You´ve been a customer of one of Sky´s big rivals in the UK and forgot if Sky does still use satellite dishes in the UK? A lot of people are wondering this because recently, there has been a lot of talk about fibre optic connections being able to do everything that traditional satellite dishes do. With so many options now available for watching video content online, it can be hard to keep track of what is going on in the world with respect to these services!
Does sky still use satellite dishes in the UK?
Yes, you will need the dish, as this is how you get your channels – without the dish you would be reliant on services like Now TV – which basically means you’re paying a high price for something that is a fraction of what a Sky satellite service can offer.
Sky Q is a satellite television system. Please note that in the UK there’s only one option for installation, either individual or communal dish connections.
Sky without a satellite
Sky’s dish-free service is not yet available in the United Kingdom, so if you don’t want to subscribe or can’t get satellite reception, there are other ways to watch.
You can watch Sky with BT, Virgin Media and TalkTalk.
Virgin Media: Virgin Media offers select Sky channels, including popular options like Sky One, Comedy Central and Cartoon Network. For most channels, you’ll need one of Virgin’s top-tier packages.
BT: If you are a BT customer, then you will be able to get all of the NOW TV Entertainment channels as part of your Entertainment pack. One step up will bring you to BT’s The Big Entertainment Pack, which is NOW TV Entertainment and NOW TV Cinema combined. All Sky Sports channels are also on offer in the Big Sport packs. Alternatively, you can choose the VIP pack which will give you all the Sky channels available via NOW TV Memberships.
TalkTalk: TalkTalk TV customers can add a NOW TV Subscription with their TalkTalk TV Package. TalkTalk’s Boosts have been discontinued, and the company recommends customers watch NOW TV through their TalkTalk YouView box without an additional set-top box.
Find out how you can watch Sky with NOW TV
Sky, in an attempt to stay ahead of rivals like Virgin Media and BT, has already made its most popular channels available through Sky’s NOW TV service. The main selling point of NOW TV is that you can commit to a short contract for Sky channels.
Once you’ve purchased your Membership, you can use the free app on your smartphone, tablet, or laptop to stream NOW TV and watch it on a big screen using streaming sticks such as Chromecast or Roku. Alternately, NOW TV offers a Smart Stick – available as an additional purchase for Sky TV customers – that connects directly to your television and enables you to watch iPlayer, All 4, ITV Hub, YouTube and more.
Sky X: When is Sky without a dish coming to the UK?
Sky first announced plans to make Sky Q available without the need for a satellite dish back in 2017 but it doesn’t seem like those plans are on hold.
Why is Sky without a dish a good idea?
The new service will make it possible for homes without access to satellite dishes to have a Sky connection. This could be for many reasons. Some people are not keen on having a dish mounted outside their home. Others can’t install satellite dishes because their apartment complex has a restriction, lease agreement or management company that does not allow them to do so.
Although Now TV will stay as a “dip-in-and-out” service because it is well known among consumers – Sky is exploring offers for customers who may only be interested in a short period of service.
They are looking at the possibility of a subsidized pay-as-you-go option for people who want to test out Now TV before committing.
Will Sky remain with satellite dishes in the UK, or will it switch to fibre optic connections?
Sky has launched Sky via Fibre in Italy and Sky X in Austria, both of which do not require a satellite dish. Sky X seems like a logical choice for any internet service provider in the UK. Based service is available as well, and judging by what’s on offer in Austria – which we’ll explain more about in a moment – it would fit somewhere between Sky Q and Now TV.
In a nutshell
If you have a Sky dish, congratulations! You are one of the lucky ones to still enjoy satellite TV. In today’s world, it is easy to think that all people watch television with just an internet connection and streaming services like Netflix or Amazon Prime Video – but this simply isn’t true. There are many households out there who still use their old-fashioned dishes for viewing channels and they may not realise how much more content they can get if only they switched over to using a new service such as NowT V which provides access to popular programmes on demand without the need for any kind of subscription fee at all.
