Sky Anytime snaps up last major studios

Sky has announced that it can now offer download movies on its Anytime PC service from all major studios, after agreeing a deal with Warner Bros and Paramount.

The broadcaster said that the agreements make it the first online download service to offer the latest movies from all six major movie studios.

"The Paramount deal will provide Sky Movies customers with PC access to titles such as Mission: Impossible 3, The Weather Man, Saving Private Ryan and Top Gun through Sky Box Office," an official Sky statement said.

"And, in early 2008, all Sky customers will be able to download movies including Shrek The Third and Transformers."

The Warner Bros deal includes Harry Potter and The Goblet Of Fire, Superman Returns and Poseidon.

The company already offers content from 20th Century Fox, Universal, Sony and Disney.

Sky claimed that, since the launch of its Anytime service in January 2006, customers had downloaded over two million films.

Customers who subscribe to all of the premium Sky Movies channels have access to between 400 and 500 subscription movies to download to their PC at no extra cost.

"Working with leading content providers has been a key factor in the success of Sky Movies and we are delighted to be the first download service to offer titles from all the major studios," said Ian Lewis, director of Sky Movies and Sky Box Office.

"The evolution of Sky Movies into a multi-platform, multi-media service is driven by customer demands to watch the best movies how and when they want."

Sky recently upgraded its Anytime service to be compatible with Microsoft's Windows Vista and to be accessed in a standard web browser.

The company also expanded the range of content available on the service to include programming from third party channels such as National Geographic, The History Channel, The Biography Channel and the Crime & Investigation Network.