Sky TV vs NOW TV

Sky's new Stream TV service now allows customers the ability to subscribe and watch Sky TV without the need for a satellite dish.

This opens up the service to many more homes, as well as reduces the cost, and brings the experience more in line with budget pay TV provider NOW.

But how similar is Sky TV and NOW TV really? This guide puts them side-by-side to work out which is best for streaming TV.

At a glance

Best deals

	Package	Channels	Broadband	Monthly price	Upfront price	Contract term
Go	Sky Entertainment + Netflix	150	N/a	£23	Free	18 months
	Offer: Save £5/mth + Free setup (Ends 25/04/2024)
Go	Super Fibre + Entertainment Membership	24	63Mb average	£29.99 for 6 mths, then £32.99	£10	12 months
	Offer: NOW Entertainment £6.99/mth for 6 months

Which is best? Sky TV or NOW TV?

NOW TV is owned by Sky, and provides a low-cost method of watching some of the key programmes and channels.

The content and features included with NOW are limited for a reason, with Sky clearly distinguishing the two services, ensuring Sky TV remains the best choice for those who want a more dedicated TV platform.

Overall there a few key differences between Sky TV and NOW TV, which may help customers choose between them:

• Sky TV offers over 150 live channels, plus Netflix, including Eurosport, Discovery, National Geographic, and Freeview
• Sky TV comes in full 1080p HD as standard, whereas this costs £6 extra with NOW
• NOW TV users can't pause or rewind live TV, and there is no ability to store or record programmes
• The Sky Stream box offers support for a range of other on-demand apps, as well as offering additional channel packs like TNT Sports
• NOW TV is much cheaper for specific channels and can be cancelled at any time, although Sky now also offer monthly rolling contract options

Ultimately, NOW TV is the best budget choice for those who want just a few select channels from Sky. Whereas Sky TV is a much more comprehensive TV service, although the new Stream box makes flexibility more comparable.

Price

Winner: NOW TV is cheaper than Sky TV as a standalone service, however overall value for money improves with Sky as customers get more channels in full HD as standard.

We look at the different packages available further into this comparison review, however, here's quick look at the price of Sky TV next to NOW TV:

Sky TV can seem more expensive because to access the premium Sky Cinema and Sky Sports packs, customers also have to subscribe to Sky Entertainment, which starts at £19 per month.

For customers who only want to watch certain Sky channels, NOW TV could be cheaper, however it's worth remembering features are more limited, including viewing resolution and a total lack of any other content.

Sky's prices are higher, but they include viewing in full 1080p HD - worth an extra £6 per month on NOW, as well as a subscription to Netflix Standard - worth £10.99 per month.

On a more like-for-like basis then, Sky Entertainment becomes cheaper at Sky, with a saving of £7.98 per month compared to the same services with NOW, while Sky TV with Sky Sports could save customers £12.98 per month in comparison to NOW Sports in HD with Netflix a subscription too.

NOW TV is ultimately cheaper than Sky TV, but Sky TV offer better savings overall when compared on a closer like-for-like basis.

Flexibility

Winner: Draw - while NOW TV subscribers can cancel at any time, Sky also now offer 31-day terms on their TV service.

Sky's move to a streaming platform has increased the flexibility of their service, with less overheads for the provider, and no need for customers to have or install a satellite dish.

Minimum contract terms have changed since Sky Q as a result, with Sky Stream customers able to choose between 18-month or 31-day contract terms.

The rolling monthly term options are available for the base Sky TV package, as well as premium channel packs including Sky Cinema and Sky Sports, which previously had 18-month contracts.

NOW TV Memberships have always been flexible however, with customers able to cancel their service at any time, which means customers are only charged for the service up until the day of the cancellation, with no notice period required.

Here's how Sky TV compares with NOW TV for flexibility:

Ultimately, NOW TV is more flexible with customers able to cancel at any time. However, Sky's new Stream box opens up the service to customers who don't want the hassle of a long-term commitment with 31-day options available.

Content

Winner: Sky TV customers get 150 channels in the base package as well as a subscription to Netflix, while NOW TV focuses on just a small selection of channels.

Sky TV is much more comprehensive in comparison to NOW TV, with the budget NOW service offering memberships only to a select number of specific channels.

Sky Entertainment & Netflix, which comes as standard with Sky Stream and Sky Glass, offers over 150 live channels, as well as a range of on-demand content including Sky exclusives and Sky Originals.

Both the Sky Stream Puck box and the Sky Glass TV set also support a wide range of free and subscription-based on-demand apps, so customers can also add more content if they want to. Support is available for apps including Prime Video, Paramount+, Peacock, Apple TV+, Discovery+, BBC iPlayer, ITVX, and many others.

NOW TV, on the other hand, focuses on offering low-cost access to just a small selection of Sky TV channels.

NOW Entertainment covers just 17 entertainment and documentary channels, as well as 7 kids channels. While NOW Cinema and NOW Sports focus just on the Sky Cinema and Sky Sports channels.

Here's how Sky TV and NOW TV look side-by-side in terms of channel count:

NOW Entertainment includes Sky's main entertainment channels, like Sky Atlantic, Sky Max, and Sky Documentaries. However, it misses out on a lot of others that come with Sky TV including Discovery, National Geographic, and Eurosport.

Sky TV customers also get all Freeview channels included within the platform and programming guide, which provides a much more seamless TV experience.

In terms of the premium channel packs, Sky TV also beat NOW TV in terms of extras. Sky Cinema customers get Paramount+ included with Sky, which is worth £6.99 per month.

Sky TV customers also gain free access to Discovery+ Standard, with TNT Sports subscriptions getting the Discovery+ Premium membership.

There are also more kids channels on Sky TV, although NOW TV customers get these included within NOW Entertainment, while Sky TV customers have to pay £6 a month more for the Sky Kids pack.

Overall, Sky TV has much more content available than NOW TV, including more extras as well as support for additional on-demand services.

Entertainment

Here is Sky Entertainment side-by-side with NOW Entertainment. While Sky is more expensive, as we've mentioned, it includes many more channels and comes in full 1080p HD as standard.

	Package	Channels	Monthly price	Upfront price	Contract term
	Sky Entertainment + Netflix	150	£23	Free	18 months
	Offer: Save £5/mth + Free setup (Ends 25/04/2024)
	Entertainment Membership	24	£6.99	Free	6 months
	Offer: NOW Entertainment £6.99/mth for 6 months

Sky TV also bundles a subscription to Netflix Standard with their Entertainment plan too, which is worth £10.99 per month.

NOW Entertainment includes the following channels:

NOW bundles seven kids channels with NOW Entertainment, while Sky TV customers will need to pay an extra £6 per month for nine kids channels in the Sky Kids pack.

Sky TV has many more channels overall, including popular titles like Discovery, Animal Planet, National Geographic, and Eurosport, as well as integration with all Freeview channels as well.

Cinema

Sky Cinema vs NOW Cinema is more comparable with both providers offering the main 11 cinema channels, and Sky only have an additional +1 channel.

	Package	Channels	Monthly price	Upfront price	Contract term
	Sky Entertainment + Netflix + Sky Cinema	162	£31	Free	18 months
	Offer: Save £5/mth on Sky Cinema + Save £5/mth on Sky Entertainment & Netflix + Free setup (Ends 25/04/2024)
	Cinema Membership	11	£6.99	Free	1 month
	Offer: NOW Cinema £6.99/mth for 6 months

However, Sky Cinema customers who subscribe with Sky TV also get a free subscription to Paramount+ included, which is worth an extra £6.99 per month.

And as mentioned, Sky Cinema comes in full 1080p HD, while NOW Cinema is delivered in 720p HD unless customers take the NOW Boost upgrade for an extra £6 per month.

Sports

Sky Sports and NOW Sports cover the same main 8 channels, as well as including Sky Sports News, Sky Sports Racing, and Sky Sports Mix which are included in the base Sky TV package.

	Package	Channels	Monthly price	Upfront price	Contract term
	Sky Entertainment + Netflix + Sky Sports	158	£43	Free	18 months
	Offer: Save £8/mth on Sky Sports + Save £5/mth on Sky Entertainment & Netflix + Free setup (Ends 25/04/2024)
	Sports Membership	11	£26	Free	6 months
	Offer: Save 25% and 1 month free trial of Boost

Sky Sports comes in full 1080p HD and customers can choose to take the Ultra HD pack for additional Sky Sports Ultra HD content.

NOW Sports comes in 720p HD, but can be boosted to full HD for £6 per month, although there is no option to watch any UHD content.

It's also worth noting that on NOW it's not possible to pause and rewind live TV, or record programmes. This means re-watching a key moment, like a great goal, isn't possible with NOW.

NOW Sports does offers additional flexibility however, with the option to subscribe for just one day, although this costs £11.98.

Overall though, Sky TV may be the better choice here, especially if customers also want to watch sports content from Eurosport and TNT Sports, which isn't available through NOW.

TV box

Winner: Sky offers the Stream Puck box or Sky Glass set with a built-in Sky box, whereas NOW no longer offer a set-top box.

NOW used to offer smart sticks or smart boxes, which supported the NOW app and allowed customers the ability to stream their content through older non-smart TVs. However, while these boxes can still be purchased on sites like eBay and Amazon, they're no longer offered by NOW.

That means NOW has become a streaming platform more comparable with services like Netflix or Prime Video, with software-based apps but no physical devices.

Sky on the other hand, offer customers a selection of devices to choose from, including the often-free Sky Stream Puck box or a dedicated TV, Sky Glass, with a built-in Sky box.

The Sky boxes offer the ability to pause and rewind live TV, which isn't possible on NOW, as well as save programmes to Playlist, which can be customised by viewers to store shows they want to watch later, including from other platforms like Netflix.

Sky boxes also add additional benefit in terms of supporting a range of on-demand apps, including BBC iPlayer, ITVX, All4 and My5, as well as Prime Video, Discovery+, Paramount+, Peacock, Apple TV+, Lionsgate+, and many others, helping to massively expand the content available for viewers to access.

Broadband bundles

Winner: Sky offer both superfast part-fibre and full fibre connections, while budget NOW has more limited availability.

Customers can save more money by bundling either Sky TV with Sky broadband, or NOW TV with NOW Broadband, compared to taking those services separately.

Sky offer the better broadband option however, supporting both superfast part-fibre connections, as well as newer full fibre connections which are currently rolling out across the UK.

NOW on the other hand is much cheaper than Sky, but only offers copper or part-fibre broadband deals, so speeds will be slower and less reliable.

Here's how they look side-by-side on a few comparable packages:

	Package	TV	Broadband	Monthly price	Upfront price	Contract term
	Super Fibre + Entertainment Membership	24	63Mb average	£29.99 for 6 mths, then £32.99	£10	12 months
	Offer: NOW Entertainment £6.99/mth for 6 months
	Sky Entertainment + Netflix + Superfast Broadband	150	61Mb average	£38	Free	18 months
	Offer: Save £5/mth on Sky Entertainment & Netflix + Reduced price broadband + Free setup (Ends 25/04/2024)
	Super Fibre + Sports Membership	11	63Mb average	£52.99	£10	12 months
	Offer: NOW Sports £29.99/mth for 12 months
	Sky Entertainment + Netflix + Sky Sports + Superfast Broadband	158	61Mb average	£58	Free	18 months
	Offer: Save £8/mth on Sky Sports + Save £5/mth on Sky Entertainment & Netflix + Reduced price broadband + Free setup (Ends 25/04/2024)

NOW TV and Broadband is certainly cheaper than Sky TV and Sky Broadband, but we'd urged caution for anyone with multiple occupants or those in larger homes.

The NOW router is an older version of a router Sky no longer uses, and so it doesn't have the same wireless signal strength compared to Sky's current router.

In addition, Sky broadband customers have the option to upgrade to the WiFi Max plan if they struggle with signal, to get WiFi boosters as well as an even faster router. This isn't an option with NOW, so it's really only suitable for smaller homes, where only one or two people will be using the connection.

Lastly, some areas where full fibre broadband is widely available will no longer be able to sign up to part-fibre broadband deals. In these cases, customers will find the NOW Broadband site actually redirects them to Sky broadband in any case, as NOW Broadband is no longer available in all areas.

Verdict: Sky TV or NOW TV?

Overall winner: Sky TV is much more comprehensive than NOW TV, and the new Sky Stream service matches the flexibility of NOW's streaming platform.

While NOW TV offers a great option for those on a strict budget, as well as when customers only want to access a specific channel or two, it doesn't match up to the service Sky are offering.

Sky TV, with its new Stream service, enables customers to easily access all their premium content in one place, choose from rolling monthly terms, and gain support for a range of additional on-demand apps including Prime Video, Discovery+ and Paramount+.

The extras available with some services also put Sky TV in the lead, with Sky Cinema bundling Paramount+, and TNT Sports bundling Discovery+ Premium.

Viewing quality is also now full 1080p HD as standard with Sky Stream and Sky Glass, while NOW TV customers have to pay an additional £6 per month for NOW Boost to watch programmes in full HD.

We like Sky TV for the following reasons:

• More content in the base package, including Netflix
• Full 1080p HD as standard
• Ability to pause and rewind live TV, as well as store programmes from a range of platforms to the Playlist
• Extra add-on options such as TNT Sports
• Support for additional on-demand apps

On the other hand, we like NOW TV memberships because:

• It allows customers to subscribe only to the content they want
• Day memberships for sports are very useful
• NOW Boost with ad-skipping removes more ads from on-demand content

Ultimately, with more households opting to subscribe to a range of on-demand services, NOW TV will certainly suit some customers. Yet, Sky TV's content and services remain hard to beat.