefits from this with its monthly cancelable Sky Ticket offer. On the other hand, the competition is naturally a problem, as customers can or want to afford only a few services.
2. Streaming Services Are Not Profit-Oriented
Building on point one, another huge difference between a German pay-TV channel and an international streaming service becomes apparent. As mentioned earlier, providers like Netflix or Amazon are growth-oriented, but Sky is profit-oriented. Netflix has been able to accept losses in the past, but Sky cannot.
The same applies to Amazon Prime Video. For the internet giant, its streaming service is primarily a means to promote Prime subscriptions. Losses in this area can be easily compensated by the corporation, which generates several billion dollars in profit per year.
If profit is not the top priority, ads are not either. After all, you don’t want to annoy users. You have to grow, and constantly.
Read also: The New Series and Movies on Sky
In the End, I Remain Inconsistent as a User
I’ve vented my frustration, learned that I’m not the only one annoyed by ads on Sky, heard the company’s perspective, and done my own research. In the end, I have to draw my conclusions. Do I cancel my Sky Q subscription at the end of February, or do I renew it? In the end, I remain inconsistent, one might say. I’ve renewed Sky Q–and not just for a month, as I could now with the new subscription model, but again for a year. I’m probably just used to the ads by now. On the radio, on TV, and even on the street, I’m bombarded with them. My desire for series and movies simply outweighs it. So I continue to be annoyed by ad interruptions, watch TV on the side, and hope that Sky will eventually accommodate its customers.