ASA Adjudication on British Sky Broadcasting Ltd

Ad

a. A TV ad for Sky showed a Sky+ HD box against a black screen. A large heading above it stated "£199." The price counted down until it stated "Now only £49." Text in a circle to the right stated "Save £150." The circle rotated to state "Free install." Voice-over stated "We've reduced the price of our Sky HD box to only £49, saving £150, plus free installation." A telephone number beginning 08442 and a website address were shown underneath the Sky+ HD box. Small text at the bottom of the screen stated "Was £199. First Sky+ HD box £49 when you join Sky TV (from £16.50 pm) with the HD Pack (£9.75pm). Free standard installation when you join Sky TV. Sky Sports HD depends on Sky TV package." The picture then showed four screens containing identical film stills. Headings above the screens stated "Up to 4x more picture detail" and "Incredible vibrant colour." Voice-over stated "Make your favourite TV moments even more amazing with up to four times more picture detail and incredible, vibrant colour together with all the features of Sky+ to record, pause and rewind live TV. That's a Sky+ HD box now only £49 with free installation. Plus save on household bills with free broadband and free calls."

The ad ended with a large Sky logo with the same telephone number and website address as before underneath and voice-over which stated "High definition. Now it's for everyone."

b. A poster was headed "Sky+ HD box now only £49 Plus free standard installation*" and showed a picture of a Sky+ HD box. Further text stated "New low box price for new and existing customers ... HD Pack and Sky TV Subscriptions required. Your first Sky+ HD box only." The terms and conditions stated "*Free standard Sky+HD installation for new customers, and existing customers taking Multiroom (otherwise £30) ... Sky TV subscription: Packages from £16.50 - £46 per month. Sky+HD: Sky+HD box £49 not available if you already have a Sky+/Sky+HD box. Sky+HD box price £199 for customers not eligible for £49 box price (Sky TV and HD pack subscriptions required). Sky+ functionality requires a Sky+ subscription (free for Sky TV customers or £9.75 a month) and two satellite feeds. Free HD pack offer: We will credit £9.75 to your account within 60 days of set up if you complete your order for Sky+HD via sky.com or Sky Active ... Minimum Sky TV/Sky+/HD Pack/Multiroom subscriptions 12months."

Issue

1.  Seven viewers challenged whether the claims in ad (a) regarding the £49 price for the Sky+ HD box and "free installation" and "free standard installation when you join Sky TV" were misleading.  When they telephoned to enquire about the offer, they were told that it was available only when they also subscribed to Sky Multiroom.

2.  One complainant challenged whether the same £49 price for the Sky+ HD box and "free standard installation" claims linked to "Free standard Sky+HD installation for new customers" in ad (b) were misleading.  He believed customers needed to pay installation charges and take out a contract to a minimum value of £26 per month for 12 months to obtain the offer.

3.  Five complainants challenged the availability of the offer.  When they telephoned to enquire, they were told it was not available for either two or three months.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

BCAP TV Code

Response

1.  Sky said they were running two Sky+HD box and installation offers.  The first, for new customers, offered a Sky+HD box for £49 with free standard installation when they joined Sky TV (from £16.50 a month) with the HD Pack (£9.75 a month).  The second, for existing customers, offered a Sky+HD box for £49 when they stayed with Sky TV for another year and took the HD Pack (£9.75 a month).  In that case, standard installation was £30, or free if the customer also took out a Multiroom subscription (£9.75 a month).  They said the ad was promoting the first offer only, which did not require a customer to take out a Multiroom subscription to get free installation.  They said the text that stated "First Sky+ HD box £49 when you join Sky TV (from £16.50 pm) with the HD Pack (£9.75pm).  Free standard installation when you join Sky TV" was on screen for the majority of the ad and clearly stated that the offer was available when new customers joined Sky TV.

Clearcast said they had contacted Sky Sales anonymously on two separate occasions but had not been told that the claims were subject to any significant conditions.  (Sky explained that their sales agents would only inform callers of the requirement to take Sky Multiroom if they identified themselves as existing Sky TV customers because taking Sky Multiroom to get free standard installation was not a requirement for new Sky TV customers).

2.  Sky said ad (b) was promoting both offers.  They said the claim "Plus free standard installation" was linked with an asterisk to footnote text, this appeared in bold ahead of the rest of the footnote text, which stated "Free standard Sky+HD installation for new customers, and existing customers taking Multiroom (otherwise £30)."  They said body copy stated "HD Pack and Sky TV subscriptions required," and that the price of each of those subscriptions was set out in the footnote text.

3.  Sky said there had been no problems with availability as such and that they had divided the available Sky+HD box installation dates equally between new and existing customers but that, as a result of greater demand from their existing customers, they had taken steps to recruit additional engineers and had asked their existing customers to pre-register for Sky+HD.  That placed them in a queue for an available engineer in their area to carry out the installation of their box.  They said that, after pre-registration, they would contact customers periodically to let them know how long it would be before a customer could place their order for their Sky+HD box.  They said that, once there was an installer available in their area, they invited the customer to complete and pay for their order.  They said ad (b) was aimed at both new and existing customers and stated, underneath the contact details, "Existing customers pre-register at Sky.com/hd."  They said the footnote text explained the pre-registration process: "Pre-registration required for existing customers due to exceptional demand.  Once registered you will receive an indication of when you can complete your order."  They said it was not possible to state in the ad the length of time that pre-registration would take because it depended on a number of factors including the location of the customer; the availability of engineers in their area and the demand for Sky+HD boxes in that area.  They said customers would be aware if they needed to pre-register; that no payment was taken from them at pre-registration stage and that a pre-registered customer was not obliged to go on to complete their order if they changed their mind.  They said the need to pre-register was not mentioned in ad (a) because it was aimed at new Sky TV customers, who did not need to pre-register and who would be able to arrange installation of their Sky+HD box within seven days in most cases.

Assessment

1.  Upheld

The ASA noted Sky's explanation that a Sky+HD box was available to both new and existing customers for £49 when they took the HD pack for £9.75 per month and joined or stayed with Sky TV.  We noted that standard installation was free to customers who were not already Sky TV subscribers and to existing customers who also took out a Sky Multiroom subscription for £9.75 per month.  We noted that text at the bottom of the screen stated "First Sky+ HD box £49 when you join Sky TV ..." and "Free standard installation when you join Sky TV" but that there was nothing else in the ad to warn viewers that free installation was available to new customers only.  The voice-over, for instance, that stated "We've reduced the price of our Sky HD box to only £49, saving £150, plus free installation" was unconditional, and the circle that rotated to state "Free install" was not linked to the qualification given in the on-screen text.  We considered that both new and existing Sky customers were likely to be interested in the offer.  We concluded that, in the context of the rest of the ad, the on-screen text that stated "Free standard installation when you join Sky TV" was not in itself sufficient to warn viewers that the offer of free standard installation was available to new customers only and that the ad could therefore mislead.

On this point, ad (a) breached CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 5.1.1, 5.1.2 and 5.1.3 (Misleading advertising) and 5.2.3 (Qualifications).

2. Not upheld

We noted that ad (b) was directed at both new and existing Sky customers and that the Sky+HD box was available to both for £49 when they took the HD Pack and joined or stayed with Sky TV.  We noted that text in the main body of the ad stated "HD Pack and Sky TV subscriptions required;" that footnote text stated "Sky TV subscription: Packages from £16.50 - £46 per month ... Minimum Sky TV/Sky+/HD Pack/Multiroom subscriptions 12 months" and that the "Plus free standard installation" claim was linked by an asterisk to footnote text which stated "Free standard Sky+HD installation for new customers, and existing customers taking Multiroom (otherwise £30)."    Taking the combination of headline, body copy and footnote text into account, we noted that standard installation was free to new customers, but that they would need to join Sky TV from £16.50 per month for a minimum of 12 months.  They would also need to take out the HD Package for £9.75 per month, which would account for the £26 per month for 12 months cited by the complainant.  Because we considered that the qualifications that applied to new customers were flagged in the ad, we concluded it was unlikely to mislead.

On this point, we investigated ad (b) under CAP Code clauses 7.1 and 7.2 but did not find it in breach.

3. Not upheld

We noted that the wait for installation had arisen from high demand rather than from factors such as non-delivery of stock.  We noted Sky's explanation that they had divided the available installation dates equally between new and existing customers and that, because demand had been greater from their existing customers than from new customers, existing customers were therefore likely to wait longer for installation than new customers.  We could understand the frustration of having to wait for installation but noted that Sky had taken steps to keep customers informed of how the situation was progressing; that customers were not committed to going on to complete their order during the pre-registration period and that the ads themselves did not make any specific claims about how soon installation would take place.  We considered the relatively small number of complaints we had received in the context of the size of Sky's operation showed that, while some customers were disappointed with having to wait for installation, there was no evidence of any widespread problem with availability.  We concluded that the ads were not misleading on this point.

On this point, we investigated ad (a) under CAP (Broadcast) TV Advertising Standards Code rules 5.1.1, 5.1.2 and 5.1.3 (Misleading advertising), 5.2.3 (Qualifications) and 5.3.4 (Availability) but did not find it in breach.

We investigated ad (b) under CAP Code clauses 7.1 and 7.2 (Truthfulness) but did not find it in breach.

Action

Ad (a) must not be broadcast again in its current form.

No further action necessary in relation to ad (b).

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Broadcast)

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)