@Craig
>> Sky already do the iplayer-esque Anytime service, which uses the box's hard drive
>> to save overnight streams of programmes for a psuedo on-demand service.
Anytime is already reaching almost reaching it's limit, with only the current crap that they already put on their.
>> It's entirely feasible to get something similar for the BBC on the go, but
>> probably not for *every* programme.
As things stand there isn't even enough capacity to have the system that VM have had ages (where you get a few programmes a day for each of the channels.
>> There's always the ethernet port on the back of Sky boxes that could be used...
>> Despite how much Sky don't like the bbc/iplayer, getting it on their platform
>> would still be good for them.
There is an ethernet port, but if that is feasible with the current boxes, the question remains - why haven't they used it yet? After Sky's Anytime on PC service is much more comprehensive than regular Anytime (though still not as good as VM). The fact that Sky have chose to ignore the port implies that they are a long way off supplying this to mass market.
Sky will won't be able to keep up with VM if they stick to a satellite only service. What they need to do (and seem to be doing) is get as many people on their cheap unbundled broadband, until they have a big enough network, then implement multicast-IP broadcasting. Technologically VM has a massive advantage, if they invested more they could really wipe the floor with Sky.