Differences between the BBC and Sky have been resolved. Their long term working partnership came unstuck when the BBC proposed sending out its satellite broadcasts in an unencrypted form. This would mean that the decoding device currently administered by Sky costing the BBC millions a year would be redundant.
Sky claimed that if the BBC signals were unencrypted they could no longer control things like, making sure all the regional news got to the right areas.
With this as ammunition, Sky said that BBC channels could no longer be in the top channel spots. The BBC have said that it is abhorrent that Sky should be blackmailing large amounts of the licence fee payers money out of Auntie.
But the two broadcasters have put this friction behind them in the striking of a deal that sees the BBC paying a smaller fee to use new technology that allows the regional opt outs without traditional encryption.
These discussions have brought to Sky's attention that other terrestrial broadcasters may follow suit and unencrypt their signals, cutting Sky out of more decoding income.