Sky TV to disappear from bars in Tenerife?
In a move which has been largely criticised by bar owners and British residents, Canal Plus, along with the local police have been visiting many of the bars in Los Cristianos and removing the Sky Cards from the decoders citing a copyright infringement.
The problem seems to centre around broadcast rights being country specific with Sky only having permission to broadcast their programming in the UK. A violation of this would be perceived as copyright infringement. Canal Plus has a specific interest in this as they do have permission to broadcast in Spain so therefore see Sky as unfair competition.
Another report claimed that the companies which set up and supply Sky TV to private home in Tenerife had also been targeted and had their stock of Sky cards confiscated – this has not been confirmed.
Free to air channels such as BBC and ITV can still be received by larger satellite dishes due to “Signal leakage” but the subscription channels requiring a card appear to be under threat. Whilst Sky TV´s terms and conditions expressly prohibit the use of the Sky cards abroad, it is widely believed that they “turn a blind eye” to the usage.
The immediate effect will be felt hardest by those bars relying on a full house of drinkers wanting to watch Premiership and International football. many rely on this trade to boost their earnings to make up for quieter times. Given the fragility of the bar trade in Tenerife right now this could be disastrous for many bar owners.
There is little to stop Canal Plus targeting residential complexes next as they fall foul of the same broadcast restrictions. Perhaps if Canal Plus offered the same choice of English programming as Sky, their decision to take action would be more understandable to the thousands of residents that could be affected.
What are your thoughts? Are Canal Plus correct to be complaining about Sky or should they be minding their own business? What do you think bar owners can do now?
