Sky Box Office is a pay per view or PPV service first launched in 1996 on Sky Analogue. The initial focus was very much on popular sporting events like boxing - the famous WBC World Heavyweight Championship where Frank Bruno fought Mike Tyson was first aired on Sky Box Office – but these days it’s mainly known as a movie channel.
How does it work? In the early analogue days you would order an event by phone, either on the day for £14.95 or in advance for a reduced £9.99, however with Sky Digital you can buy the content directly through the Sky remote control using a PIN.
Sky Box Office is a very good option for movie viewing, especially the convenience factor combined with high definition picture quality and sound, but it has lost out a little in popularity to online DVD rental companies since their services have become more flexible over the last couple of years. Currently Sky Box Office gets movies around 2-3 month after they are released on DVD, and until that gap gets smaller the rental companies will have the edge.
