Do people really want to watch shows offline? We think they do
It's been interesting to see the recent debate between some streaming services about whether people really want the option of being able to download shows to their devices to watch offline.
In particular to hear providers say that people don't want or need a feature that their service doesn't offer, like Netflix did a few days ago. This runs contrary to our experience - we see that our customers love the flexibility and convenience of being able to download programmes to watch offline on their devices. So much so that in fact hundreds of thousands of our customers are using this feature on our platform Sky Go.
We first launched this functionality - part of Sky Go Extra - more than two years ago, and it's really popular. We see more than half a million downloads every week to devices, totalling around 25 million on average a year. That's people taking advantage of really clever technology which means that with a few moments of 'appmin' before leaving home, you can keep the kids entertained with Peppa Pig in the back seat of the car, or keep yourself entertained on a long train journey despite patchy WiFi.
As we all know, the reality is there are still plenty of times and places where you can't be sure of great WiFi coverage - or are worried about racking up big data bills. And with this week's latest Deloitte study saying that people in Britain are using smartphones more than ever before, it seems that our demand to watch the TV we love, anytime and anywhere we want to, is only likely to be headed in one direction.
