Satellite TV operator Sky announced today that it plans from 2018 to allow people to receive Sky TV without the need for a satellite dish. They are to make Sky pay TV subscription service, work over the internet rather than through the traditional satellite dish method.
TV over broadband internet is not a new idea, Netflix and Amazon are just two of the big players that have been offering on demand TV this way for some years. Even Sky themselves have been dabbling in this area with their Now TV boxes which allow a small selection of TV channels to be streamed for a monthly fee. But today’s announcement suggests that you will be able to get the full selection of Sky channels streamed over the internet using this new service.
There are around 2 million homes in the UK that can’t currently get Sky through a dish, but how much of those would actually take up a online version remains to be seen. Many other operators already have filled the gap in the market with Virgin Media or BT or TalkTalk offering TV services to those who can’t install a dish.
This is further compounded by the fact that there are still large areas of the UK that can’t get decent internet speeds and if you are going to be streaming HD or perhaps even 4K you are going to be disappointed if your internet cannot keep up because your kids are also on Facebook at the same time.
Unfortunately details on the service are thin on the ground at the moment but hopefully a few of the questions below will get answered when more details are released.
- Will it offer full HD or even 4K video?
- Would you get ALL the channels on the broadband Sky service that you can currently view on the satellite service?
- Will you get Sky+ style DVR functions so you can record one channel while watching another?
- Will it be priced the same as the satellite service?
- Will Sky continue to offer Now TV?
- Will Now TV customers be given the option of an upgrade?
- What will be the internet speed requirements for the service?
- Will they offer the Sky service as an app so you can get in on smart TV’s, Games Consoles and mobile devices?