Sky Summary

Sky is the UK’s market leader in satellite TV broadcasting, supplying digital TV to more than 10 million homes in the UK and Ireland.

Sky currently offers customers almost 700 radio and television channels, and Sky+HD adds up to 60 channels in stunning high definition.  The satellite TV provider has become synonymous with exclusive sports coverage, movie premieres and brand new, groundbreaking TV series through the huge selection of channels, and you can choose what you want to include in your subscription so you only pay for the TV you want to see.

Sky groups its entertainment channels into two simple packs, making it easier for customers to decide how many channels they want to have in their subscription.  The channels include the free-to-air digital channels, as well as hundreds of others offering a range of drama, comedy and special interest.

Film fanatics can get their fix with the Sky Movies Pack, which is a collection of themed movie channels crossing genres such as romance, drama, sci-fi, action and indie.  Films are broadcast day and night, uninterrupted on these channels; you can always find an old classic or recent release to watch, and with Sky+ so you can watch when you want.

For sports fans, Sky offers unique, groundbreaking coverage of sports from around the world with Sky Sports.  No one offers more live Premier League matches in a single season, with additional matches from the Champions League.  Rugby union, APT and Grand Slam tennis tournaments, La Liga football, darts and Test cricket are just a few of the other sports that get exclusive live coverage and highlights on the dedicated Sky Sports channels.

With Sky+ you can pause, rewind and record live TV, which has become one of the most popular additions to home entertainment.  This means that you don’t have to miss that movie or the latest episode of your favourite drama; you can set it to record and watch it at a time that suits you.

Sky has several services on offer that are very popular with customers, including the Sky Broadband and Talk packages, which can be taken as a Sky bundle deal.  This gives you internet, phone and digital TV all together in one pack from one provider.

Sky Services

Sky offers several services designed to give you more from your digital TV, and customers can choose between Sky+ and Sky+HD for their viewing:

Sky+ offers the option to pause, rewind and record live TV, so you never have to miss a thing, and you can watch back whenever you like.  You can record two programmes at the same time, and the 7-day Electronic Programme Guide includes a function called Series Link, which lets you to set a whole series to record.

Sky+HD includes the same functions as Sky+, but is upgraded to high definition, or HD.  This means that once you have ordered the HD Pack, you can watch channels in stunning high definition, where the picture and sound quality is greatly enhanced making for a much better and more enjoyable viewing experience. Sky+HD offers a genuinely groundbreaking experience for customers; the power to pause, rewind and record your favourite programmes at will, combined with the crisp, clear and breathtaking quality of HD TV.

Sky has other innovative services which are there to give customers more choice and an improved viewing experience, such as Sky 3D, which is a channel dedicated to the immersive, striking visuals of 3D TV, whilst Sky Anytime+ lets you download TV episodes, movies and sports highlights on demand to your set-top box.

With Sky Go, Sky customers can watch content from their Sky subscription, live or on demand, through the internet or mobile.  If you missed your favourite TV programme on Sky1, then you can go online and watch on demand, and if there’s something live you want to watch when you are out of the house then you can get it on your smartphone.

Sky customers have the option of combining their digital TV service with broadband and calls.  Sky operates its own internet and calls service, with fast web connection and inclusive talk time for your home phone.  There are different packages to choose from, so you can pick one that suits your needs.  Taking Sky Broadband and Sky Talk with Sky TV saves you time and hassle, because you are just using one provider for all the services, and the offer is a bundle so it can work out cheaper as well.

Sky Channels

As a Sky customer, you can choose whether you want the standard range of channels, or an advanced and more varied selection.  All the channels are grouped by theme on your Electronic Programme Guide, such as music, documentaries, children’s TV and news.

The Entertainment pack comes with the variety selection, which includes popular stations such as Sky1, Sky Atlantic, G.O.L.D., Comedy Central and FX, as well as the Freeview channels.  It also includes the Style & Culture selection, which includes Sky Arts 1 and 2, Good Food, Home, Discovery Home & Health and a range of other channels covering food, fashion, arts and travel.

The second viewing pack, Entertainment Extra, gives you all the themed groups of TV channels in one bundle.  Everything from the Entertainment pack is included, along with the Knowledge selection, which offers fascinating programming on channels such as Discovery, History, National Geographic and Animal Planet.

The Music channels, including BOX, Magic, Kiss and the range from MTV, have all the latest and greatest music videos from different genres.  You also get the Children’s entertainment channels, with programmes that captivate the kids on Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, Cartoon Network, Boomerang and Nick Jr.

You can keep up with the latest news reports with the News and Events selection, including groundbreaking reports with Sky News.  This also adds At The Races, for horse racing fanatics, Sky Sports News for 24/7 sports news coverage and British Eurosport.

Sky+HD gives you the high definition channels, so you can watch with breathtaking, enhanced picture and sound quality.  HD has been one of the most popular additions to the world of home entertainment, providing that cinematic feel in the comfort of your own home.  It changes your viewing experience, no matter whether you are enjoying a movie, TV episode or documentary.

Sky Packages

Sky has plenty of packages to choose from, so you can build a subscription that fits with exactly what you want to watch.  Whether you’re looking for just digital TV, or you want to combine it with broadband and calls, there are several options available, and the range of Sky services are there to enhance your experience.

Digital TV customers can start simple with the Entertainment pack, which includes the standard, but extensive, range of channels such as free-to-air stations BBC One, BBC Two, ITV1, Channel 4 and Channel 5, along with sister stations like BBC Three and E4, as well as other popular comedy and drama channels like G.O.L.D and Sky1.

Entertainment Extra is the more comprehensive digital TV viewing package, giving you every standard definition channel in Sky’s TV entertainment range, and this includes documentaries, lifestyle programmes, comedy, drama, kids’ TV and music.

You can add extra specialist channels and packages to your subscription, so it’s tailored to the TV you want to watch.  With the Sky Sports pack you get Sky Sports 1,2,3 and 4 as well as Sky Sports News, and this gives you unrivalled, exclusive coverage of Premier League and Champions League football, rugby union, international and domestic cricket, darts and other sports from around the globe.

With the Sky Movies pack you have access to an impressive selection of movies, old and new, across genres such as action, sci-fi, horror, drama and romance.  Each Sky Movies channels is themed, and your Electronic Programme Guide will give you the next 7 days so you can see which movies will be on over the next week.  With Sky+, you can always record a movie if you are going to be out or watching something else, and the film will stay in the set-top box memory ready for you to watch whenever you want.

Sky also offers broadband and calls packages, so you can get fast internet and inclusive calls with your digital TV.  For Sky Broadband, you can choose the Unlimited package and have truly unlimited downloads, which means you can save music and movie files from the internet without a cap on your usage.

Alternatively you can choose the more modest Everyday Lite Sky Broadband package, which still offers a large monthly usage allowance, perfect for casual web surfers.  With Sky Talk you can choose between the Freetime option, which comes free with the cost of Sky Line Rental and includes free evening and weekend calls, or Sky Talk Unlimited, which includes unrestricted free calls to UK landlines.

Sky Boxes

Sky+ box

• Pause and rewind live TV

• One touch recording and Series Link

• Up to 185 hours of SD storage

• Ready for Sky 3D and Sky Anytime+~

• Select the HD Pack for access to over 50 HD channels** and up to 60 hours HD storage

Sky+HD 1TB box

• Pause and rewind live TV

• One touch recording and Series Link

• Up to 740 hours of SD storage

• Ready for Sky 3D & Sky Anytime+~

• Select the HD Pack for access to over 50 HD channels** and up to 240 hours of HD storage

Digital TV Guides

3D TV Explained

3D TV is the next revolutionary step in home viewing, giving you an immersive, vivid and breathtaking new experience when you watch sport, movies and TV. Our guide tells you more about this stunning format.

What is HD?

High definition TV offers viewers enhanced picture and sound quality, improving the whole experience and making movies, sport and TV much more vivid and crisp. Read our detailed guide about HD TV.

What is Digital TV?

Digital TV broadcasts images and sound through a digital transmission, which is an enhanced, more efficient way to send a TV signal. Read more about digital TV, the benefits and subscription services.

Types of Digital TV

Digital TV can be broadcast in different ways, such as via satellite or fibre-optic cable. This short guide will tell you more about each method of digital TV signal broadcast, and the relevant providers.

The Digital Switchover

The Digital Switchover is shutting down the analogue signal throughout the UK, changing all TV services to digital. Our guide tells you about the process, benefits, cost, TV boxes and what you have to do.

Other Providers