Sky Box Office

Sky Box Office
Launched 16 March 1996
Closed 4 January 2017 (2017-01-04) (Cinema)
Owned by Sky plc
Picture format 576i (16:9 SDTV)
1080i (HDTV)
Audience share 0.01% (August 2018 (2018-08), BARB)
Country United Kingdom
Broadcast area United Kingdom
Ireland
Formerly called Sky Box Office (1996–2011)
Sister channel(s) Challenge,
Pick,
Real Lives,
Sky One,
Sky Two,
Sky Arts,
Sky Atlantic,
Sky Cinema,
Sky News,
Sky Sports,
Sky Sports F1,
Sky Sports News,
Sky Witness
Availability
Satellite
Sky Channel 491 (Sports)
Channel 492 (Sports HD)
IPTV
TalkTalk TV Channel 419 (Sports)

Sky Box Office is the name of Sky plc's pay-per-view (PPV) system operated in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. There are three branded divisions of Sky Box Office – Sky Cinema Box Office, Sky Sports Box Office and Sky 3D Box Office. Until 1 February 2011, the system ran under unified Sky Box Office branding. On 4 January 2017, all Sky Cinema Box Office channels ceased broadcasting.

History

Sky Box Office launched on 16 March 1996 on Sky Analogue. At the time it carried mainly sporting events, such as major boxing fights. The first of these was Frank Bruno's WBC World Heavyweight Championship defence against Mike Tyson. Initially events were ordered by telephone, either on the day of broadcast for £14.95 or in advance at a reduced price of £9.99. Ordering an event charged the viewer and then the subscriber's VideoCrypt viewing card would be activated over the air, enabling the viewing of the broadcast. The charge would be levied unless the viewer cancelled prior to broadcast, or returned the viewing card as proof that the event hadn't been watched.

Four dedicated Sky Box Office channels were launched on 1 December 1997 on Sky Analogue. At this time multiple showings of selected movies, shown in advance of their broadcast on Sky's existing subscription movie channels, were added. Initial movies included The Long Kiss Goodnight and Courage Under Fire. However, at least one hour pre-ordering was required, and for most movies one purchase at £2.99 only bought one viewing.

With the move to Sky Digital in 1998, where the Sky Digibox provided a data return path, events and movies – the latter now copy protected – could be bought minutes before or even during the event either by telephone or through an on-screen menu and PIN system.

Sky launched a sister pay-per-view channel in August 2001, Premiership Plus, which shown select football matches from the Premier League live. The service closed in 2007 as Sky were forced by the European Union to break their broadcasting monopoly on the competition.

A range of pay-per-view 3-D films were also screened on Sky 3D.

On 1 February 2011, Sky Box Office was rebranded as Sky Movies Box Office for movies.[1] Later in the year, Sky Sports Box Office branding was added for sports and Sky 3D Box Office for 3D.

Content

Although at launch it showed mainly sporting events, since the launch of Sky Digital, movies along with concerts have become the predominant content. However, Sky Cinema Box Office's limited movie choices and relatively high prices have increasingly left it suffering in comparison to online DVD rental systems. Films are currently first shown on Sky Box Office on the same day as DVD release as of 2011, prior to that there was a 2 to 3-month window between DVD release and Sky Box Office release. Some films still retain the 2 to 3-month window between DVD and Sky Box Office releases.

It can be purchased directly through a Sky remote control. This can be accomplished by pressing "Box Office", purchase an event, confirm the order and enter the PIN if prompted.

WWE pay-per-view events

Since 1997, WWE have had some of their pay-per-view events available through Box Office. From 1997 to 2003, the UK based pay-per-views, No Mercy, Rebellion and Insurrextion were shown on Box Office. In 2002, Sky gained the sole rights to the whole WWE pay-per-view calendar, after Channel 4's deal ended with WWE. These events were placed on Box Office. In 2004, more of WWE's premier events were moved to Box Office, including WWE's biggest event of the year, WrestleMania.

As of 2012, seven WWE events are shown on Box Office for a one time fee of £14.95/€21.95 for each event, with WrestleMania being charged at £17.95/€24.95, in both Standard and High Definition, with additional repeats (Standard Definition only) available at no additional charge.

Boxing pay-per-view fights

   — Fights which held the UK PPV sales record
DateFightNetworkBuysSource(s)
21 May 1966 Muhammad Ali vs. Henry Cooper II Pay TV 40,000 [2]
16 March 1996 Frank Bruno vs. Mike Tyson II Sky Box Office 660,000 [3]
9 November 1996 Naseem Hamed vs. Remigio Molina Sky Box Office 420,000 [3][4]
8 February 1997 Naseem Hamed vs. Tom Johnson Sky Box Office 720,000 [3][5]
3 May 1997 Naseem Hamed vs. Billy Hardy Sky Box Office 348,000 [3][6]
28 June 1997 Evander Holyfield vs. Mike Tyson II Sky Box Office 550,000 [7]
13 March 1999 Evander Holyfield vs. Lennox Lewis Sky Box Office 400,000 [8]
29 January 2000 Mike Tyson vs. Julius Francis Sky Box Office 500,000 [7]
19 August 2000 Naseem Hamed vs. Augie Sanchez Sky Box Office 300,000 [9]
8 June 2002 Lennox Lewis vs. Mike Tyson Sky Box Office 750,000 [10]
8 December 2007 Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Ricky Hatton Sky Box Office 1,150,000 [11]
2 May 2009 Manny Pacquiao vs. Ricky Hatton Sky Box Office 900,000 [12]
18 July 2009 Amir Khan vs. Andreas Kotelnik Sky Box Office 100,000 [13]
7 November 2009 Nikolai Valuev vs. David Haye Sky Box Office 469,000 [14]
3 April 2010 David Haye vs. John Ruiz Sky Box Office 177,000 [15]
24 April 2010 Carl Froch vs. Mikkel Kessler Primetime 50,000 [16]
18 September 2010 Kell Brook vs. Michael Jennings Sky Box Office 15,000 [17]
13 November 2010 David Haye vs. Audley Harrison Sky Box Office 223,000 [14]
11 December 2010 Amir Khan vs. Marcos Maidana Sky Box Office 164,000 [18]
16 April 2011 Amir Khan vs. Paul McCloskey Primetime 200,000 [19][16]
21 May 2011 George Groves vs. James DeGale Sky Box Office 43,000 [20]
2 July 2011 Wladimir Klitschko vs. David Haye Sky Box Office 1,143,000 [21]
25 May 2013 Carl Froch vs. Mikkel Kessler II Sky Box Office 32,000 [22]
23 November 2013 Carl Froch vs. George Groves Sky Box Office 47,000 [23]
31 May 2014 Carl Froch vs. George Groves II Sky Box Office 355,000 [24]
30 May 2015 Kell Brook vs. Frankie Gavin Sky Box Office 139,000 [25]
2 May 2015 Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao Sky Box Office 1,000,000 [26]
28 November 2015 Wladimir Klitschko vs. Tyson Fury Sky Box Office 545,000 [27]
12 December 2015 Anthony Joshua vs. Dillian Whyte Sky Box Office 420,000 [28]
27 February 2016 Carl Frampton vs. Scott Quigg Sky Box Office 220,000 [29][30]
9 April 2016 Anthony Joshua vs. Charles Martin Sky Box Office 500,000 [28]
25 June 2016 Anthony Joshua vs. Dominic Breazeale Sky Box Office 512,000 [31]
10 September 2016 Gennady Golovkin vs. Kell Brook Sky Box Office 500,000 [32]
10 December 2016 Anthony Joshua vs. Éric Molina Sky Box Office 450,000 [28]
4 February 2017 Chris Eubank Jr. vs. Renold Quinlan ITV Box Office 86,000 [33]
4 March 2017 David Haye vs. Tony Bellew Sky Box Office 890,000 [34]
29 April 2017 Anthony Joshua vs. Wladimir Klitschko Sky Box Office 1,532,000 [35]
27 May 2017 Kell Brook vs. Errol Spence Jr. Sky Box Office 275,000 [36]
26 August 2017 Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Conor McGregor Sky Box Office 874,000 [37]
28 October 2017 Anthony Joshua vs. Carlos Takam Sky Box Office 887,000 [38]
31 March 2018 Anthony Joshua vs. Joseph Parker Sky Box Office 1,457,000 [39]
5 May 2018 David Haye vs. Tony Bellew II Sky Box Office 775,000 [40]
28 July 2018 Dillian Whyte vs. Joseph Parker Sky Box Office 474,000 [41][42]
22 September 2018 Anthony Joshua vs. Alexander Povetkin Sky Box Office 1,113,000 [43]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Sky Movies Box Office". British Sky Broadcasting. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
  2. ↑ Haynes, Richard (2016). BBC Sport in Black and White. Springer. p. 213. ISBN 9781137455017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Forrester, Chris (2013). Business of Digital Television. Taylor & Francis. p. 151-152. ISBN 9781136029783. Average BSkyB [...] 1996 [...] 5m [...] 1997 [...] 5.8m [...] UK-based boxing promoter, Frank Warren in June 1997 described championship boxing as: the most honest form of TV [...] Our first match (Bruno v Tyson) created a 14 per cent buy-rate (660 000 subs) even at 5 a.m. 'Judgement Night' got 420 000 subs (9 per cent). The 'Night of Champions' 720,000 buys or 15.5 per cent and the 'Brit Pack' on May 3 [1997] achieved a 6 per cent buy rate
  4. ↑ Boyle, Raymond; Haynes, Richard (2009). Power play: sport, the media and popular culture. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 141–142. ISBN 9780748635931. An estimated 420,000 ppv customers watched the event, bringing BSkyB's 50 per cent share in the revenue to more than £25 million. 'Judgement Night' augured a new experience for fans of boxing, packaged and glossily delivered by television. [...] In the run-up to 'Judgement Night' Evans argued that Hamed thrived on the adrenaline rush of 'putting on a show' as much as he appeared to relish 'the pleasurable anticipation' of knocking out his opponent.
  5. ↑ "McGuigan's patience of Job jab at the Prince". The Irish Times. 10 February 1997.
  6. ↑ "British Face-Off #11 - Robin Reid v Henry Wharton". Sky Sports. 19 November 2013.
  7. 1 2 Davies, Gareth A. (20 December 2007). "Ricky Hatton shatters viewing record". The Daily Telegraph.
  8. ↑ "Satellites keep shining stars from our gaze". Irish Independent. 5 May 2018.
  9. ↑ Mitchell, Kevin (14 January 2001). "Boxing: BBC chase Hamed TV deal". The Guardian.
  10. ↑ Lalani, Zahid (2011-06-29). "Haye looks for heavyweight payday". BBC News. Retrieved 2018-05-12.
  11. ↑ Welch, Ben (18 October 2017). "Joshua vs Klitschko set for record pay-per-view sales". Daily Mirror.
  12. ↑ "Pacquiao vs Mosley Could Be Highest-Selling Pacquiao PPV Ever". Bad Left Hook. Vox Media. SB Nation. May 12, 2011.
  13. ↑ "MORE THAN 100,000 WATCHED KHAN". Boxing News. Archived from the original on 4 August 2009. Retrieved 4 August 2009.
  14. 1 2 Lalani, Zahid (29 June 2011). "Haye looks for heavyweight payday". BBC News.
  15. ↑ "Weekly viewing summary (Sky Box Office Events buys between 29 March 2010 and 4 April 2010)". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
  16. 1 2 "Khan-McCloskey does well on Primetime PPV". Boxing News 24. 17 April 2011.
  17. ↑ "Weekly viewing summary (Sky Box Office Events buys between 13–26 September 2010)". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
  18. ↑ "Weekly viewing summary (Sky Box Office Events buys between 6–19 December 2010)". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
  19. ↑ "Frank Warren on Khan-Judah, Froch-Johnson, More". BoxingScene. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
  20. ↑ "Weekly viewing summary (Sky Box Office Events buys between 16–22 May 2011)". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
  21. ↑ "Weekly viewing summary (Sky Box Office Events buys between 27 June 2011 and 3 July 2011)". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
  22. ↑ "Weekly viewing summary (Sky Box Office Events buys between 20–26 May 2015)". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
  23. ↑ "Weekly viewing summary (Sky Box Office Events buys between 18 November 2013 and 1 December 2013)". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
  24. ↑ "Weekly viewing summary (Sky Box Office Events buys between 26 May 2014 and 1 June 2014)". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
  25. ↑ "Weekly viewing summary (Sky Box Office Events buys between 25–31 May 2017)". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
  26. ↑ "UK broadcasters are in a bidding war to show Mayweather v McGregor — and it could break box office records". Business Insider. 26 July 2017.
  27. ↑ "Weekly viewing summary (Sky Box Office Events buys between 23–29 November 2015)". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
  28. 1 2 3 "Big Fight UK Boxing PPV Buys Revealed Over Last 18 Months". Boxing News and Views. 31 May 2017.
  29. ↑ "Weekly viewing summary (Sky Box Office Events buys between 22–28 February 2016)". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
  30. ↑ "Eddie Hearn believes Whyte-Chisora could do TWENTY TIMES more PPV buys than Warrington-Frampton -". 2018-09-14. Retrieved 2018-09-15.
  31. ↑ "Weekly viewing summary (Sky Box Office Events buys between 20–26 February 2016)". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
  32. ↑ "Canelo Alvarez's shrinking pay-per-view audience not expected to surpass 300,000 buys". Los Angeles Times. 22 September 2016. ISSN 0458-3035. Archived from the original on 23 September 2016. Retrieved 16 September 2017.
  33. ↑ "Eubank Jr, Canelo and the Diminishing Value of the Boxing Pay-Per-View". First Class Boxing. February 8, 2017.
  34. ↑ "The staggering amount Joshua will pocket from Klitschko fight [Sun]". GiveMeSport. 2017-04-26. Retrieved 2018-05-12.
  35. ↑ "Weekly viewing summary (Sky Box Office Events buys in week ending 30 April 2017)". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  36. ↑ "Weekly viewing summary (Sky Box Office Events buys between 22–28 May 2017)". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
  37. ↑ "Weekly viewing summary (Sky Box Office Events buys between 21–27 August 2017)". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
  38. ↑ "Weekly viewing summary (Sky Box Office Events buys between 23–29 October 2017)". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
  39. ↑ "Weekly viewing summary (Sky Box Office Events buys between 26 March 2018 and 1 April 2018)". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
  40. ↑ "Weekly viewing summary (Sky Box Office Events buys between 30 April 2018 and 6 May 2018)". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  41. ↑ "Weekly viewing summary (Sky Box Office Events buys between 23 July 2018 and 29 July 2018)". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  42. ↑ "Whyte vs Parker: All the timing, pricing and booking details for the Sky Sports Box Office event". Sky Sports. Retrieved 2018-07-26.
  43. ↑ "Weekly viewing summary (Sky Box Office Events buys between 17 September 2018 and 30 September 2018)". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
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