The charge would be levied unless the viewer cancelled prior to broadcast, or returned the viewing card as proof that the event hadn't been watched.

Sky launched a sister pay-per-view channel in August 2001, Premiership Plus, which shown select football matches from the Premier League live.

The service closed in 2007 as Sky were forced by the European Union to break their broadcasting monopoly on the competition.

However, Sky Cinema Box Office's limited movie choices and relatively high prices increasingly left it suffering in comparison to online DVD rental systems.

This can be accomplished by pressing "Box Office", purchase an event, confirm the order and enter the PIN if prompted.