Sky's raising its TV prices to balance Premier League costs
Sky just spent a whopping £4.2 billion on Premier League broadcasting rights, so unsurprisingly, it's decided to make up some of the cost by increasing the prices of its various TV packages. The cheapest "Original" bundle will stay the same, but otherwise all of its satellite TV packages are set to receive a small price bump in June. The "Variety" bundle will increase by £2 to £30 per month, while the "Family" bundle is climbing by £3 to £36 per month. Football fanatics, meanwhile, will notice a £1 increase for Sky Sports, making it £25.50 per month for existing Sky TV customers, while the Sky Movies package is jumping by 50 pence to £17 per month. Finally, if you pay for Sky Sports and Sky Movies together, you'll see an increase of £1.50, making it £34.50 per month.
The changes will come into effect from June 1st, and Sky says it'll be notifying affected customers with a letter next month. In addition to Sky Sports, the broadcaster is attributing the new price increases to its latest slate of big-budget drama shows, which include Fortitude, Critical and Penny Dreadful. Of course, Sky is also spending big to keep its exclusive deal with HBO, which makes it the British home of shows such as Game of Thrones and Boardwalk Empire. Nevertheless, the new prices are sure to disgruntle at least some of Sky's TV subscribers; cord-cutting is a growing trend in the UK, but at least the broadcaster has NOW TV to scoop up viewers that want a cheaper monthly bill.
[Image Credit: AP Photo/Tim Ireland]
