Early responses to Ofcom's consultation on BSkyB's planned digital-terrestrial pay-television service have been largely critical of the proposals. BSkyB is seeking permission from Ofcom to replace its three free-to-air services on Freeview with a small bouquet of pay channels, under the brand "Picnic" (NMM February 18, 2007). Although the consultation does not close until December 14, the communications regulator has already received more than 300 responses. About 170 of the responses on Picnic were anonymous and the vast majority of all submissions were from individuals rather than companies or organisations. The responses ranged from the highly critical, which'attacked BSkyB's perceived dominance in UK subscription broadcasting, to the sympathetic, which supported the company's claim that its proposals would increase consumer choice. Most responses were firmly against Picnic, which would combine digital-terrestrial pay-television with broadband and telephony. BSkyB would offer one hour daily of Sky News, some premium sports and films, entertainment from Sky One, children's shows from Disney, with factual content probably coming from Discovery.
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