Sky Box Office

Sky Box Office is the name of Sky's pay-per-view (PPV) system operated in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. There were 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, with only Sky Sports Box Office remaining available.[1]

This article is about the UK PPV system. For the New Zealand PPV system, see Sky Box Office (New Zealand).
Sky Box Office
Launched16 March 1996 (16 March 1996)
Closed4 January 2017 (2017-01-04) (Cinema[1])
Owned bySky Group (Comcast)
Picture format2160p UHDTV
(downscaled to 1080i and 16:9 576i for the HDTV and SDTV feeds, respectively)
Audience share0.01% (June 2019 (2019-06), BARB)
CountryUnited Kingdom
Broadcast areaUnited Kingdom
Ireland
Formerly calledSky Box Office (1996–2011)
Sister channel(s)Challenge
Crime & Investigation
Lifetime
Pick
Sky One
Sky Two
Sky Arts
Sky Atlantic
Sky Cinema
Sky Comedy
Sky Crime
Sky Documentaries
Sky History
Sky History 2
Sky Nature
Sky News
Sky Sports
Sky Sports F1
Sky Sports News
Sky Sports Racing
Sky Witness
Websitewww.sky.com/boxoffice
Availability
Satellite
SkyChannel 491 (Sports)
Channel 492 (Sports HD)
IPTV
TalkTalk TVChannel 419 (Sports)
BT TVChannel 496 (Sports HD)

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. On some occasions, Box Office events would be broadcast on other Sky channels, such as Sky Sports 3.

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.[2] Later in the year, Sky Sports Box Office branding was added for sports and Sky 3D Box Office for 3D.

On 4 January 2017, all Sky Cinema Box Office channels ceased broadcasting, with only Sky Sports Box Office remaining available.[1][3]

Content

Although at launch it showed mainly sporting events, since the launch of Sky Digital, movies along with concerts became the predominant content. However, Sky Cinema Box Office's limited movie choices and relatively high prices increasingly left it suffering in comparison to online DVD rental systems. As of 2011, films were first shown on Sky Box Office on the same day as DVD release, prior to that there was a 2 to 3-month window between DVD release and Sky Box Office release. Some films still retained the 2 to 3-month window between DVD and Sky Box Office releases. Since 2017 only sports content is available for purchase.

Content 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. They can also be ordered online via Sky Box Office.

Boxing pay-per-view fights
Further information: Pay-per-view § United Kingdom

Select boxing pay-per-view figures (mainly from Sky Box Office) between 1966 and 2018. Many of these figures are based on BARB weekly viewing data figures.[4]

   — Fights which held the UK PPV sales record
DateFightNetworkBuysSource(s)Announcers
21 May 1966 Muhammad Ali vs. Henry Cooper II Pay TV 40,000 [5]
16 March 1996 Frank Bruno vs. Mike Tyson II Sky Box Office 660,000 [6] Ian Darke and Glenn McCrory
9 November 1996 Naseem Hamed vs. Remigio Molina Sky Box Office 420,000 [6][7] Ian Darke and Glenn McCrory
8 February 1997 Naseem Hamed vs. Tom Johnson Sky Box Office 720,000 [6][8] Ian Darke and Glenn McCrory
3 May 1997 Naseem Hamed vs. Billy Hardy Sky Box Office 348,000 [6][9] Ian Darke and Glenn McCrory
28 June 1997 Evander Holyfield vs. Mike Tyson II Sky Box Office 550,000 [10] Ian Darke and Glenn McCrory
13 March 1999 Evander Holyfield vs. Lennox Lewis Sky Box Office 400,000 [11] Ian Darke and Glenn McCrory
29 January 2000 Mike Tyson vs. Julius Francis Sky Box Office 500,000 [10] Ian Darke and Glenn McCrory
19 August 2000 Naseem Hamed vs. Augie Sanchez Sky Box Office 300,000 [12] Adam Smith and Jim Watt
8 June 2002 Lennox Lewis vs. Mike Tyson Sky Box Office 750,000 [13] Ian Darke and Glenn McCrory
8 December 2007 Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Ricky Hatton Sky Box Office 1,150,000 [14] Ian Darke and Jim Watt
2 May 2009 Manny Pacquiao vs. Ricky Hatton Sky Box Office 900,000 [15] Ian Darke and Jim Watt
18 July 2009 Amir Khan vs. Andreas Kotelnik Sky Box Office 100,000 [16] Adam Smith and Jim Watt
7 November 2009 Nikolai Valuev vs. David Haye Sky Box Office 469,000 [17] Ian Darke and Jim Watt
3 April 2010 David Haye vs. John Ruiz Sky Box Office 253,000 [18][19] Ian Darke and Jim Watt
24 April 2010 Carl Froch vs. Mikkel Kessler Primetime 50,000 [20] John Rawling and Duke McKenzie
18 September 2010 Kell Brook vs. Michael Jennings Sky Box Office 15,000 [21] Ian Darke and Jim Watt
13 November 2010 David Haye vs. Audley Harrison Sky Box Office 304,000 [17][19] Ian Darke and Jim Watt
11 December 2010 Amir Khan vs. Marcos Maidana Sky Box Office 164,000 [22] Adam Smith and Jim Watt
16 April 2011 Amir Khan vs. Paul McCloskey Primetime 200,000 [23][20] Benny Ricardo and Duke McKenzie
21 May 2011 George Groves vs. James DeGale Sky Box Office 43,000 [24] Ian Darke and Jim Watt
2 July 2011 Wladimir Klitschko vs. David Haye Sky Box Office 1,170,000 [25][26] John Rawling and Jim Watt
25 May 2013 Carl Froch vs. Mikkel Kessler II Sky Box Office 32,000 [27] Ian Darke and Jim Watt
23 November 2013 Carl Froch vs. George Groves Sky Box Office 47,000 [28] Nick Halling and Jim Watt
31 May 2014 Carl Froch vs. George Groves II Sky Box Office 355,000 [29] Nick Halling, Jim Watt and Paulie Malignaggi
30 May 2015 Kell Brook vs. Frankie Gavin Sky Box Office 139,000 [30] Nick Halling, Jim Watt and Paulie Malignaggi
2 May 2015 Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao Sky Box Office 942,000 [31][32] Nick Halling and Jim Watt
28 November 2015 Wladimir Klitschko vs. Tyson Fury Sky Box Office 545,000 [33][19] Adam Smith, Glenn McCrory and Carl Froch
12 December 2015 Anthony Joshua vs. Dillian Whyte Sky Box Office 420,000 [34][35] Nick Halling, Jim Watt and Paulie Malignaggi
27 February 2016 Carl Frampton vs. Scott Quigg Sky Box Office 220,000 [36][37] Nick Halling and Jim Watt
9 April 2016 Anthony Joshua vs. Charles Martin Sky Box Office 500,000 [34][38] Nick Halling and Glenn McCrory
25 June 2016 Anthony Joshua vs. Dominic Breazeale Sky Box Office 512,000 [39] Nick Halling and Jim Watt
10 September 2016 Gennady Golovkin vs. Kell Brook Sky Box Office 400,000 [40][41] Adam Smith, Carl Froch and Paulie Malignaggi
10 December 2016 Anthony Joshua vs. Éric Molina Sky Box Office 450,000 [34][42] Adam Smith, Carl Froch and David Haye
4 February 2017 Chris Eubank Jr. vs. Renold Quinlan ITV Box Office 86,000 [43] Ronald McIntosh and Richie Woodhall
4 March 2017 David Haye vs. Tony Bellew Sky Box Office 750,000 [44][19] Adam Smith, Carl Froch and Paulie Malignaggi
29 April 2017 Anthony Joshua vs. Wladimir Klitschko Sky Box Office 1,500,000 [45][19] Adam Smith, Carl Froch and Deontay Wilder
27 May 2017 Kell Brook vs. Errol Spence Jr. Sky Box Office 275,000 [46] Adam Smith and Carl Froch
26 August 2017 Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Conor McGregor Sky Box Office 1,007,000 [47] Adam Smith, Carl Froch and Dan Hardy
28 October 2017 Anthony Joshua vs. Carlos Takam Sky Box Office 887,000 [48] Adam Smith, Carl Froch and Tony Bellew
31 March 2018 Anthony Joshua vs. Joseph Parker Sky Box Office 1,457,000 [49][19] Adam Smith and Carl Froch
5 May 2018 David Haye vs. Tony Bellew II Sky Box Office 775,000 [50][19] Adam Smith, Carl Froch and Paulie Malignaggi
28 July 2018 Dillian Whyte vs. Joseph Parker Sky Box Office 474,000 [51][52] Adam Smith, Carl Froch and Tony Bellew
22 September 2018 Anthony Joshua vs. Alexander Povetkin Sky Box Office 1,108,000 [53][19] Adam Smith, Carl Froch, Paulie Malignaggi and David Haye
10 November 2018 Oleksandr Usyk vs. Tony Bellew Sky Box Office 603,000 [54] Adam Smith, Carl Froch, Paulie Malignaggi and David Haye
1 December 2018 Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury BT Sport Box Office 450,000 [55] John Rawling and Barry Jones
22 December 2018 Dillian Whyte vs. Dereck Chisora II Sky Box Office 438,000 [56] Adam Smith, Carl Froch and Anthony Joshua
1 June 2019 Anthony Joshua vs. Andy Ruiz Jr. Sky Box Office 403,000 [57] Adam Smith, Paulie Malignaggi and Matthew Macklin
20 July 2019 Dillian Whyte vs. Oscar Rivas Sky Box Office 286,000 [58] Adam Smith, Paulie Malignaggi and Matthew Macklin
31 August 2019 Vasyl Lomachenko vs. Luke Campbell Sky Box Office 205,000 [59] Adam Smith, Paulie Malignaggi and Matthew Macklin
26 October 2019 Josh Taylor vs. Regis Prograis Sky Box Office 176,000 [60] Adam Smith, Carl Froch & Matthew Macklin
9 November 2019 KSI vs. Logan Paul II Sky Box Office 216,000 [61] Adam Smith, Joe Weller, Ethan Payne and AnEsonGib
7 December 2019 Andy Ruiz Jr. vs. Anthony Joshua II Sky Box Office 1,284,000 [62] Adam Smith, Matthew Macklin and Tony Bellew

See also

References
  1. "Closure of Cinema Box Office". skyepginfo.co.uk. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  2. "Sky Movies Box Office". British Sky Broadcasting. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
  3. "Sky to close Sky Cinema Box Office service". www.satandpcguy.com. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
  4. "Weekly viewing summary". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  5. Haynes, Richard (2016). BBC Sport in Black and White. Springer. p. 213. ISBN 9781137455017.
  6. Forrester, Chris (2013). Business of Digital Television. Taylor & Francis. pp. 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
  7. 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.
  8. "McGuigan's patience of Job jab at the Prince". The Irish Times. 10 February 1997.
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  11. "Satellites keep shining stars from our gaze". Irish Independent. 5 May 2018.
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  13. Lalani, Zahid (29 June 2011). "Haye looks for heavyweight payday". BBC News. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
  14. Welch, Ben (18 October 2017). "Joshua vs Klitschko set for record pay-per-view sales". Daily Mirror.
  15. "Pacquiao vs Mosley Could Be Highest-Selling Pacquiao PPV Ever". Bad Left Hook. Vox Media. SB Nation. 12 May 2011.
  16. "MORE THAN 100,000 WATCHED KHAN". Boxing News. Archived from the original on 4 August 2009. Retrieved 4 August 2009.
  17. Lalani, Zahid (29 June 2011). "Haye looks for heavyweight payday". BBC News.
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