Logo of the facebook group.
For those of you who have not read my previous post on this, here is an article of mine which was published in Italy Magazine yesterday:
On Monday 1st March thousands of British ex-pats living in Italy tried to tune in to Sky Italia’s channel 138 to find, instead of their favourite programme on the BBC Entertainment [formerly BBC Prime] channel, a notice from Sky informing them that the channel was no longer available.
The international news channel BBC World was still broadcasting on Sky Italia, but of BBC Entertainment, which screens soap operas, drama series, British comedy and documentaries, there was not a trace. The British ex-pat community was in despair.Would they never know who killed Archie, a character in the London-based series “Eastenders”? Who would get the ward sister’s job in the long-running hospital drama, “Casualty”? And gone from their lives was their weekly hour of nostalgia as they settled down with a cup of tea to watch “Coast”, a journey around the entire British coastline.
But soon despair turned to anger and, being British, the ex-pats’ anger turned into action: now they are bombarding Sky Italia with phone calls, emails and faxes and a 550-strong group, “Bring back BBC Entertainment on Sky Italia” has been formed on facebook. Group founder Carlo Castiglia writes:
Sky Italia are sending out standard emails to members of the group and others who contact them. These say that Sky have not renewed their contract with BBC Entertainment and point out the other channels offered by Sky. This does not appease the British ex-pats, who say that they will cancel their Sky subscriptions en masse. Carlo Castiglia has been contacted by the BBC, who, in a courteous response to his email, say that they are aware of the facebook group and appreciate their support of BBC Entertainment. They state that, when the contract came up for renewal, they were unable to reach a mutually acceptable agreement with Sky.
You may wonder why British ex-pats who have lived in Italy for many years still wish to watch BBC Entertainment. These are people who love Italy and have embraced its culture. But when it comes to television, Italian channels with their endless quizzes, reality shows and dreadful soap operas have little to offer them. BBC Entertainment was, for many, a link with “home” and, whatever criticisms one may level at the BBC, one has to admit that, compared to many other broadcasters, the quality of its drama and documentary output is high.
The facebook group fights on and a side-benefit of its existence is that friendships are being formed among its members, who have this message for Sky Italia:
“We shall never surrender”.
The international news channel BBC World was still broadcasting on Sky Italia, but of BBC Entertainment, which screens soap operas, drama series, British comedy and documentaries, there was not a trace. The British ex-pat community was in despair.Would they never know who killed Archie, a character in the London-based series “Eastenders”? Who would get the ward sister’s job in the long-running hospital drama, “Casualty”? And gone from their lives was their weekly hour of nostalgia as they settled down with a cup of tea to watch “Coast”, a journey around the entire British coastline.
But soon despair turned to anger and, being British, the ex-pats’ anger turned into action: now they are bombarding Sky Italia with phone calls, emails and faxes and a 550-strong group, “Bring back BBC Entertainment on Sky Italia” has been formed on facebook. Group founder Carlo Castiglia writes:
“Like most of the British ex-pats when we subscribed to Sky Italia, we did it because BBC Entertainment was part of the Sky channels. As most of you have noticed from the 1st March BBC Entertainment is no longer part of the Sky platform! Without informing any of us they just took the channel off the platform. It’s disgraceful the way Sky are treating us.”
Sky Italia are sending out standard emails to members of the group and others who contact them. These say that Sky have not renewed their contract with BBC Entertainment and point out the other channels offered by Sky. This does not appease the British ex-pats, who say that they will cancel their Sky subscriptions en masse. Carlo Castiglia has been contacted by the BBC, who, in a courteous response to his email, say that they are aware of the facebook group and appreciate their support of BBC Entertainment. They state that, when the contract came up for renewal, they were unable to reach a mutually acceptable agreement with Sky.
You may wonder why British ex-pats who have lived in Italy for many years still wish to watch BBC Entertainment. These are people who love Italy and have embraced its culture. But when it comes to television, Italian channels with their endless quizzes, reality shows and dreadful soap operas have little to offer them. BBC Entertainment was, for many, a link with “home” and, whatever criticisms one may level at the BBC, one has to admit that, compared to many other broadcasters, the quality of its drama and documentary output is high.
The facebook group fights on and a side-benefit of its existence is that friendships are being formed among its members, who have this message for Sky Italia:
“We shall never surrender”.
[End of article.]
This is the standard reply I received from Sky Italia to my own enquiry as to why the channel had been removed:
Gentile Cliente,
abbiamo ricevuto la sua e-mail e siamo sinceramente dispiaciuti per il suo disappunto. In merito alla sua richiesta, le comunichiamo che l’accordo tra SKY e BBC Entertainment per i diritti di trasmissione del canale non è stato rinnovato.
Il nostro impegno per offrirle emozioni continua con nuovi programmi condotti dai personaggi più amati dal pubblico, i film più attesi in anteprima assoluta,le ultime stagioni delle sue serie tv preferite, le partite del grande calcio italiano e internazionale e gli straordinari eventi sportivi in diretta, come le Olimpiadi Invernali Vancouver 2010 e i Mondiali di Calcio FIFA Sud Africa 2010.
Certi che continuerà a seguirci con lo stesso interesse, le porgiamo
Un cordiale saluto,
abbiamo ricevuto la sua e-mail e siamo sinceramente dispiaciuti per il suo disappunto. In merito alla sua richiesta, le comunichiamo che l’accordo tra SKY e BBC Entertainment per i diritti di trasmissione del canale non è stato rinnovato.
Il nostro impegno per offrirle emozioni continua con nuovi programmi condotti dai personaggi più amati dal pubblico, i film più attesi in anteprima assoluta,le ultime stagioni delle sue serie tv preferite, le partite del grande calcio italiano e internazionale e gli straordinari eventi sportivi in diretta, come le Olimpiadi Invernali Vancouver 2010 e i Mondiali di Calcio FIFA Sud Africa 2010.
Certi che continuerà a seguirci con lo stesso interesse, le porgiamo
Un cordiale saluto,
Servizio Clienti SKY
Dear Client,
We have received your email and we are sincerely sorry about your disappointment. With regard to your request, we inform you that the agreement between SKY and BBC Entertainment regarding transmission rights for the channel has not been renewed.
Our commitment to offering you exciting viewing continues with new programmes presented by much-loved television personalities, premières of the most eagerly awaited films, the latest episodes of your favourite TV series, plus important live Italian and international football matches and extraordinary sporting events such as the Vancouver Winter Olympics 2010 and the FIFA World Cup in South Africa, 2010.
We are sure that you will continue to follow us with the same interest.
Yours faithfully,
SKY Customer Services
Needless to say, I wasn't impressed by this and I wrote back:
[My translation]
Needless to say, I wasn't impressed by this and I wrote back:
Vi ringrazio della Vostra risposta.
Ho letto che lo Sky ha perso 65,000 abbonamenti nel 2009. Nel 2010 ne perderete ancora di piu'!
Tuttavia, il problema e' che non voglio "nuovi programmi condotti dai personaggi piu' amati dal pubblico, i film piu' attesi in anteprima assoluta,le ultime stagioni delle sue serie tv preferite, le partite del grande calcio italiano e internazionale e gli straordinari eventi sportivi in diretta, come le Olimpiadi Invernali Vancouver 2010 e i Mondiali di Calcio FIFA Sud Africa 2010". Non amo la maggior parte dei personaggi piu' amati dal pubblico, non ho il tempo di guardare i film, le ultime stagioni delle mie serie preferite sono trasmesse sul BBC Entertainment e odio tutto lo sport. Per farla breve, voglio solo il canale BBC Entertainment!
Ho letto che lo Sky ha perso 65,000 abbonamenti nel 2009. Nel 2010 ne perderete ancora di piu'!
Distinti saluti
Thank you for your reply.
However, the problem is that I do not want "new programmes presented by much-loved television personalities, premières of the most eagerly awaited films, the latest episodes of your favourite TV series, plus important live Italian and international football matches and extraordinary sporting events such as the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics and the 2010 World Cup in South Africa." I do not love the majority of much-loved television personalities, I don't have time to watch films, the latest episodes of my favourite TV series are broadcast on BBC Entertainment and I hate all sport. In brief, I only want BBC Entertainment!
I have read that Sky lost 65,000 subscribers in 2009. You will lose even more in 2010.
Yours faithfully,
[My translation]
On Monday I received an email from Sky Italia saying they were going to contact me by phone and I am hourly expecting the call....
To end this update, here's a little ditty I wrote on Saturday:
There once was a group of ex-pats
let down by some corporate pratts.
They bombarded Sky
with "Why, why, oh why
have you taken the Beeb off our sats?"
Said Sky, "We've got films and football",
The Brits said, "That won't do at all,
By Archie we're haunted
'Eastenders' we wanted,
We really cannot believe your gall."
"Where's Holby? Where's Del-boy? Where's 'Coast'?
Just wait till you open your post!
We're getting quite ranty
'cos we want our Auntie*
and all you can do, Sky, is boast!"
"We're each of us cancelling our sub
and everyone's joining our club.
We're holding a dem,
inviting HM
and then we are off down the pub."
"Sky, we are issuing writs
'cos you are a right bunch of shits.
We'll make such a din,
we'll never give in
Don't think you can tangle with Brits!"
* British people often refer to the BBC as "Auntie".
On Monday I received an email from Sky Italia saying they were going to contact me by phone and I am hourly expecting the call....
To end this update, here's a little ditty I wrote on Saturday:
There once was a group of ex-pats
let down by some corporate pratts.
They bombarded Sky
with "Why, why, oh why
have you taken the Beeb off our sats?"
Said Sky, "We've got films and football",
The Brits said, "That won't do at all,
By Archie we're haunted
'Eastenders' we wanted,
We really cannot believe your gall."
"Where's Holby? Where's Del-boy? Where's 'Coast'?
Just wait till you open your post!
We're getting quite ranty
'cos we want our Auntie*
and all you can do, Sky, is boast!"
"We're each of us cancelling our sub
and everyone's joining our club.
We're holding a dem,
inviting HM
and then we are off down the pub."
"Sky, we are issuing writs
'cos you are a right bunch of shits.
We'll make such a din,
we'll never give in
Don't think you can tangle with Brits!"
* British people often refer to the BBC as "Auntie".
13 comments:
Keep it up! Do an email campaign, go on television, write to newspapers, etc...
The pressure will get to them.
That is horrendous! Hey, I ain't no ex-Brit, but I couldn't survive without my weekly dose of BBC entertainment programs.
This is an excellent post and vibrant campaign. My you be successful!
Great poem WL!
Go Patti go!
Di.xx
Go for it, keep on - loved your letter to them, the rats, keep us posted how it goes
Never give up! Never surrender!
Hi Pat
I am following the facebook progress and how everyone is rallying around to get in re-instated.. You are all trying so hard, lets hope some good comes out of all this.
I intend to do just that, lakeviewer! Thanks, Nick. I didn't know you could get the Beeb over there. Thanks, WW and Trubes. I will, Sally. Thanks for the encouragement, Lady M.
Hi, Anne. Yes, the group are doing a great job.
You may wonder why British ex-pats who have lived in Italy for many years still wish to watch BBC Entertainment. These are people who love Italy and have embraced its culture. But when it comes to television, Italian channels with their endless quizzes, reality shows and dreadful soap operas have little to offer them.
One might also call British TV fare dire but I suppose it's all in the eyes and ears of the viewer. :)
Hi, James. I don't think it's quite as dire as some Ital channels, especially in the early evening. Hi, Nerys. Thanks for joining the group - we need you!
Fight the good fight Welshcakes, but don't be surprised if you don't get anywhere.
Of course it all about money and that will be the bottom line. If enough subscribers depart it might convince Sky to change their minds and cough up what the BBC wants. I hope so for Italian TV is truly abysmal for most of the time.
I really did chuckle when I read their reply, listing all the sporting events you could watch. Little did they know.
Hi, jmb. Well, we will give them a hard time and the bad publicity they deserve. Yes, I'm the wrong person to try to sell sports channels to!
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