setanta and sky multi-room

[lonestar]

i've just signed up for the setanta sports package, but when going through the registration process I was told that if I wanted to be able to watch setanta on my multi-room reciever I would have to pay an extra £6.50 for the privilege.

on asking why I was told that sky levy a charge on setanta for setting up a multi-room subscription, which setanta have to pass on to the customer.

has anyone here heard of this before, and is there anyway around it?

[Starburst]

SKY's multiroom is for their own packages only.
Setanta is not a SKY channel and only uses SKY's encryption and smartcards so if you want their channels on two boxes you have to pay twice.
Setanta is a standalone package and thus remains standalone for multiroom purposes.

Setanta can say it's because SKY want more admin money (probably based on subscriber numbers) but on the flipside if SKY is getting more money for a package which includes Setanta then Setanta would want a cut as well.

Most of the time both sides have issues in regards to money, it's the same thing that's going on between VM and SKY and both sides are only telling their own side of the story

[lonestar]

based on that argument, would the same be true for the more exotic channels that currently occupy the 900 channel numbers (<disclaimer>not that i would in any way be interested in these, in case the missus reads this </disclaimer>) or the other non-sky operated channels ?

[Starburst]

It should be.

A third party premium channel (Setants, Porn, Foreign etc) which wants to use Videoguard can either have SKY do all the subscription managment (like Film4 used to be) or do it themselves (like Setanta).

Exactly what services they have from SKY will determine how integrated their channels are within the SKY packages for instance Disney is a standalone premium but is also a bonus offering and as such is included in multiroom where as Setanta which is standalone but not part of bundled bonus deal isn't.

[lonestar]

whichever way you look at it, we as consumers lose out.

it should be that whichever channel lineup is on one box, should be mirrored on the other one.

< ... off to canvas local mp>

[Starburst]

Well not really.

Setanta is one company and SKY are another they just share a common method of reception which saves you money otherwise you would need two STB with seperate encryptions systems and two subscriptions.
It's like getting a phone service from BT and internet service from AOL, they both use the same phone line but a deal you get from one service wouldn't apply to the other.

Setanta want £6.50 for a cheap second subscription to their channels and SKY want £10 for a cheap second hand subscription for theirs.