Sky Launches “Sky Stream”: New Plug-In & Play Device To Get Sky Without A Dish

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Sky has launched ‘Sky Stream’ a new plug-in-and-play device to get Sky over Wi-Fi, with no dish or installation required, which will go live on 18th October.

‘Sky Stream’ utilises the Sky Glass UI, which is built into the Sky Glass TV, the world’s first streaming TV, which the company launched last year. This will basically turn any tv into a Sky Glass TV. You can simply plug the device into any TV to enjoy all your favourite shows and movies in minutes.

The company say that Sky Stream is the most affordable way to get Sky TV and Netflix together, with combined packages from £26 a month. Putting a wealth of content at your fingertips, it offers unmissable shows not on Freeview, and aggregates the best content from top entertainment, music and fitness apps – including Apple TV+, Amazon Prime, Disney+, BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub, All4, YouTube, Discovery+, Peacock, Fiit and more. Allowing you to quickly and easily find the best programmes and content all in one place. And just like Sky Glass, Sky Stream is constantly updated with innovative new features, so the experience just keeps getting better and better.

“Sky’s always reinvented the TV experience and offered the best content – but it’s not always been accessible to everyone,” said Stephen van Rooyen, Executive Vice President & CEO, UK & Europe. “There couldn’t be a better time to launch our latest innovation using the Sky Glass Platform – whether you want to stream House of the Dragon, Gangs of London or Stranger Things, Sky Stream has it all. It’s the most affordable and easiest way to get Sky TV and Netflix together, offering consumers the value they are seeking right now.”

Everything you watch on ‘Sky Stream’ comes in HD as standard, with UHD also available. If you have an HDR-ready TV, you’ll enjoy an even more dynamic and vivid viewing experience, and if you have a compatible soundbar Sky Stream is also Dolby Atmos ready. It also comes with the same sort of voice remote technology as the Sky set-top box to help you find shows and control your tv with your voice.

How is Sky Stream different to the NOW streaming service?

I’m sure you may be wondering, how is this different to the NOW streaming service, which is also owned by Sky?.. This is a very good question. I would call this something of a halfway house between NOW and full-blown Sky. It very much looks and feels like the full Sky interface. It has a programme guide for live tv, and access to all the apps you get on a full Sky set-top box. It also gives you access to all the channels which are on Sky, some of which are missing on the NOW platform. Additionally, it features the same Sky “Restart” feature for live tv shows. Like a Sky set-top box, shows from the apps are integrated into the Sky Glass UI, so you can access something like Netflix’s ‘Stranger Things’ right there in the main interface, without having to open up the Netflix app.

However, as this is a streaming box so there is no hard drive. That means you can not record shows. What it has instead is a “playlist” feature, where you can add shows you want to watch. The system then collects all the episodes of that show into one place from across all the streaming services to which you are subscribed. So say you add ‘NCIS: LA’ and Sky has the latest season, but previous seasons are spread over Prime Video and Netflix, it will pull all of those episodes to one page for you to find them with ease. The downside of this is that, when a show is removed from a streaming service or from Sky, you lose access to it, whereas if you could record it like you would on a full-Sky box, the series would still be there.

How much does Sky Stream cost?

With ‘Sky Stream’ you can opt for either a 31-day rolling plan from £29 a month that can be cancelled at any time, or an 18-month contract from £26 a month, both of which include Sky Ultimate TV & Netflix Basic. You can also add on packs and services including Sky Cinema which offers Paramount+ at no extra cost, Sky Sports, BT Sport and UHD & Dolby Atmos.

If you’d like Sky TV on more than one telly, you can upgrade to the Whole Home pack for an extra £12 a month, letting you have up to five additional Sky Stream devices wherever you’d like in your home.

There is a £39.95 set-up fee (or £20 if you take an 18-month contract), no need for engineer installation, and next-day delivery is standard. Plus, there’s a one-year warranty.

‘Sky Stream’ will go live on 18th October 2022 with next-day delivery as standard from Sky.com. Alternatively, you can buy at a Sky Retail store or hub near you.