They’re not going to get rid of TV.
To be a competitive comms business they have to be able to offer the holy grail of triple play (broadband, telephony, digital TV).
The sole reason BT started up a Sports channel was to massively bid up the price Sky had to pay for Premier League TV. It certainly wasn’t to make money. By doing that, after spending £billions, but costing Sky £billions more, BT eventually forced Sky allow BT to wholesale Sky’s TV channels. So that BT, just like Sky, could deliver triple play. So - they are not going to walk away from TV. The battle that BT fought to be able to wholesale Sky channels went on for years and years and years. All the way back in 2009, because Openreach were forced into Local Loop Unbundling, Sky was able to become a telephony and broadband provider in its own right. Alongside their TV service , that was an extinction level event for BT. BT eventually got their way. In effect - they won.
I can only speak for myself, but I haven’t entertained anyone other than BT/EE for my broadband for very many years - because bundling together my phone, TV, and broadband through a single provider makes economic sense.
Which is why BT / EE sending people SKy’s way for Sky Stream looks utterly desperate. I suspect BT / EE have had people wanting to walk away because BT / EE are only offering HD in a UHD world. One way to keep 2 of the 3 parts (broadband / telephony) is to make it clear to punters that they can keep both with EE whilst still accessing Sky Stream.
It looks from the outside like an unholy mess.
EDIT: It's not £35 off the EE bottom line. It's also what people are paying for their broadband and phone. People won't just shift their Sky Sports - they'll shift everything else too. At least, that's the risk.
