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Sky strikes exclusive HBO output deal BSkyB has acquired HBO's entire TV catalogue and is stepping up its commitment to original home-grown comedy as it reports a rise in annual revenue and profit. The News Corp-controlled UK satcaster, which yesterday announced that it would be launching Europe's first 3D TV channel on October 1, today unveiled the output deal with HBO. Under the pact, which is said to be worth £150m (US$234.4m) over five years, Sky will become the exclusive UK and Ireland outlet for the US premium cable network's programming. The first new HBO show to air on Sky will be Boardwalk Empire, the Prohibition-era drama from Martin Scorsese and The Sopranos writer Terence Winter. It will debut in the UK soon after its September premiere in the US. Other upcoming HBO shows destined for Sky include fantasy drama Game of Thrones, and Luck, the Dustin Hoffman-starring drama exec produced by David Milch and Michael Mann. Future seasons of Entourage and Big Love will also feature as part of the pact, as will past series such as The Sopranos and Six Feet Under, which Sky will make available via its soon-to-launch Sky Anytime+ IPTV on-demand service. Sky recently aired HBO Second World War epic The Pacific and Steven Spielberg's In Treatment. As part of its much bigger commitment It will now also get first refusal on all HBO UK coproductions. "We are enormously encouraged by the ongoing success story of pay-TV in the UK and Ireland and it makes sense for us strategically to find a partner that can sustain a real commitment to investing in content," said HBO president of programming sales Charles Schreger. Sky MD of entertainment, news and broadcast operations Sophie Turner Lang added: "We are committed to bringing customers the best possible choice of pay content, whether that's through original UK production or the best of the US. Like HBO, we believe that innovative, high-quality content is worth paying for." On the original UK productions front, Sky also announced today a number of new commissions for its flagship entertainment channel Sky1. One, a series called Stella, comes from Ruth Jones, co-writer and co-star of BBC hit comedy Gavin and Stacey. A series of autobiographical comedy shorts called Little Crackers will see UK comedians Stephen Fry, Dawn French, Catherine Tate and Kathy Burke making their Sky debuts. The satcaster promises more in the offing. The company is stepping up its investment in content, as highlighted in its annual results today, which revealed a 9% year-on-year rise in programming costs from £1.75bn in 2009 to £1.9bn for 2010. While spending on sports accounted for two-thirds of this rise and the launch of nine new HD channels sucked up another significant chunk, increased investment in original commissions also played a part. Sky spent around £160m on non-sports programming last year and CEO Jeremy Darroch told C21 earlier this year that that figure would increase in 2010. Darroch today cheered a set of upbeat results, in which the firm reported an 11% rise in revenue to £5.9bn, operating profit up 10% to £855m and a leap in pre-tax profit from £456m to £1.17bn, in part helped by a £115m gain on its disposal of shares in ITV, having taken a hit on this in the previous year. "We've had another good quarter to bring our financial year to a strong close," said Darroch, but he added that the economic outlook remained uncertain. He heralded the partnership with HBO and the plans for more UK comedy, adding that Sky's £160m acquisition of the Virgin Media Television business (which the Office of Fair Trading is currently considering) will help the company broaden its entertainment offering still further. Jonathan Webdale 29 Jul 2010 © C21 Media 2010 
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