Sky Gets ‘Lost’
A while ago (my first post here, actually), I posted about a conflict between Virgin and Sky regarding ‘LOST’. It seems things have taken another twist and Sky has just bought the rights to air seasons three and four, beating out Channel 4 in the bidding (which could have wound up somewhere close to twenty million pounds. That’s almost $38 million dollars! So what about all the people who don’t pay for Sky television?
Somehow I don’t think this will make a very significant impact to viewership in the UK. I’m betting that most of the middle to hardcore fans are already getting the show some other way. The article made it seem as though season three hasn’t even begun to air yet, but I know that there are UK readers who are up to date. UK readers, please share how this will affect you and what you’re going to do about it!
Sources: Entertainmentwise | LOST Caught in the Middle
About half a year ago I would care but not now because I am able to find my own way seeing Lost the same time as Americans do, but to be honest Lost suited Channel 4 alot better because It’s the best TV channel the UK has, so now that Lost Is on SKY alot of people will not be able to watch It.
Comment by Sanerken — May 20, 2007 @ 7:42 pm
Well, that sucks!!
Comment by LiLi — May 20, 2007 @ 7:57 pm
I have Sky and am able to view new Lost episodes 4 days after their original broadcast in the US (I’ve just seen Greatest Hits earlier this evening:)
I had to wait months before I could see the latest eps when channel 4 had the rights, so I’m very happy with the new arrangement.
Comment by Dolbach — May 20, 2007 @ 7:59 pm
IT GOOD TO LIVE IN U.S.A
Comment by RMC — May 20, 2007 @ 8:15 pm
Lost airs in the UK four days after it is initially broadcast in the US. And yes, it may be good to live in the USA, but then the severe downside of it is that you are probably American. Poor souls.
Comment by Matthew — May 21, 2007 @ 12:18 am
I live in the uk an i dont have sky mainly because it is a rip off. I realy heavily on friends to see the episodes. I also look at all the diffrent websites (mainly this one!). At the end of the day why should i pay more 2 see my favourite show? I already pay
Comment by WILLOW — May 21, 2007 @ 12:48 am
Hello, I’m from italy, here s2 ended few weeks ago on the national tv and s3 will probably be on air on may/june 2008 on paytv (Fox). By the way, the “hardcore community” stays updated thanks to torrents that become available few hours after airing on USA
Comment by Frankino — May 21, 2007 @ 1:06 am
i used to be able to see lost weekly but then sky changed their agreement and wanted more money so i have to torrent the episodes now but on the bright side i can watch the episodes before any of my friends do and i can watch it on my ipod on the bus in the morning before college, so torrents win over tv in my opinion.
Comment by Matthew — May 21, 2007 @ 1:17 am
Sky shows the episodes on the Sunday after airing in the US (Wednesday night), that’s much better than the number of weeks Channel 4 used to wait to air it.
Most of the time I will torrent it and watch it on the Thursday, if I cant I just Sky+ it.
Comment by Matt — May 21, 2007 @ 1:33 am
Channel 4 had the problem that most viewers used torrents because we used to be a season behind with the episodes therefore viewing figures went down and they didnt pay up,and Sky who have a seemingly endless pot of money buy all good programmes. Now with Sky we are only 4 days behind but younger people like myself who are at university (and almost everyone here i know) still download it on Thursday mornings. Whereas my parents and family however are happy with the switch to Sky and watch it every Sunday. So many households here have Sky via satellite dish or via cable tv such as NTL or Virgin.
Great page Doc may i say, keeps us all upto date here with the news!
Comment by Lee — May 21, 2007 @ 1:33 am
I live in the UK, but it really doesn’t bother me. I know people who are gutted it isn’t on anymore but i can easily watch the episodes on the internet the day after they air in the US. So, to me it makes no difference unless they shut down video hosting sites…
Comment by Muz — May 21, 2007 @ 1:58 am
I am lucky in the fact that we have Virgin TV in the front room, and SKy TV in the main room.
This meant that when Sky One was taken of the Virgin Channel Listings, I had to staart watching it in the back room on the crappy 26″ TV where as the front room has my 32″ HDTV.
Slightly gutted, but means that when the DVD boxset comes, i’ll be watching it all again on a much superior set.
Good stuff.
In regards to the airing of season 4; SKy better not drop the ball with this one, it sure as hell better start 4 days after the US airings begin just like the eisodes have aired this season.
Comment by jonno394 — May 21, 2007 @ 2:35 am
I live in Italy… here we also have mr. Murdoch’s monopoly with pay-per-view sky channels… they will air season 3 from september 2007.
thankfully there are other means to view it.. like downloading the episodes torrent file 3 hours after it has aired on abc… my Lost evening is on thurstdays…
call it time lag
Comment by diego — May 21, 2007 @ 2:36 am
I live in Manchester UK and the latest episode is always on torrents after the Canadian show or on tv-links.co.uk by noon the following morning at the latest.
Comment by Necrotism — May 21, 2007 @ 2:54 am
I watch it the ‘American’ way, but i personally watched season one on Channel 4 in the UK and thought it was great. I don’t think the way the Sky One presents the show and how the show doesn’t now get as much mainstream success as it did when it was shown on Channel 4 really annoys me as i do think that it’s lost many viewers because of this; they either don’t know when it’s being shown or can’t actually watch the show because they don’t have the facilitie to do so.
For example, the season finale for season one when it was shown on Channel 4 a few years ago had a huge amount of hype surrounding it, with adverts everywhere, radio stations having phone-ins, etc. It’s the season finale this Sunday here and i haven’t seen any adverts for it… is such a shame.
Comment by Tom — May 21, 2007 @ 3:00 am
Well I have refused to give any money to Sky and Mr Murdoch for a long long time…I was gutted when it moved from channel 4 as that is one of the few good channels we have in the UK and it was sad for it not to be part of the best thing on telly in a long long time…
But the good thing is that it introduced me to the wonderful world of torrents…now I wake up at 5am and download it from eztv…then leave it seeding while I am at work…
Plus this means I am no longer months behind the U.S and can be as geeky as I like on great sites like this without getting too many spoilers!
Anyway…Sky is an awful awful organisation and Murdoch is the anti-christ!
Comment by Jonathan — May 21, 2007 @ 3:25 am
From the beginning i always got the show through torrent sites to be honest!
I hate SKY T.V and how it has a monopoly on all the best shows and has an endless pot of cash on which to snatch the latest popular shows from the jaws of public t.v and if they dont win first time around they have an endless pot of cash to throw at the bidding! DISGUSTING!
They done this with Buffy , 24 and now lost they waited to see if they became popular on terrestrial t.v and then around season 3 or 4 they would snap up the shows and then we would never see them on terretrial t.v until a year or so after SKY had shown it!
So i say to everyone watch lost thru torrent sites like i do, that way u get them before even SKY do! and youre only a few hours behind the U.S BELIEVE ME ITS VERY GRATIFYING TO GET ONE OVER ON MURDOCH!
also someone else mentioned it above me but video streaming sites are worth a look the best site ive found is http://www.tv-links.co.uk/index.do/1 they usually have the latest Lost , 24 and Heroes episodes uploaded less than A DAY YES A DAY! AFTER THE BROADCAST! theyre very fast the fastest ive seen online! Problem you get with these sites is the qulaity isnt great so you have to view the show on a minimized scale!, and for a show like lost where pausing in high definiton is a key its probably best to download!
Comment by 24Luke — May 21, 2007 @ 3:35 am
i get lost on a thursday morning on MIrc 5 oclock i wake up to get it fresh i dont care bout it going to sky the fact is its the greatest show on tv and ppl hu love the show will change for it over to sky or go to a friends n watch it p.s cant wait for the finale!!!!!
Comment by calum — May 21, 2007 @ 3:45 am
UKer here.
Torrent all the way for me I’m afraid. Fuck sky, they’re buying every popular program they can and for that I hate them and their rip off prices!!
And like others have said above, I really really REALLY enjoy the feeling I get from watching Lost 4 days before it hits sky at early-o-clock in the morning COMMERCIAL FREE and in perfect quality.
Comment by Joyce — May 21, 2007 @ 4:03 am
I just remembered, Sky said that they would eventually show Lost on their freeview channel Sky Three so non sky customers could also watch Lost, but this has yet to happen. I’d expect it to be behind of course, but no more than a month. They’ll probably start showing it there in September, or never. Like I said, greedy bastards.
Comment by Joyce — May 21, 2007 @ 4:13 am
a uk’er, watched lost on torrents since the beginning of season 2 and keep up to date with america, used to even watch it live until there were problems with tvu and abc.
Comment by sheepboy — May 21, 2007 @ 4:17 am
It won’t really affect the people who post here because they are most likely hardcore fans (like me) who download the episodes anyway, however it will affect a large part of the UK casual fanbase.
Sky is a terrible channel and company. They charge a fortune for what is generally bought programmes that are proven to be successful. There is little or no investment into original or new programming from them unlike channel four which is highly innovative and more importantly free to air if you have a license.
Sky TV consists of about 3 hours of the simpsons (bought after success on BBC2), 24 (bought after season 2 again from BBC2) and now Lost (from Channel 4). Also don’t miss the Star Trek Repeats and sports news.
It means that loads of UK casual viewers will just not watch lost and don’t expect anything lkike the interactivity Channel 4 Gave it. But hey, they paid more.
And for you americans, it’s run by the same guys who run Fox, so that should give you a clue as to it’s agenda.
Comment by Tom — May 21, 2007 @ 4:41 am
It won’t really affect the people who post here because they are most likely hardcore fans (like me) who download the episodes anyway, however it will affect a large part of the UK casual fanbase.
Sky is a terrible channel and company. They charge a fortune for what is generally bought programmes that are proven to be successful. There is little or no investment into original or new programming from them unlike channel four which is highly innovative and more importantly free to air if you have a license.
Sky TV consists of about 3 hours of the simpsons (bought after success on BBC2), 24 (bought after season 2 again from BBC2) and now Lost (from Channel 4). Also don’t miss the Star Trek Repeats and sports news.
It means that loads of UK casual viewers will just not watch lost and don’t expect anything lkike the interactivity Channel 4 Gave it. But hey, they paid more.
And for you americans, it’s run by the same guys who run Fox, so that should give you a clue as to it’s agenda.
Comment by Tom — May 21, 2007 @ 4:41 am
A Mac Mini under the telly with an RSS feed set up to handle torrents works just like a Tivo or Sky+ box.
I’m not crazy about having to acquire the show semi-illegally. The networks need to move into the 21st century and allow viewing online at the same time as the episode is initially aired. I’d happily pay a couple of pounds an episode or sit through 5 mins of ads before the stream of the show starts.
I don’t want to steal the network’s product, but until they make it available to me the way I want to watch it that’s exactly what I’ll continue to do.
Comment by Moore — May 21, 2007 @ 4:46 am
I hate sky for stealing lost, and when I can afford satelite/cable etc, I will be getting virgin media. Lost used to be a great event where me and my friends would gather at someones house (usually different each week) to watch our favourite show together. Now that is ruined and I am forced to download episodes. It does mean I see them sooner, but I would rather have those fun evenings with my friends back.
Comment by Dave — May 21, 2007 @ 5:26 am
yeah i thought it was really bad that sky bought those rights and i was one of the many viewers who enjoyed watching it on t4 it suited the channel really well and they tied in some good stuff of their own with the lost experience,to be honest i absolutely hate sky for outbidding t4 and i was amazed they could even do that for each series i thought they bought the rights to the show and that is that, it was also cheap by sky to pull in more subs as a result i will never sub to sky again, not because they took it away from t4 but because i know many people cannot afford to pay for sky tv however i suspect most like myself just get it from other means
Comment by nickk — May 21, 2007 @ 6:04 am
yeah i really hate sky however i have to say to tom that they did air the simpson way before the bbc just bought the rights to show episodes that had already been aired on sky and not new ones even so i hate sky and murdoch for doing htese bias moves, just need to get rid of them and the monarchy and things will be a little more even
Comment by nickk — May 21, 2007 @ 6:12 am
Season 3 was never aired on ch4, it lost it to Sky big style. I personally have had Sky for around 5 years anyway so it didnt affect me when it moved. However my friend who only had a freeview box and could only get lost and its repeat on e4 lost out on this season. So I agreed to tape it for her, which I am still doing. Ch4 lost out stupidly, because this is a great show still, with loads more potential. But although it never really affected me with the move I feel for all those that lost out.
Comment by Gemma Holland — May 21, 2007 @ 6:16 am
sorry don’t know why i put t4 i meant ch4, i watch to much t4
Comment by nickk — May 21, 2007 @ 6:29 am
Im in Northern Ireland and refuse to pay for murdochs crap…Usually have it downloaded from CTV and me an a mate have a few beers and watch it on DVD Thurs nite…Then we have the luxury of watching it again on Mon nites as its aired on RTE 2 for free….most people here watch it that way as the amount of adverts on sky is tedious
Comment by strontium90 — May 21, 2007 @ 7:00 am
Add me to the “Virgin Media customer who now downloads Lost each week” bandwagon. I also miss being able to watch it with other people, but switching to Sky simply isn’t an option - and why the hell should I encourage their behaviour anyway?
This is coming from someone who’s never even illegally downloaded an MP3, by the way, so this is quite out-of-character for me. But hey, I need my Lost fix!
Comment by Louise — May 21, 2007 @ 7:24 am
no offence, but i knew this info, was told to us in the UK last november (When it aired first time on SKY) - and i’ve known they have the next 2 seasons on SKYno offence, but i knew this info, was told to us in the UK last november (When it aired first time on SKY) - and i’ve known they have the next 2 seasons on SKY< which is better for us over here in the UK, because we get it 4 days after the US, so its in time and good lol, and it’s better for the DVD set’s too, etc..but still 8 month wait’s now with NO lost in the US or the UK for the next remaining grueling times of 2007..lol
Comment by Dan — May 21, 2007 @ 8:42 am
agreeing with the above poster….this has been general info for the whole season…we’re pretty much bang up to date with america (i.e. the next episode is the season 3 finale) so im not realy sure why this is being posted…but anyways, i still download on the Thursday…however, despite all this anti-sky ranting…channel 4 where loosing lost viewers by the bucket-load by refusing to up the money and pay for closer-to-USA air dates….season 2 began on C4 while most of us-torrent using people where gearing up for the finale…and therefore lost lost of viewers (in a strange way BECAUSE the show was so popular)..the channels directors then presumably thought it wasnt worth paying more money for a show loosing viewers…and werent that agressive with their pitch…when if they’d done their homework would know it would pull in alot more than sky get now (if you check the weekly TV ratings Lost is ALWAYS the biggest watched satellite programme after the football) .Sky, despite all its faults has done the only thing that will keep lost alive…
however i agree with Tom that the big loss is the advertising…Sky gives Lost (or any of its big programmes) no decent build ups….channel 4 used to screen promos in Cinemas …Sky has big billboards saying “We have Lost - its the only place to watch it!! — na na” but absolutely no episode promos or build ups to big events….i generaly have to watch em on you tube…
Comment by Carlos — May 21, 2007 @ 9:32 am
Are we in some kind of Desmond-style timeloop?
“Sky has just bought the rights to air seasons three and four, beating out Channel 4 in the bidding … The article made it seem as though season three hasn’t even begun to air yet, but I know that there are UK readers who are up to date.”
Maybe because the article is dated 20th October 2006???
We’re up to date in the UK because Sky has been showing Season 3 already since November 2006 and the UK air date is 4 days after the US one; i.e. “Greatest Hits” was shown last night and the finale is this coming Sunday. We’ve known for months about Season 3 and Season 4 being Sky only. This isn’t new and predates the Virgin Media / Sky war.
This is the weirdest post to the Tail Section in ages. Have you had your head in the sand or something?
Comment by Ian — May 21, 2007 @ 9:36 am
I’m confused…Lost is shown on network television in the States, which means, it’s FREE. I can tape it, DVR it, burn it to a DVD and shit on it in the streets if I want…So how is downloading it from a website considered illegal? Unless you plan on selling it there in the UK….
Long live piracy, something you Brits should know about….HAHAHAHAHA
Comment by Big Ern — May 21, 2007 @ 10:06 am
why Have you reported about that now???
Season three finale is on sunday in the uk sky brought the rights for lost months and months ago and has shows each episode days after abc do
Comment by Chris Fishlock — May 21, 2007 @ 10:50 am
It concerns me not whether Sky or Channel 4 have the deal. I won’t have a tv in the home because it can be so terribly addictive and most of what is on is, in my opinion, of such poor quality.
When, however, friends whose judgements I trust told me about LOST, I hired the seasons 1 and 2 dvd’s and was hooked. Now I arise early on a Thursday morning in order to bathe in the torrents of torrents that can deliver this epic to my desk while I’m showering.
Comment by Marcus — May 21, 2007 @ 10:51 am
Kill murdoch,
Comment by dan — May 21, 2007 @ 12:05 pm
“Lost airs in the UK four days after it is initially broadcast in the US. And yes, it may be good to live in the USA, but then the severe downside of it is that you are probably American. Poor souls.”
I agree with you, Matthew, and unfortunately for me, I was born American >_”
I agree with you, Matthew, and unfortunately for me, I was born American >_< D’oh.
Comment by KrissyLove — May 21, 2007 @ 12:32 pm
I live in Ireland, lately the Irish terrestrial and broadcast station did a deal with ABC and are showing the episodes a week after the US and you can receive it without paying anything (except stupid TV fee). Before that we were a year behind the US seasons.However we also get Sky over here so could watch it on that.
Heres the basic deal for the UK tho (as I also get UK tv)- Channel 4 wasn’t much use for the hard core fan because of the delay airing episodes, so the fans used torrents. Sky one isn’t much use either because they are a premium service, so fans use torrents. The media industry wonders why piracy rates are so high, and there is the answer.
If they got smart, and broadcast Lost on a public channel with a minimum delay, they would make it back in advertising revenue.Everyone wins. But as usual their minds are not sophisticated enough to grasp it. Thats why they aren’t on The List…
DeQ
Comment by DeQ — May 21, 2007 @ 1:02 pm
why is this just being reported?
this is most confusing,i was sure it was announced way back last year that channel 4 had lost lost to sky,,and sky have already shown the entire 3rd series up to the penultimate episode.
is this an indication of the reliability of this site?
Comment by Delegate Zero — May 21, 2007 @ 9:26 pm
Monday, 20 Nov 2006
Ratings for the first episode of the new series of Lost fell by more than one million, after the cult US drama series moved from Channel 4 to Sky One.
The double bill, beginning at 10pm, drew 1.4m viewers, but audience figures fell to 1.2m after the first hour.
When Lost premiered on Channel 4 in 2005, it attracted six million viewers. The second series double bill debuted in May with 3.9m, dropping to 2.8m.
A spokesperson for Sky said they were “delighted” with the audience figures.
BARB figures show the last episode on Sky got 842 000 viewers.
so from a debut of 6 million,,,there are now 843 000 viewers.
Comment by Delegate Zero — May 21, 2007 @ 9:34 pm
I dont even have sky, but i for one am much happier that they have the rights, my neighbour just records it and gives it to me an hour later.
Although i do think there would be more viewers if Channel 4 had actually won the bidding
Comment by dafredster — May 22, 2007 @ 4:46 am
This is a very relevant post about a subject that is genuinely detrimental to the programmes viewership in the UK.
In response to those complaining as to this being reported as the UK is now only 4 days behind the US then yes well done. You count as the hardcore or those lucky/stupid enough to have bought sky. However you are not one of the 75% of UK viewers who no longer watch lost due to Sky greed and shortsightedness on behalf of the owners of Lost.
NOTE TO AMERICAN PRODUCERS OF GOOD DRAMA: Don’t sell to Sky, you’ll lose out on merchandising in the long run.
Comment by Tom — May 22, 2007 @ 5:35 am
It wasn’t a case of just selling to Sky tv, I heard they offered channel 4 first refusal, but they just dont have the finacial clout that sky has. Realising the viewing ratings had dropped during season 2, they just didnt think it was worth it (A hugely stupid move IMO)
But even if channel 4 had decided to take it, they probably would have kept thier distance in terms of episodes, i think when we had series 2 beggining in the UK, you guys were almost finished on that series.
Comment by dafredster — May 22, 2007 @ 6:13 am
The problem with Channel 4 was that there was a gap of months between Lost airing in the States and airing in the U.K. so I agree that true fans would find alternative means to watch it. Saying that, now that TV executives can see what a phenomenon the series has become I think Channel 4 would have shown it much sooner if they still had the rights.
Sky are broadcasting Lost just a few days later than the States but everyone has Channel 4, not everyone has Sky, nowhere near. In an ideal World Channel 4 would broadcast it close to the States airtime and everyone would be happy! Unfortunately we don’t live in an ideal World, we live in a World where money talks. Sad but true.
Comment by Paul UK — May 22, 2007 @ 8:14 am
this is why people download stuff illegally from the internet, buy goods from overseas, etc, etc. People don’t want to have to wait for Rupert Murdoch and Richard Branson to stop taking shots at each other to watch Lost. I watch it on Dailymotion, in passable HD quality, a few days after the US Wednesday airing, and my life is much enriched for it.
Comment by Tails — May 22, 2007 @ 9:56 am
this is why people download stuff illegally from the internet, buy goods from overseas, etc, etc. People don’t want to have to wait for Rupert Murdoch and Richard Branson to stop taking shots at each other to watch Lost. I watch it on Dailymotion, in passable HD quality, a few days after the US Wednesday airing, and my life is much enriched for it. You even get that sense of satisfaction after searching through sites to find a working video. Nice.
Comment by Tails — May 22, 2007 @ 9:57 am
i live in the uk but download anyway coz i am WAY too impatient to wait 4 days lol.
But yeah it sucks a few of my friends can’t watch the show but its all good i fill em in!
Comment by kate — May 22, 2007 @ 12:28 pm
Sky jumps on anything good on TV and takes it away from the majority of us here in the UK. They did it with channel 4 and then with Virgin Cable, bullish tactics! I’ll never purchase Sky for this reason, and will stick with Virgin cable. But the dark cloud which is Sky had a sliver lining, my Virgin BB connection. It has shown me a better way, and I now see Lost as soon as, or the day after its transmitted in the states. The internet is a wonderful thing!
So go f**k yourself Sky! Cos I ain’t buying!
Comment by Danni UK — May 22, 2007 @ 2:27 pm
And here’s a thought………
Cut out the middle men at Sky, and download what you need with no adverts!
Sky are irrelevant, if you have a BB connection that is.
I see Lost 4 days before the Sky junkies paying their
Comment by Danni UK — May 22, 2007 @ 2:55 pm
In answer to the question as to why downloads are a problem - because (and I know this is a dificult concept for some Yanks) there are such things as borders and countries other than the US, you know!
But seriously, your favourite show gets made because, TV101, it is paid for by the networks showing it (and in some instances by national license fees). The networks get their money to pay for the shows they broadcast by selling advertising space or by offering their service to customers at a subscription. In the case of Sky in the UK you pay a premium subscription AND have to suffer adverts.
Now why does this make downloads illegal and ethically questionable? Because the TV world uses national borders to divide up it’s business and sells licenses for its shows to each nation. This means that the only legal way to watch each show in each country is to go to the channel that has bought (sometimes at vast expense) the license. Often this license includes merchandising and although Sky don’t advertise as heavily as Ch4 they may still do massive business on DVDs for the show for the very reason that most people don’t get to see it for free.
Now I’m sure US networks would love to offer their shows across the globe for a download fee but they just don’t have the legal right to do so. I’m sure one day soon a big network channel will buy up global rights to a show and offer it exclusively online. But it will need someone with very deep pockets and a global promotions and marketing organisation to do it. And remember it’s chicken and egg - you want the show from the US quickly because a local channel has promoted it and made it the must watch show. Would you pay up front for something you had never seen before?
Meanwhile I think the local license holders just accept that 1) the hardcore fans who download are still a minority 2) these fans help promote the show for free and 3) these fans are also the ones who go out and buy the DVD, the books, the Tshirts etc as well so, as long as they have the merchandising license as well, they don’t lose out in the long run. Well that’s how I would feel if I was them!!
Does that cover it?
Comment by Jessica A — May 24, 2007 @ 7:49 am
The Sky v Virgin battle although childish doesnt bother me. Ive never watched Lost on tv as ive always used Torrents to see it. I dont like being either a season or 4 days behind the US to watch Lost.
Comment by Chris — May 25, 2007 @ 7:08 pm